Rangers come out of triple over time alive.

In a game that began on Wednesday night and ended Thursday morning, the New York Rangers came out of TRIPLE over-time alive. To be fair, both the Rangers and the Capitals put on a hockey clinic tonight, especially their goalies. Most people get winded going up a flight of stairs, these men battled it out for SIX periods of hockey. That's two entire regulation games played in one night. I'm just glad my team got out of it alive...well, mostly alive. There were a lot of shots taken...some to the face:

Dan Girardi took a high stick from teammate Henrik Lundqvist and had to get seven stitches in his face. He was back on the ice a few minutes later, though. True warrior.

Then, Brian Boyle took a puck to his jaw and required seven stitches as well.

The team collectively blocked 81 shots tonight. Keep that in mind the next time a baseball player is out with a "bruised finger" or something equally as stupid.

Late into the second over time, Mike Rupp had a good scoring chance but it was literally kicked away by Brian Boyle. Boyle apologized to Rupp afterwards. True gentleman.

For awhile I thought I would be having nightmares about that missed chance, but...enter: Marian Gaborik. I thought we would have to file a missing persons report for Gabby, actually. He's been notably absent since the first game of the series against the SENATORS. But he showed up tonight and he showed up when it counted most:

John Tortorella said after the game he credits the win to a mentally tough team. But he said it right, it's only one game. The difference is we have to win two games and Washington has to win three. Gotta love a coach that keeps it in perspective.

The Rangers will sleep well tonight and have a few days to rest until the next game on Saturday but for now, Ranger fans will rejoice in a victory thats sure to be much talked about...

Because These Commercials Suck.

This year the NHL changed up their promos for the Stanley Cup playoffs away from "History will be made..." to "Because it's the Cup." In theory, these commercials should work. The cinematography is beautiful. The music is good. So what, you may be asking, is the problem with these commercials? The narration completely SUCKS. These commercials sound like they're being narrated by a complete DWEEB. They needed to find somebody with an EPIC voice. Case and point, the Rangers "Because its the Cup" commercial. Awesome commercial when you block out the annoying narrators voice.

What they really needed was the guy who narrated 24/7 to do these commercials. Case and point:

Had these commercials had the same or a similar voice-over, they'd be epic. 

John Tortorella for the Jack Adams.

Look at this man. How can he NOT be nominated for coach of the year?

Last week, the NHL announced it's three finalists for the Jack Adams award which is awarded at the end of the season to the NHLs best coach. Now, you don't have to win the cup to win the Jack Adams but lets just hope by the time the NHL Awards come around, John Tortorella has that feather in his cap... Anyway, up against Tortorella are Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues and Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators. Many experts feel that Hitchchock is a favorite for digging St. Louis out of a hole and turning them into a premier hockey club this year, but here are my two reasons why John Torotrella is the dark horse in this Jack Adams race.

1. Last year, the Rangers struggled to get 90 or more points. The only reason why we made a post-season appearance was because by default: the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes (whom we were jockeying for position with) and that was our golden ticket in. Our appearance was brief, needless to say.

This year, the Rangers sat atop the NHL standings for the majority of the regular season, finishing FIRST in the east and second in the NHL. QUITE the turn around from last years dismal season, wouldn't you say? Oh and he did this all battling key injuries on the team all year long.

2. Nobody had more pressure on him than John Tortorella. In the off-season, the Rangers brought on board Brad Richards. Richards won the cup with Tortorella in Tampa and he's regarded as one of the best players in the leauge. Brad Richards waived his no trade clause to come to New York and be with Johnny T. That's a lot of pressure for both parties -- would this trade pay off? How would Richards fit in amongst the likes of Marian Gaborik, Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan?

Second, due to much needed renovations at the Garden, the Rangers started their season with a looooooong trip to Europe. As if being on the road that long in a different country isn't difficult enough for a hockey team, they returned to the United States only to go on a long tour of Western Canada. It took the team awhile to get into a rhythm but eventually they did and they never looked back...That deserves some series credit.

And to add even more pressure from the media, Tortorella lead his team to a Winter Classic victory over rivals Philadelphia Flyers with HBO Camera crews in tow the entire way. He kept his team together and composed through that entire circus.

Bottom line, Hitchcock and MacLean are both deserving nominees -- don't get me wrong. but I think you really have to take into account what John Tortorella has done for the Rangers and the city of New York. There's a reason his team will skate through walls for him, there's a reason his players feel so strongly about him even when the media wants to pin him as an abrupt, rude asshole. He's propelled the team from the very bottom to the top...who knows, maybe he's turned New York into a hockey town again...