The Rangers meet the Flyers at MSG tonight. Action on ice will likely take a back seat to what is happening in the press box. John Davidson will join Sam Rosen to broadcast the game for TNT, which certainly should be more interesting that the game itself.

Montreal won again Tuesday, all but clinching a playoff berth. The tragic number I believe is three, so any combination of points by the Habs or missed points by New York and the Canadiens will eliminate the Rangers. Our neighbors to the North have raised their games and compete level while the Blueshirts have regressed, continuing their downward spiral.

First, the lineup. Gabe Perreault is a healthy scratch, replaced by Brett Berard, who returns to the lineup. Couple this move with Perreault and Brennan Othmann lining up in the bottom six due to match ups Monday and you can see why the fanbase is up in arms. Both on the face of it make sense given that New York is technically in playoff contention. I use the term technically because it’s tenuous and hanging by a thread at best.

As I tweeted and said in the comments to my prior blog, if Perreault is scratched when they are officially eliminated, then I will go ballistic. Because at that point it’s all about growth and that will only happen with ice time. There would be no reason not to play all the kids in the top nine and on the first power play unit.

Second, Sam and JD back together. Good job by TNT making this happen as well as both teams allowing the pairing. Same with the Rangers using it’s a power play goal before Joe Tolleson called Mika’s goal on the public address system Monday. Most Rangers fans who are tuning in tonight are doing so just hear that duo together. It’s a perfect coda to Sam’s career after the Rangers spit the bit with sending him out with a post season berth. At least we get to hear that duo one more time.

The question all of us are pondering is how quickly a change will be made once the team is eliminated. My view is possibly even before the season ends. How deep and wide ranging remains to be seen. But it’s clear there is a culture issue permeating the locker room and organization.

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