Thursday Roundup

1. All you can do is win your games, and we won ours two nights ago, keeping pace with the Bruins, who beat the Devils, and the Thrashers, who beat the Leafs. We didn't play a particularly stellar game, but we did win it. Then, the Habs lost for us last night, so the picture looks like this:

6. Philly - 82, 6 GR
7. Boston - 82, 6 GR
8. Montréal - 82, 5 GR
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9. Atlanta - 80, 5 GR
10. RANGERS - 78, 6 GR

2. Michal Rozsival is our best defenseman these days. That is not a comforting thing to say, but it is a fact. He's been totally solid. Sorry, Michal, you've totally lost your edge. Wade Redden continues to look like an asshole and lead directly to goals night in and night out, and you've been playing solidly for almost a month now. You're just no longer in the Albatross running. Thanks for competing.

3. Meanwhile, Vinnie Prospal has been playing better hockey lately. I've said repeatedly that if he comes as cheap as he did this season, I would absolutely re-sign him next year. The potential to see what we saw from him before his surgery is worth that, and it's been resurfacing some. That's awesome. Voros and Parenteau have both been fantastic, which makes me again wonder why they can't crack the lineup when people aren't injured. Torts always talks about Voros like this great guy who adds this whole new physical dimension to the game - it sounds a lot like he suffers from Renney-itis, where you talk about coaching decisions as if you're not the one who makes them. If Voros gets such a bad rap, maybe you should consider giving him a different one?

4. I want to make something clear, here. A few days ago, I posted a thing about how great Lundqvist is, and how blaming him for the loss in Toronto is missing the point. I want to be clear that this does not mean I am in Coach Tortorella's "play Hank no matter what" camp. Lundqvist has started way too much recently. We have played 14 hockey games in 29 days since we picked up Real Backup Alex Auld, and Auld has played zero seconds of hockey as a Ranger. Hank is clearly fatigued, he's carrying the team on his back, and it's stupid: if we can't beat one of these bottom-feeding teams we're playing with Auld in net, then what exactly do we think we're going to do in the playoffs? It's ridiculous, and the worst part is I think Torts is doing it for the wrong reasons. When your coach is asked about a goalie like Henrik Lundqvist, and his answer is "I love it that he gets pissed off when he makes a mistake, he's such a competitor," maybe someone is focusing on the wrong things. I sure hope making the right decision for the team outweighs rewarding a guy for being hard on himself. I sure hope I see Auld in net in Florida at some point this weekend.

5. Tonight is as big a night as it gets for us, without us actually playing any hockey (we next play, as alluded to above, tomorrow night and the following night, at the Bolts and the Cats, respectively). The Bruins are facing the Panthers, the Flyers are out on Long Island, and the Thrashers are in Washington, all at 7:00. That's a lot of points on the table for teams right in front of us. Tonight could put some nails in our coffin, and there's nothing we can do about it. So: Let's Go Caps, Let's Go Cats, and Potvin Sucks...I mean, um, Let's Go Islanders...I guess.

6. Finally, it's April Fools' Day, my favorite holiday-that-I-always-forget-to-actually-celebrate-in-any-way. As such, it is also The Internet Does a Bunch of Dumb Shit Day. Among this year's Dumb Shit, YouTube has announced a new resolution for super-low-bandwidth connections: TEXTp.