Dennis Schneidler-Imagn ImagesJust when you think the Rangers' plight could not get worse, guess what? It did last night at The Garden and might even get worse-er tonight at UBS Arena in Elmont.
"The Islanders would like nothing better than to fully pass the Rangers in the standings," says The Old Scout. "A win tonight would do the trick."
New York losing 8-5 to the equally abysmal Flyers, betrayed the usual flaws in Peter Laviolette's team. Even worse: the usually reliable – new Mister Ranger, if you can believe that – Jonathan Quick turned into Mister Un, as in Unreliable.
Not that there weren't (ahem) bright spots.
Bright Spot One; The skating deejay Mika Zibanejad got four assists and third star of the game. That gave him a free ticket to another post-game interview which – if we've heard it once – we've heard a thousand times. (Even Mika admits it's tiresome.)
Bright Spot Two: Magical Matt Rempe got to play. The good news is that he didn't fall down in a fight and he didn't get suspended.
Bright Spot Three: Adam Fox promises that he and his mates "will show up" against the Isles. (Adam's promise, of course, is contingent on the Blueshirt Bus finding the palatial arena.)
Without the help of his Analytics Army, coach Peter Laviolette delivered this deathless quote: "We're still there!"
The Maven's question: Is there a "There" there?
Here's a better one from Manhattan tax guru Noam Kogen, who goes biblical and funny simultaneously:
"The difference between Elijah The Prophet and the Rangers is that Elijah drinks from the cup each year – unlike the Rangers who's drunk from it once since 1940!"