- Edmonton 3 Rangers 2 (shootout): Pinching defensemen have become a vital part of the Rangers’ offense and Dan Girardi showed that again Saturday. With New York stymied offensively and losing 1-0 midway in the third, Girardi came in and put the puck on net. The bounce was odd, but the result was good as the Rangers tied the game at 1.
Unfortunately for New York, Ryan Hollweg took a stupid boarding penalty and his five-minute major penalty combined with Martin Staraka’s holding penalty resulted in a 5-on-3 advantage for the Oilers. Edmonton converted and their second power-play goal of the game looked like it would hold up. But, Sean Avery drew a big penalty late in the third and with the goaltender pulled, the Rangers converted with six second left in the game, thanks to Chris Drury and after overtime, things headed to a shootout.
Avery was blanked, but Sam Gagner scored for Edmonton. The next two skaters missed which put the pressure on Jagr to keep things going for New York. His wrist shot was blocked and Edmonton got the win while the Rangers earned their only point of the road trip.
- Houston 103 Knicks 91: They made a game of it, but a 27-13 deficit after the first quarter was too much to overcome. Nate Robinson had 25 points before fouling out and Zach Randolph had a huge game in his return from his suspension. But, it wasn’t enough and the Knicks have now lost seven-straight. But don’t fret, you can always sing about things.
- Colorado 2 Islanders 1: Did Rick DiPietro drop down too soon or did Marek Savtos just find the only possible open part of the net? It’s debatable, but without DiPietro’s effort, the Islanders wouldn’t have even earned a point. He stopped 37 shots, even with the white pads.
- Nets 113 Atlanta 107: The Hawks took the early lead, but New Jersey stormed back behind Vince Carter’s 29 points. Bostjan Nachbar had some big buckets in the fourth quarter and Jason Kidd had a triple-double.
- Boston 4 Devils 3: The Bruins jumped out to a 3-1 lead and then hung on for life in a wild third period that saw New Jersey close to within one, but no closer.
