If the results from the Swamp weren’t depresssing enough tonight, suck on this for a minute or two : despite a Brendan Shanahan hat trick, the New York Rangers saw their 7 game undefeated streak stopped by the Islanders, beneficiaries of 4 goals from RW Victor Kozlov in their 7-4 victory. The Isles have now leapt over the Rangers and Devils to claim first place in the Atlantic Division, and maybe, just maybe, the rest of the league is recognizing that somebody else should’ve hired Ted Nolan when they had the chance.
Washington starlet Alexander Ovechkin will escape a suspension following a hit from behind on Buffalo’s Daniel Briere last night. At the present rate, Caps-related incidents must make up about half of YouTube’s bandwidth bill.
Those in CSTB-ville who manage to resist the charms of Tony Romo today might well have caught the Austin Ice Bats’ 1-0 decision over Rio Grande, the home side’s 5th straight win. Miguel Beaudry had 25 saves in the shutout, and continues to field annoying calls from locals curious about some of the special effects in “The Science Of Sleep”.
In the wake of the Rangers’ AHL affiliate Hartford’s 3-0 win over Manchester last night, Dave Zukauskas of Sidearm Delivery continues to lay into Brad Isbister (“though he’s only been with the team for a couple of weeks, he’s already challenging Brandon Dubinsky for the team lead in dumb-looking facial expressions while on the ice,”) which isn’t nearly as objectionable as the harsh treatment he’s meted out to The Hold Steady. When will someone give these charming young men some favorable press?