It's time to scheisse, or get off the crapper

I've been trying not to post about hockey all the time, but with the Rangers' season on the line tonight I can't help myself. Down 3-0 The Rangers will try to at least save face by winning tonight and avoiding the sweep at the hands of the swift skating Penguins.

Before previewing tonight’s action let’s take a look at the other series. In Game 4 in Philly, the Flyers continued to upset the Canadiens fans by defeating the #1 seed by a score of 4-2. Carey Roy Dryden Christ Price sat for the first time in these playoffs in an attempt to spark the team to a win. The Canadiens came up just short and now head back to Montreal facing elimination. Seeing what the fans did after winning Game 7 against the Bruins, this may be the last we see of the city of Montreal.

The Sharks prolonged the inevitable by defeating the Stars 2-1 from goals by captain and last year’s playoff goat, Patrick Marleau, and Milan Michalek. Marleau has played well in these playoffs even after getting laid out by Calgary’s Corey Sarich. He’s definitely shown up this spring, but Joe Thornton remains to be MIA. Surprise, surprise. Picked by many in the preseason as favorites to come out of the Western Conference the Sharks are looking at another short spring which should make for an interesting Spring Cleaning in the front office and of their roster.

In tonight’s action, both the Rangers and Avalanche look to prolong elimination as both teams are down 3-0 in their respective series. Both teams suffer from injuries to important players making their task that much harder. The injuries to both rosters are well documented, but kudos to both Chris Drury and Sean Avery by epitomizing the hockey player mentality and soldiering through painful injuries in the third period on Tuesday night. Drury remains in the line-up tonight, but rookie Lauri Korpikoski will replace Blair Betts on the fourth line. Last season in Game 6 versus the Sabres, Tom Renney inserted Nigel Dawes into the lineup in an effort to jump start the offense. Korpikoski, a former first round pick, only needs to play a calm and solid game to replace Betts. The team is saying all the right things, that it’s a chance to make history, they believe in each other, blah blah blah, but down 3-0 to a team that has beaten you every which way possible does not look promising.