The Rangers goalie #30 Henrik Lundqvist shows his frustration after another fantastic performance in net.Henrik stopped 32 out of 33 shots but let up the game winning goal to the Senators who followed with an empty net goal for a 2-0 win.
This picture belongs to ESPN.com
Former Ranger #27 Alexei Kovalev was the main reason for Ottawa's victory over New York with his brilliant talent for creating the big play when it matters most.
Alex was a big part of the 1994 New York Rangers who went on to win the Stanley Cup that year, and as far as I'm concerned is missed big time.
I will never understand why you would ever let a player of that caliber go especially when years ago he was first traded to a division rival the Pittsburgh Penguins he flourished in the spotlight there.
After that when the Rangers got him back they ended up trading him to the Montreal Canadians where he went on to have an excellent career gaining the respect from the Canadian Hockey fans.
During this past off season he signed with the Ottawa Senators although he started off slow he has picked up his play in previous weeks.
Earlier this month in a 7-4 win over Philadelphia he managed to score four goals, and has scored 30 points in 45 games this year with 11 goals.
For a player like this you expect more goals, but I have said it for many years he is not a numbers guy until the playoffs arrive.
In 112 playoff games A. Kovalev has 95 points with 42 goals proving why he is a valuable asset to any team that he represents.
In last night's game Alex put up 9 shots on goal but with over a minute left in the 3rd period set up #14 Chris Campoli's 3rd goal of the year.
A. Kovalev held the puck in the offensive zone and from the blueline made a quick pass to New York's right side for a quick goal to turn the tables in the drop of a hat.
Now what I am surprised about is that the NHL officials missed two potential penalties on the Senators prior to the goal which would have given the Rangers a major opportunity.
First behind New York's own net #42 Artem Anismov was hit up high, and in front of the Senators net #10 Marian Gaborik was tripped which should have resulted in two penalties.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised because this has been going on a long time it has driven many fans to just simply not watch the game.
The other night they were playing the New Jersey Devils in a 0-0 game between two of the best goal tenders in the league with the Devils #30 Martin Brodeur being a future hall of famer.
I have direct TV so they don't have the versus channel anymore the Rangers were scheduled to play on ESPN but were pulled for a NCAA Basketball game, I was definitely shocked by that.
Has Hockey gone down that much? Is a college game more important than watching the pros?
Stuff like that should never happen and it is entirely the National Hockey League's fault, you cannot blame ESPN if they cannot find a way to market them.
When you go around letting referees carry out personal vendettas then you are not going to boost your ratings most people are going to flip the channel.
Fans want to see the competition they do not want to see the officials effect the outcome when they are paying to see great action.
In any professional sport you have to give the fans what they come to see, and in Hockey they do not want to see it become a sissy sport.
Anyway hopefully on channel 11 the Rangers will be taking on the St Louis Blues on Saturday at 8:00 pm eastern time, lets hope that game doesn't get pulled for a college event.
Are the referees going to be the contributor to another Ranger's loss? Who knows? I don't know how much more obvious it can be.
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