Pens Home-and-Home Part 1: Entering the Igloo

Today's matinee is the start of a home and home between the Pens and Rangers. The Rangers currently hold a 4-2 series edge over Malkin & Co. Reigning MVP Sidney Crosby is finally back from that ankle boo-boo that kept him sidelined for two months. Also back from injury is deadline acquisition Marian Hossa. I bet the Thrashers are gonna enjoy Pitt's first round pick and #1 prospect when Hossa once again eats it in the playoffs and the Pens are trounced by the second round. Who am I kidding? Waddell will probably trade both of them away for worthless veterans *cough* Tkachuk and Zhitnik *cough*.

Anyway, today's game has immense importance in the standings. A win would put the Rangers alone in 5th place and in a tie for 4th. An OT or shootout loss would put them in a tie for 5th (they have the tiebreaker thanks to Ottawa having played 2 more games). The Rangers definitely need 3 points out of 4 in this home-and-home if they want out of that 6th seed.

Unfortunately, I've gotta DVR this game since I have to be out of town this afternoon. It'll break my heart to fast forward through all of the Heineken robot girl commercials that NBC inevitably shows every Sunday.

Keys to Today's Game:

• Shut down Crosby, Malkin, and Hossa. Duh. Maybe give Sid a nice tap on the ankle with your stick, Sean.
• Speaking of Avery, keep all prostitutes out of the Igloo. If the Rangers win, reward him with a visit from his favorite hooker. If he scores a goal, have Renney pay for it.
• Power play. None of the cute passing shit that the Rangers (I'm looking at you Straka, Jagr, and Rozsival) are guilty of every single game. Shoot from the point, crash the net hoping for rebounds. Conklin and especially Fleury are terrible with rebound control. Take advantage of it.
• Defense, defense, defense. Henrik's been playing very well as of late, but he's been covering up a lot of the team's defensive errors. Not finishing checks in their own zone and bad passes gave the Devils two goals on Thursday. If Lundqvist hadn't been sharp, you can bet your wallet there would've been more.
  

It'll be a tough game today. The Ice Chickens are fighting for the #1 spot in the conference. But the Rangers have kept up with the Penguins all year. It'll be a good'un.

Let's Go Rangers!