The Broadway Blueshirts completely dismantled the Florida Panthers tonight, winning 5-0 in a game which, for all intents and purposes, was finished with a little over 15 minutes left in the 2nd period. They were flying offensively, stubborn and stifling defensively and The King lived up to his name, making all the "easy" saves, plus a few key ones that earned him 1st Star of the game. If the Blueshirts could play at that level over their remaining 19 games and into the playoffs, we could possibly be seeing hockey at MSG in June. If.

Scotty Gomez kicked off the scoring in the 1st, Malik and Jagr added a goal apiece in the 2nd, Dawes netted one early in the 3rd and Straka capped the scoring with one-timer halfway through the 3rd. Balanced scoring all around. Marek Malik not only played well both defensively and offensively, he earned 2nd Star! Maybe I should rip him more often...

Brandon Dubinsky decided to step in for Sean Avery and drop the gloves against Gregory Campbell. As Avery was about to drop his gloves, Dubinsky actually pulled Avery back by his jersey, skated around him and put up his hands. What occured from that point forward couldn't exactly be defined as a fight however; in fact, I've seen better schoolyard brawls among 5th graders. However, it shows Dubinsky has both the heart and willingness to fight; now Colton Orr has to step up and actually teach the guy something. It actually looked as if Brandon bitch-slapped Campbell a few times.

During the post-game interview, Jaromir Jagr stated with what I hope was a smirk, "I don't need to score goals, I like to pass". Right. And that pretty goal (left) he scored in the 2nd? He hated it.

The Rangers now own the 6th seed, with 19 games to play. Most teams still have a few games in hand on them but if they play the way the have over their past 7 games (5-0-2), barring the debacle in Montreal, they will control their own destiny. Its possible Philly could make a run, but they are winless over their past 10 games (8-0-2) and the injuries are killing them. In addition to losing Simon Gagne for possibly the remainder of the season, Mike Richards is now out for at least 3 weeks with a torn hamstring. The Islanders just lost Mike Sillinger for the season, Rick DiPietro almost broke something tripping over an Islander Ice Girl's flag and recently got Chris Simon back from his anger management class and suspension after Simon attempted to maim Jarrko Ruutu. I won't be losing any sleep when the Isles start making their tee times, so I'm not giving 'em a snowballs chance. I keep waiting for Boston and Buffalo to collapse (they're not) and am surprised the Caps and All-World Alex Ovechkin aren't closer. Time will tell.

Unfortunately, during this season the Rangers have displayed an inability to stay focused, whether from game to game, period to period, or even shift to shift. So which Ranger team will show up Thursday night vs. the Flyers? With any luck, the one which has dominated Philly this season, going 4-1 against them so far.