NEW YORK, NY – Last night the Giants had a chance to book their ticket to the postseason and make the Cowboys sweat a little heading into their last two games of the season. All they had to do was beat the Buddy Diaz’s lowly Philadelphia Eagles. But before the Philly faithful were finished booing Santa, the G-Men were down two touchdowns.
The Giants made it a game, but Eli’s three interceptions on the night made it a bridge too far for Big Blue. It was a typical Giants loss. Interceptions, bad defensive penalties on third down, a sulking Eli, the works. The Jints still have the inside track to make the playoffs, but losing to a team with nothing to play for does not bode well for McAdoo’s Marauders heading into the playoffs. The Cowboys could do them a solid by beating the Lions Monday night.
But there are other ways for the Giants to clinch. They’ll need to play a much cleaner game and steer clear of the turnovers if they’re going to make a run in the playoffs. They have another trap game next weekend against the Washington Redskins. They should be looking to make a statement in that game, but chances are it goes a lot like last night’s game. Let’s hope the extra rest before next week’s game helps out the Giants and gets them in a playoff mindset.
On the ice, the Rangers are coming off of an absolute shellacking at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. So far this season the Penguins have made the Rangers look like ECHL cellar dwellers. The saddest part of the 7-2 loss to the Penguins Tuesday night is that Antti Raanta didn’t play that poorly. He was hung out to dry by his defensemen on multiple occasions and was unfortunate to be on the end of such an ugly scoreline. It didn’t help that Rick Nash didn’t play. That nagging groin injury is back and it will keep him out of the lineup again tonight against Minnesota. The Blueshirts need to get healthy. Mika Zibanejad has been out for a month with a broken leg. But he’s out of the cast and walking again. Hopefully he’ll be back in the lineup in a couple of weeks.
Nash’s injury is more worrisome. The Rangers need to let the groin fully heal. Nash is the best two-way player on the team and he’s been great so far this season. The Blueshirts need him as close to healthy as possible going forward. Give Nash some extra recovery time now and it may pay off come April or May.
The Broadway Blues still need some help on defense. If they can get healthy and solidify the back end, they’ll be in fine shape to make a deep push in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference seems especially deep this season. The usual suspects like the Penguins and Habs are there. But this year teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets (currently leading the Metropolitan Division) and Ottawa Senators are making a strong case for playoff berths. There’s a long way to go until the playoffs but it should be fun.
Thats it for me today. Leave a comment below and come back tomorrow for Junoir Blaber.
