Rangers/Stars at MSG!

By Jon Gabrielle,  The Hockey Writers

When the New York Rangers host the Dallas Stars tonight they will enter the game with a 6-2-3 record in their last eleven games. That’s 15 points earned out of a possible 22.

Lundqvist ready! (photo by/flickr)

In the Eastern Conference where mediocre teams are bunched together fighting for the last two playoff spots, that’s an excellent record over that span. However, to steal a slogan from an NFL ref, “upon furhter review…”

Up until last night’s 3-2 win over the Bruins, the Rangers had not played a team with a winning record in 10 straight games!  And that’s not easy in a league that coddles it’s fans with no ties and 3 point games more times than I could ever kiss my sister.

Currently, only 8 teams in the 30 team NHL have records under .500.  Good league.

On the heels of the 7th place Rangers are six teams, all within 4 points. Points are at a premium. With the Blueshirts schedule about to change combined with their inability to score consistently, it will be interesting to see where they sit come the Olympic break.

On the other hand, the Dallas Stars have found out that halfway through their season they cannot win consistently. The Stars have won consecutive games only twice this year and never three in a row.

Worse yet, tonight they come in having lost their last two, scoring only one goal in that span.

True, it was against the two best goalies in Canada, and possibly the whole world, when they faced Roberto Luongo on Saturday and then Martin Brodeur last night.

Tonight their task doesn’t get any easier, having to face the 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist from Sweden, Henrik Lundqvist.

The Stars will counter with their once proud Olympic goaltender, Marty Turco.

Dallas enters the contest in 10th place in the West, six points behind 8th place Nashville and desperate for points, two points!  Their inconsistency may have finally caught up with them as the gap is widening on that playoff bubble.

Something tells me we could see some “free hockey” as well as a “skills contest” tonight.”

Turco ready! (photo by texas_mustang/flickr)