Photograph of the Rangers and Penguins in a first period fight (three roughing penalties were charged to each team) at Madison Square Garden by Julie Jacobson/AP Pittsburgh 5 Rangers 3: Ryan Hollweg has a fantastic moustache, but his idiotic penalty probably cost the Rangers their season. New York fell behind right out of the gate with Marian Hossa scoring only a minute into the game. The Rangers tied things up, but Pittsburgh went ahead......

Nets 101, Mavericks 82: Ah, the schizophrenic Nets. After losing three straight, they've now won two in a row, and Sunday's win came against a legitimate title contender. It also came at the Izod Center, a place they have had trouble putting up good performances all season long. Maybe it's all the empty seats. Vince Carter put forth one of his best efforts of the season -- a 29-point, nine-rebound performance. And that was after......

Rangers 3 Devils 1: Why can’t they play like this all the time? Maybe it’s because the Devils seem to turn and run at the sight of “New York” (winless this season against the Rangers and Islanders) on their opponents jerseys. Whatever the reason, the Rangers need to replicate this effort a lot over the remainder of the season. Chris Drury had two goals, one against an empty net while Brandon Dubinsky got things started......

Devils 4, Hurricanes 1: Martin Brodeur only needed to make 20 saves in this one. The Devils have now won seven of nine. Travis Zajac, Brian Gionta and Sergei Brylin all had goals, but it was Patrik Elias scoring the game-winner for the second straight time. They could have had six goals had they not hit the post twice. That fatigue-induced slow start is a distant memory for New Jersey, which leads the Atlantic......

Edmonton 3 Rangers 2 (shootout): Pinching defensemen have become a vital part of the Rangers’ offense and Dan Girardi showed that again Saturday. With New York stymied offensively and losing 1-0 midway in the third, Girardi came in and put the puck on net. The bounce was odd, but the result was good as the Rangers tied the game at 1. Unfortunately for New York, Ryan Hollweg took a stupid boarding penalty and his five-minute......

Henrik Lundqvist cannot feel too comfortable these days. The fact is if he makes one mistake, his team is going to lose the game. That is the sorry state of the Rangers’ offense, which while suffering from bad chemistry and untimely injuries has in turn vanished from the face of the ice. Tuesday night it was Pittsburgh blanking them 1-0, despite 36 shots from New York. In fact, they hit at least one post, so......

Devils 6, Thrashers 5: Down 4-2, the Devils decided to take action. They scored four of the next five goals, including Patrick Elias' game-winner with 28 seconds remaining, to avoid their fourth loss of the season. When a team's goalie's saves is twice the number of goals scored by his team, something's wrong. Martin Brodeur made 12 saves on 17 shots but stayed in the game. This comeback loses some of its luster when the......

Rangers 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO): This game was doubly delicious for the Rangers, who won and moved into a tie with the Hurricanes for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Even though Jaromir Jagr doesn't like shootouts, he's got to like the way the Rangers have played this week. With the exception of Saturday's stinker against Pittsburgh, the Rangers performed well over their last four games. They've gone 3-0-1, and all......

Rangers 2 Islanders 1: Why did he do it? He had to know how important this game was and he had to know this wasn’t the time to take a penalty. So, why did Chris Simon decide to take a total cheap shot against Ryan Hollweg? Was it because Hollweg had checked him, cleanly we should note, into the boards? Was it because he has always been willing to mix it up in his career?......

In keeping with our lists of events from 2006, here are some of the sports stories that Gothamist found compelling in the past year. It ranges from the playoff disappointment from the Mets and the Yankees to the welcome performances of last season's Rangers, this season's Jets and Rutgers. Mickelson Chokes at Winged Foot: Everyone knew the Winged Foot course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., was a tough place to play, but no one found it crueler......

The building was rocking to the chants of “MVP” and Rangers’ fans were being treated to a dominant performance from a player for the first time since Mark Messier left for Vancouver. It was a night when Jaromir Jagr looked unstoppable and the idea that the Rangers would lose seemed impossible. All it took to remind the crowd of 18,200 that hockey is a team sport was a stupid penalty by Ryan Hollweg. After Jagr......

Even two years later it is hard to handle. Brian Leetch is no longer a Ranger and last night he returned to the Garden for the first time wearing an opponents’ sweater and sporting an extra 2 on his back. Unlike Mark Messier and Adam Graves, Leetch’s return was not successful as the Rangers won the contest 5-2. While it is sad to see Leetch in another jersey, you cannot argue with the results of......

For those of you who don’t like hockey, tonight is the perfect opportunity to give it a chance. Since going out is not going to be easy, stay inside and watch the Rangers play Toronto because it should be a great game. The seeds for tonight’s contest were sewn Friday in the Ranger’s 4-2 victory. Both teams played aggressive, sometimes illegal hockey. Toronto played rough and the Rangers responded. Things got chippy in the first......