Briefly:

… The Rangers are ninth in the East with a 14-13-1 record and 29 points, just one behind the 8th-place Lightning.

… They’re 3-3-0 in their last six and 1-3-0 in their last four.

… They won in Buffalo last night 2-1.

… Marian Gaborik has had a heck of a start to the season, having posted 21 goals in 26 games. He accounts for a quarter of the Rangers’ offense. Vinny Prospel and Ales Kotalik are next on the team with 6 goals each. Needless to say, Gaborik is hugely important to this team. Makes his Minnesota years look pretty wasted, eh?

… Henrik Lundqvist will start for the Rangers. He’s 12-10-1 with a 2.66 GAA and .913 save-percentage this season.

… The Rangers are without Donald Brashear, Brandon Dubinsky, and Wade Redden due to injury.

… The Wings are on the second game of a two-stop road trip that began last night in New Jersey. The infamous father trip kicked off with a 4-3 SO loss.

… I wasn’t able to watch the game, but I caught the highlights on On the Fly. I was less than impressed with Osgood’s goaltending. Apparently rather than coming back motivated, he came back rusty. Now the Wings have two goalies who have laid eggs in their most recent outings. Fun.

… It was good to see that the Wings battled back and earned a point, but it’s frustrating that they had to do it in the first place. A better start tonight is important.

… Brian Rafalski sat out last night with a sore back. Patrick Eaves was back in, though he had to leave briefly to get some repairs done to his face after he went into the boards head-first. It looks like Eaves is okay, but Rafalski probably won’t be in.

… May was a healthy scratch last night and could be back in tonight.

… Jimmy Howard will get the start.

… The Wings need to pull this one out. It’s as simple as that. It’s time to stop screwing around and to get serious about this season.