Rookie Brandon Dubinsky tallies in 1st.
Photo via Yahoo!

With the Rangers up 3-1 going into the 3rd period vs. the Carolina Hurricanes, the referees and newly acquired Ranger D Christian Backman decided take up arms against NY. After waves of Carolina attackers and Backman penalties had gotten the score to 3-2, veteran forward Brendan Shanahan had the oh-so-sweet answer, roofing a perfect cross-ice feed from rookie Nigel Dawes at 12:32 of the 3rd, effectively putting the game away to secure their 3rd win in a row.

To be honest, it wasn't necessarily the calls the refs made in the 3rd period, it was more to do with the calls they didn't make in the 2nd. No calls when Ryan Callahan got drilled from behind into the boards by Tim Conboy (is that where con men come from?) nor when Michael Rozsival's chin caught a Tuomo Ruutu world class leaping lead elbow with the puck a good 15 from him. The refs turned one of many blind eyes to Walker dropping his gloves and grabbing Avery, while Avery stood there holding his stick and gloves still on, yet they were both called for offsetting 10 minute misconducts for what amounted to talking loudly to one another a few minutes later. Among those missed calls was a ghost's high-stick popping Nigel Dawes in the face. It was looking like the refs were determined to get Carolina back in the game.

Blueliner Backman must have felt that the refs weren't quite doing all they could do for the 'Canes cause. He went on to get called for 10 minutes in penalties, 8 of which came during a critical 10 minute stretch in the beginning of the 3rd period, 4 served by Mark Staal due to more buffoonery by the four blind mice on ice. Staal received a 4 minute double-minor for high-sticking 2 minutes into the 3rd, but it was Backman's stick that deliverd the cut to Erik Coles face. Oddly enough, if the refs had gotten the right player in the box at that time, Backman wouldn't have been on the ice to get called for holding right after. In the 2nd half of the double-minor, a patched up Erik Cole got a floater past Henrik Lundquist on a broken play for his 2nd of the night to turn it into a 1-goal game.

The Rangers had come out flying from start, keeping pressure on Carolina, forcing the 'Canes into numerous neutral zone turnovers. They outshoot Carolina during the first half of the game by a 22-6 margin. Brandon "The Silent Assassin" Dubinsky opened the scoring off a gorgeous behind the back pass from Jaromir Jagr, putting the puck on his backhand before going top shelf over a down and out Cam Ward. NY generated numerous scoring chances all period, including a shorthanded breakaway by Blair "Bricklayer" Betts. Needless to say (but I'm gonna say it anyway), he failed to extend the 1-goal lead. With time running down in the 1st and off yet another 'Canes neutral zone turnover, Dan Girardi bounced a pass off the right boards, Steve Avery quickly skated in across the blue line and snapped a wrister from the right circle to Ward's long side for a 2-0 lead.

Chris Drury gave NY a 3-0 lead in the 2nd, putting home a rebound off a right point shot from Mark Staal. Leading up to that play, the Rangers had put together some slick passing on a power play; they continued the pressure in the offensive zone after the PP expired that lead to their 3rd goal of the night. Carolina answered at 12:21 of the 2nd with Eric Cole's 1st goal of the night with assists from Bret Hedican and Patrick Eaves.

NY looked almost unstoppable during the 1st two periods; if not for the 'Canes netminder, the score could easily have been 4-0 after 1. Late penalties let Carolina back in the game but in spite of "Sister" Christian Backman's multiple brainfarts, the Rangers special teams played smart and tough during 8 long minutes of PK time in the first 10 minutes of the 3rd period, going 1-6 on the penalty kill overall. Against a better PP unit or if Matten Cullen didn't have to be double-shifted for forward Scott Walker, who was off for a 10 minute misconduct, the outcome may have been different.

With 74 points on the season, the Rangers are tied with the rolling Boston Bruins for 6th place in the Eastern Conference. Tonight's 3rd win in a row makes it 11-3-2 over NY's past 16 games with 19 games left in the season. The Rangers next face the foundering Flyers (who have won their last two straight) at MSG on Sunday afternoon.

NHL.com has seen fit to acknowledge that there is a hockey team playing at MSG and actually put up a positive story that revolves around the Blueshirts young defensive corps.

Big one: In Marion Hossa's debut with the Penguins, Hossa suffered what is being reported as a strained MCL. Will update if necessary. Milan Lucic and Jarkko Ruutu went the distance during the game, I'll post a link to the video as I find one.