Splat, boring, ugly, no passion, choose whichever term you want or all of them as they pretty much descrive last night's snooze-fest at MSG. I think Rick Carpinello summed up perfectly: "this game is what a lot more games are going to look like once realignment takes place. Fewer four-point, playoff-implication games. Relatively emotionless games, quiet buildings, empty seats (there weren’t many last night, to be fair). Games where it doesn’t matter if you give up the Bettman Bonus Point by going to OT."

The Rangers had very little juice last night, allowing Dallas to play their game, though it would be unfair to really say the Stars carried the action. The Stars came into the game 30th in the league in total offense, having scored just 13 goals in their last eight games and didn't do much in the contest. It was a passionless game on a Tuesday night at the Garden, resulting in a bad 1-0 loss. The one goal came on a flat-out stupid play by Jeff Woywitka, resulting in the goal by Trevor Daley.

Other than the loss, there were three things from this game that caught my eye.
1) Henrik Lundqvist had a scare midway through the second period when a blast from Dallas' Sheldon Souray caught him in a tender spot by the left shoulder just under the mask and above the left shoulder pad. Fortunately, it did not hit Lundqvist’s collarbone and he hopefully will be okay for Thursday, if there is any question, start Biron.

2) The charging penalty on Carl Hagelin was ridiculous. He got undercut at the faceoff by Richard Bachman. I understand the focus on protecting goalies, given what happened to Ryan Miller with Milan Lucic but really. In the immortal words of Chris Carter, c’mon man.

3) The continuing fall of Brandon Dubinsky. As Jimbo and others know, I have been a huge Dubi supporter, even through his struggles this year. That support is waning. Torts played him with Cally and Richards yesterday and someone he seemed to regress. Maybe it’s the contract, the slump, the inability to stay up on his own two feet, but he is far from earning his contract this year. One possible solution may be on the verge of coming. Coach John Tortorella said yesterday that Mike Rupp, who has been out of the lineup since October 24 and underwent surgery on his left knee, has been cleared for contact and soon could return to the lineup, possibly Thursday in St. Louis or Saturday in Phoenix. It may be time for tough love. For all the talking about who Rupp would play for, Avery or EC, my view on this is that Torts should sit Dubi when Rupp is ready. Maybe time in the press box would help him and for those worried about the PK, move Hagelin up to play with Cally on the first unit.

Tim Erixon was called up today. Last year, Ryan McDonagh was promoted on January 7, stuck for the season and taken another step forward this year. The hope for all of us is that Erixon does the same. Look for him to replace Woywitka on Thursday. When/if Sauer returns, if Erixon is playing well, he will stick, strengthening the D core.

24/7 starts tonight and most of the focus, rightly so, has been on Dan Girardi as the possible breakout star, something I believe we all predicted when we saw the preview. From what we have seen (http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=606266), seeing how MDZ really was after his crash into the boards and behind the scenes on the AA sniper celebration should be interesting and on the Philly side, the news on Pronger and Giroux and how the team handled those as well as how 24/7 portrays it could prove to be grist for the mill at the NHL.

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