Devil lose on Purpose to hurt Rangers

Holy crap. We know New Jersey hates the Rangers with an undying passion. And we know that anything that keeps us out of the playoffs makes the Devils happy campers. And we know that they had no intention of beating the 8th place Philadelphia Flyers - because that would help our cause.

But come on guys, at least make it look good. Pretend to try. Play a little defense. Make a save or two - I mean your goalie, long long ago, used to be something of an all star.

Instead, the Devils practically escorted the Broad street Bullies to the net, and the best defensive team in hockey let up 5 goals and lost 5-1.

The Philly win hurts us. It puts the Flyers up 6 points on us with 7 left to play. It's Boston now that we're closest to - they lead us by 4 points and have a game at hand

On Tuesday the Devils take on the Bruins - and don't be surprised if they lay down again.

But in the meantime the Bruins play tonight. They host Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres. And so we will root for the Olympic MVP and our NY State cousins to the north.

Also of great interest on the scoreboard is Atlanta. They lead us by 2 points in 9th, and are hosting tonight the Carolina Hurricane - a team that took most of the year to climb out of last place in the East - but did so.

So go Hurricane. Go Sabres. And by Proxy - Let's Go Rangers.