Rangers 4; Islanders 2

My sister's father-in-law was a codebreaker for our government in Korea. How do you think he would handle this one:

Rick DiPietro is cryptically listed as being "day-to-day" with "a lower body injury" that he suffered on Saturday night against the Hurricanes. The injury, whatever the actual diagnosis, is "unrelated to his previous injuries."

(Sound of Bill scratching his head.)

Well, for starters, my sister's father-in-law wouldn't be of help because he knows as much about hockey as I do about quantum physics. He likes sci-fi...LOVES sci-fi, so I think we all know what kind of help he'd be able to give us. Second of all, for all of us that love the game and the Islanders and everything that goes with it, even we don't know what to make of this convoluted attitude toward truthiness that the organization is wrestling with.

All the not-lies and un-truths do is make losing that much worse. Let's face it: while a lot of us have been begging the team to go all in with the rebuilding from scratch, seeing the Isles lose to the Rangers is never easy. It also makes it hard to swallow when the team seems to be playing footsies with the truth on injuries for no good reason other than to prove to the fans and the media that they can.

But what about last night? Well, I hope someone in Joey MacDonald's neighborhood gives him a lot of candy on Friday because he has sure earned it. He may have inadvertently kicked in the first Ranger goal (Drury; to the excitement-that-made-us-uncomfortable of Micheletti) but otherwise, he was making big saves all over the place. Whatever the goalie coaches are doing with the guy, it is working.

Nice to see Kyle Okposo get his first of the year last night. Kyle is going to be growing up right before us this season and let's not forget that the kid has nothing more than a handful of AHL games and a few NHL games to prepare him for big minutes this year. Now, um, can we get Jeff a goal? Pretty please?

I got a message from a reader who is not related to me who asked how much longer we have to wait before we pull the plug on young mister Tambellini? My reply: Dude, get a grip. Snow gave him two years to send him the "we're behind you" message and they're going to give him every chance to play himself out of a role entirely. I like the way he is going to the net in these last few games. Billy Jaffe mentioned it in the home opener that when Tambellini is cutting toward the nets and not the boards that he gives himself a much improved lane to move and angle to shoot. Seems obvious, but let's remember that cutting inside is a move that someone playing with confidence is going to make. The move to the outside is the safe move for the players well being. If Tambellini is making that cut inside toward the slot, he is good. The goals will come. Sometimes you just have to get that first one.

Still, our boys got stomped on. The Isles are now leading the Senators (WTF?) in the TANKING FOR TAVARES (TM) Sweepstakes that may or may not end with Ed McMahon in front of the Coliseum with a bunch of ping pong balls in the middle of April.

Thursday the boys travel to Philadelphia which could be still burning if the Phillies win the World Series. Stay tuned for more unnecessary soap opera stuff from the locker room as well.

Rangers. The Freaking Rangers.

Well, the DP drama continues. Is he hurt? Is he not hurt? Coach says yes. Team calls up Yann Danis to carry MacD's bags tonight. Botta vs. Logan in one of the stranger faceoffs in our time.

Let's face it: weird shit follows this team around like a bad girlfriend.

The Logan vs. Botta debate is nothing I am going to touch. You know why? Because I know nothing about it. When Linzi and I started this website, I knew for a fact that I was not going to cover pissing contests. My only "deal" (for lack of a better word) with either of the websites is that I am super-glad each exists so that we can get some straight-shooting and news about the team we all love. If there is a professional beef or whatever, out official position is that we hold out hands up. While we are linked from Greg's site--and we love the feedback we've gotten from the traffic funneled our way--we rarely post or make comments there. I've done it maybe twice on the Botta site and that was to get some clarification regarding Mark Parrish's PTO contract with Bridgeport from a guy who would know a heck of a lot better than me.

So, tonight we have the Rangers. No Ricky. No Brendan Witt (for how long?) and no Freddy Meyer (for what, exactly?). Brett Skinner has been called up to the main roster according to multiple sources. He's been enjoying one heck of a start in the American League after what was termed a good camp with the Isles. So we will see him in action tonight.

Ricky was, as you all know, pulled after the first period Saturday night against the Whalercanes. He had a couple of giveaways where he was trying to force the play with the long passes and man, that one he handed to Iron Hands Chad LaRose was a stomach punch. Sing along with me, because we all know the words: Rick needs to trust his defensemen and not try to do too much. Scott Gordon told Point Blank the same thing we've been hearing for years. FOR YEARS.

Joey MacDonald came in and played admirably for the remainder of the game. The Isles put up a team-record 60 shots on Cam Ward (by the way, Ward is pretty good) and even a PENALTY SHOT with seven-tenths of a second on the clock wasn't enough to pull the Isles through to tie Carolina.

Seriously, though, Dougie, right in the breadbasket?

Oh, and Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, and Jeff Tambellini haven't scored yet this year. Bergenheim has 2 and he plays like hi pants are on fire every shift he is out there. Nate Thompson took one for the team in a fight with Tim Gleason. The size difference was almost as funny as when Lou the sandwich girl told Chuck that their vast height differences intrigued her last season on "Chuck". Different kind of dance partners, I know, but Nate gave it a shot and it did fire the team up for a while.

Last, I know you all saw the hit on Brandon Sutter from the previously mentioned Doug Weight. Legal hit; Welcome to the NHL. The Carolina players knew it too because no one stepped in to start a fracas or anything with Weight as Doug looked over to see if the kid was okay. Doug is a classy dude and known throughout the league as a good guy and not a cheap guy. Big thumbs up to Chris Campoli, too, who was right there playing Sundance in case someone was going to come after his teammate, bad shoulder and all.

Isles over the Rangers in another shootout

Ever notice that Jaromir Jagr backs away from shootouts like there's cops telling him that "there's nothing to see here?" What is that about?

Here is Jagr's carefully-tailored defense, as written in today's New York Times: "I'm bad, that's all," Jagr said of his performance in shootouts. "There are a lot of good players here."

Pardon me, but if I am backing up Brinks trucks to some guy's house and he also just happens to be the captain of the team, that guy is so taking a chance in the shootout. What kind of leader backs away from a challenge with the game on his stick?

The Drew Carey Show once coined a word that was the combination of "pathetic" and "sad". They called it "pathetisad". Jagr's inability to step up and lead his team when he is needed and counted on is truly pathetisad.

Why they keep him around is beyond me. He seems to be interested less than half the time and the Rangers' announcers know that. They coddle and talk as positively as they can without calling him out and questioning his heart. It's a lot like the way the Islanders treated Yashin; just hoping that he would decide to turn it on once and again. The Giants do the same thing with Jeremy Shockey when they say crap like, "we have to get Shockey involved early" because if he doesn't get a catch or two in the first quarter he will pout and make Eli's day miserable.

But we are not here to bitch about the Rangers. We are here celebrate all things Dubielewicz and Tambellini.

Islanders fans have been begging for Tambellini to get some meaningful minutes for the team. For the most part, I don't think he has been put in a situation where he has much of a chance to contribute on the scoresheet. Sure, The Kid Line (I still prefer The Bridgeport Connection) gets minutes to spell the other guys and bring some energy to the team. And for that, they've been good and have done their job. But Tambellini has to be a guy on one of the top two lines. He has proven himself to be sick at the American League level and somehow, he has got to get there for this team. That's why it was so sweet to see him seal the game for the Isles in the sixth round of the shootout. It had to be a great burden for him since he is known as a scorer in the minors to be able to help the big club win an important game against their fiercest rivals.

And what else can you say about Wade Dubielewicz? The guy just always seems to come up big when the Islanders need him. Dubielewicz made another surprise start against the Rangers on the road in a big spot where his team needed points desperately, and he came through. This is where Jagr could do some learning. Dubie has already stepped in fire and learned from it last year when he pokechecked the Islanders to a shootout victory against the Devils in last year's final game to push our boys into the postseason. When he is needed, he is ready. He understands his role and prepares himself as best he can to deliver whenever he gets an opportunity. How can you not love that? Wade Dubielewicz is a gamer, pure and simple.

What a game it was. There was a definite playoff atmosphere with dueling chants amongst a split crowd. Even the Rangers' announce team of Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti were able to recognize that in between cheerleading for Henrik Lundqvist last night. Seriously, boys, the big boy crushes that you have on Lundqvist are not warranted. He's, um, just not that into you. Anyway, for a guy who is supposed to be one of the best goalies in the league, Lundqvist's wide stance let him down last night. He was pretty shaky.

The Islanders took the lead late in the first on a pinball goal from Blake Comeau. They opened up a 3-1 lead in the second on scores by Trent Hunter and Sean Bergenheim before the Rangers came storming back on goals by Chris Drury in the second and a shorthanded goal by Ryan Callahan.

Once in the shootout, the Islander goals were scored by Bill Guerin and, of course, Jeff Tambellini.

The Rangers make the trip out to the suburbs for another Thursday Night Showdown on Long Island. Rick DiPietro is expected between the pipes for the Islanders. The Isles now have 71 points and are still in tenth place in the playoff push.

Rangers tonight...and Thursday

Well, the road to the playoffs has to go through Madison Square Garden tonight for the Islanders.

The Islanders' website says that Wade Dubielewicz will be in goal for the second game in row and that Bruno Gervais is still day-to-day after sustaining a concussion against Florida on Sunday. With Gervais out, we'll probably see Aaron Johnson on the blueline again for the Isles.

It's worth noting that when you look at the Islanders' last 15 games that 11 are against Atlantic Division rivals who are in front of our boys in the playoff chase. The Isles have 4 games remaining against the Rangers, 3 vs. the Flyers, and two each with Jersey and Pittsburgh.