MySports Today

The New York Rangers finished the month of January with a 6-6 record. Although the Rangers are still looking like one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, if you ask the players, they would probably call their performance a bit of a disappointment with too much inconsistency. The Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins in close 1-goal games – the 2 top teams in the East. They also lost to the Montreal Canadiens and finished 1-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. On the other hand, the Rangers defeated the Blackhawks in Chicago and the Ducks at home – 2 of the better teams in the Western Conference.

The Rangers have 62 points, and currently sit in the 5th spot in the East. The Canadiens also have 62 points and the Philadelphia Flyers have 61 points, so it is definitely crowded at the top. The Rangers also trail the New Jersey Devils – 9-1 in their last 10 games – for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, so the race for the top spot in the division and at least a 3rd seed is not out of reach just yet.

The upcoming schedule is favorable for the Rangers. The Rangers take on Atlanta at home on Tuesday night. Then it’s on the road for games against the Dallas Stars and the Devils. After a quick pit-stop against the Capitals at home, the Rangers travel again to Florida to take on the Panthers. After another tough match-up at home against the Flyers, the Rangers play 7 consecutive games against teams with less points than the Rangers right now – St. Louis Blues, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs (home and home), Panthers and Colorado Avalanche. If the Rangers can swing a few victories against the Devils, Capitals and Flyers and then win 6 of the 7 games against the “beatable” teams, the Rangers could find themselves in great shape entering the month of March for the stretch run.

The Rangers will need to get great goal-tending from Henrik Lundqvist who has struggled of late – losing 3 of his last 4 starts. The Rangers will also rely heavily upon their 4 top point scorers – Nikolai Zherdev, Scott Gomez, Markus Naslund and Chris Drury – for consistent play on a nightly basis. If Brandon Dubinsky and Michal Rozsival can continue to step up their games with numerous assists, the Rangers could make a bold statement to the rest of the league. It’s all just sitting there for the Blue Shirts – now they just need to go and take it…

Don’t look now, but the New York Knicks are making a run at the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Knicks have won 8 of their last 11 games and have had 2 3-game winning streaks in that mix. With a win over the Lakers at the Garden tonight, the Knicks could even extend the current 3-game winning streak to a season-high 4-game winning streak. Scoring has been the key for the Knicks during the last 11 games. The Knicks have scored over 100 points in each of the 8 wins, but they have scored under 100 points in 2 of the 3 losses. The only loss was at Phoenix, when the Suns outraced the Knicks to a 116-110 win.

On Saturday night, the Knicks knocked off the Pacers 122-113. The Knicks are only 4 games under .500 right now, and trail the Milwaukee Bucks by only a 1/2 game in the race for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. In fact, they are only 4 games behind the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat who are tied for the 5th and 6th seeds in the Eastern Conference. After you get past the Top 3 – Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic – the East is pretty weak, so anything is possible.

Two lesser know players are leading the Knicks of late. David Lee leads the team in scoring (15.9), rebounding (11.7) and field goal percentage (56.8). While Chris Duhon leads the Knicks in 4 other categories – assists (8.0), free throw percentage (86.8), 3-point percentage (41.7) and steals (1.1).

The Knicks will be tested at home this week. Tonight they take on the West’s best team – Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Wednesday night they face Lebron James and the Cavaliers and Friday night they face Paul Pierce and the Celtics. If the Knicks can somehow muster 1 win against the top 3 teams in the NBA, they should consider that a “moral victory”. Stay tuned…

In one of the more exciting Super Bowl contests, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 to win an NFL record 6 Super Bowl Championships. Santonio Holmes was named the Super Bowl MVP after he caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger with less than a minute to go in the game. Holmes had 9 catches for 131 yards, including the acrobatic, game-winning 6-yard touchdown catch that put the Steelers up for good.

Arizona Cardinals Quarterback Kurt Warner completed 31 of 43 passes for 377 yards, with 3 touchdown passes – good for a 112.3 passer rating. But his turnovers were the bigger story. With the Cardinals trailing 10-7 with 20 seconds left to go in the half, the Cardinals had the ball inside the Steelers 5-yard line. Instead of being ultra-cautious, Warner tried to force a pass into the end zone, and NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison intercepted the pass and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown that gave the Steelers a 17-7 halftime lead. If Warner doesn’t make that poor pass, worst-case the Cardinals kick a field goal and the game is tied at halftime. Instead, the Cardinals dug themselves a deeper hole and trailed by 10 points. Warner’s final turnover, a fumble, came at midfield as the Cardinals were driving in the waning seconds of the game. The fumble ended all hopes of a comeback for the Cardinals.

Cardinals stud wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald lived up to all the hype in the 4th quarter. He caught 2 touchdown passes, the last of which was a 64-yard pass play which put the Cardinals ahead for the 1st time in the game – 23-20. It also erased the 20-7 4th quarter deficit that the Cardinals faced with under 8 minutes to go in the game. Overall Fitzgerald finished with 7 catches for 127 yards, while Anquan Boldin finished with 8 catches for 84 yards.