Shipping Back From Boston With A Point, 4-3 Shootout Loss

Hey, hey, hey, Scotty Hockey here to keep things shrouded in darkness as TDR wanders the hallowed Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Hopefully he is taking everything in and getting his picture taken with the Stanley Cup because the way things look, that will be the closest a Ranger will get to the chalice this season.

The Rangers brought their dads with them to Boston and played one of their sloppiest games in recent memory, losing 4-3 in a shootout (official recap here, Scotty Hockey live blog here). If it was me playing in Boston with my dad watching, I woulda gotten a smack on the back of my head for every one of the gaffes. Hopefully Marek Malik's father doesn't believe in sparing the whip because the human pylon was atrocious in taking bad penalties, making ill-advised pass attempts and missing his coverage assignments throughout the game. Should he play in the second game of the home-and-home then the Garden crowd will likely burn him in effigy.

However, Malik wasn't the only Ranger to take a bad penalty, Boston had eight power plays and capitalized on two of them. Chuck Kobasew tied the game at three with his second goal of the game after one of those ill-advised Ranger penalties - a interference call on Paul Mara. Mara had a rough game, trying to make big plays and big hits to impress his hometown crowd.

While our loyal captain, Jaromir Jagr, has been plagued by stupid penalties all season long, his minor was a bad call late in the game (although he was partially at fault if you ask me). Luckily Boston did not score on it. Jagr did score a goal in the game, his 14th of the year. It was a true beauty and hearkened back to the days when he was the best player in the league.

Despite the incredulous decision to have a father's day trip weeks after Henrik Lundqvist's dad nearly died, the King's psyche held tough and he made one of his best performances of the year. He did give up both goals in the shootout which would be cause for concern but the second one came on a shot from Zdeno Chara that a brick wall would have trouble stopping. He can't let it get to him as we will need every spectacular kick save, dive and catch he can import from Sweden if we are to see the Rangers make the playoffs. But first small steps, he will need to win tomorrow if the Rangers are to keep pace in the East.