Dominant Second Period Enough For Rangers To Extend Winning Streak To Three

The Rangers scored four straight goals during the second period held on for a 4-3 win over Pittsburgh. The win extended Rangers winning streak to three games and making another early statement in the Eastern Conference.

Callahan started the Rangers scoring and Mitchell, Richards and Gaborik followed to turn a 1-0 deficit into what seemed like a comfortable 4-1 lead.

The Penguins gained life when Evgeni Malkin scored with 6.1 seconds remaining before the second intermission. That momentum carried over to the start of the third as Pascal Dupuis cut the Rangers lead down to one, but New York held on.

• The power play converted twice, which is a positive, but failures to convert on multiple 5-on-3 advantages cost them the ability to put the game away.
• Del Zotto was a disaster all night.
• Hagelin was noticeable again and his pass on Mitchell's goal was top quality.
• Credit the Rangers offensive stars for stepping up in a big game.

Rangers' Marc Staal Back Skating

Katie Strang of ESPN New York is reporting that New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal has begun skating lightly on his own.  Staal is continuing to progress in his recovery after resuming light workouts earlier this month following a full month shut down period.   The fact that Staal was able to resume light workouts with no ill effects that he can now be back on the ice is extremely positive.  That said, there still a long ways for him to go before he is anywhere near ready to play in a game for New York this season.  Staal is checking off one step at a time and with hopefully there will be no setbacks on the road ahead.

Photo: Boomer and Carton Wearing Winter Classic Jerseys

This morning the twitter for Boomer and Carton's WFAN radio show tweeted out a picture of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton wearing New York Rangers 2012 Winter Classic Jerseys.

Obviously they have connections that many others don't so they were able to get theirs now instead of waiting until Dec 5 when the jerseys go on-sale through MSG, NHL.com and the NHL store.

War of Words Between Rangers' Dubinsky, Flyers' Shelley Adds Intrigue To HBO 24/7

The appeal to fans of HBO’s 24/7 that leads up to NHL Winter Classic is the behind the scenes access it gives them to the teams and players they follow.  Beyond practices and the locker room access there can be a more candid conversation by the players about what they think about other people in the league.  That side of it is out in full force in the past week as Flyer forward Jody Shelley and Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky are having a war of words.

During the preview show for the 24/7 Flyers-Rangers series last week Jody Shelley had choice words for what he thinks of Dubinsky and his game…

Brandon Dubinsky plays like a little weasel. He's a guy you like to get at.

Dubinsky, never bashful for a juicy quote, responded yesterday in talking with Pat Leonard of the NY Daily News:

"First of all, if I was him, I'd keep my mouth shut if I don't play, especially since I never see him on the ice," Dubinsky said of Shelley, who has played in only 10 of Philadelphia's 23 games this season. "He's usually just yapping from the bench, and I guess now he's yapping from behind the video camera. So that's about all I have to say."

But that was not all Dubinsky had to say.

"Jody Shelley - it won't be long before he's out of the league, because he's a terrible hockey player," he added.

This is the kind of stuff that HBO and the NHL wants to drive up interest in the show along with the sport, but this is not something that will go over well with Rangers’ coach John Tortorella.  Tortorella does not seem to be too keen on his players spouting in the media, especially when Dubinsky is struggling to find his own game this season.  It is fun for fans to read this kind of stuff and it is part of what intrigues about 24/7 as a series, but now is not the time for Dubinsky to be getting drawn into a war of words as he sits on the fourth line himself.  More focus from Dubinsky on reclaiming his spot in the top six of the Rangers forward lineup would be better served than worrying about what a fourth line goon had to say about him. The best way for Dubinsky to shut Shelley and everyone else up would be to put a hurting on the Flyers where it counts; the scoreboard.