Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.
1. Roger McDowell was the second spitter in an episode of Seinfeld.
2. Doug Heffernan once asked his father-in-law, Arthur, to make him a candle shaped like Rusty Staub on the King of Queens.
3. Many members of the 1969 Mets once appeared in an episode of  Everybody Loves Raymond.
4. On an episode of the Simpsons, Whitey Ford was pelted with pretzels at a Springfield Isotopes game. Homer then suggests renaming the pretzels Whitey Whackers.
5. Fictitious Met Chico Escuela (played by Garrett Morris) regularly appeared on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.
6. Former Giant Fred Dryer starred in the TV show Hunter in the 1980s….

Over the years, New York athletes have appeared on TV, in movies and even recorded some really bad music. See how much you know about New York sports in popular culture. The answers will be posted tomorrow.
1. Who was the second spitter in an episode of Seinfeld?
2. On the King of Queens, Doug Heffernan once asked his father-in-law, Arthur, to make him a candle shaped like what New York Met?
3. Members of what championship New York team appeared in an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond?
4. On an episode of the Simpsons, what Yankee pitcher was pelted by pretzels at a baseball game?
5. What fictitious Met regularly appeared on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update?
6. What former New York …

It was Kids’ Day at the Garden this afternoon, but the game turned into a nightmare, as the Rangers were booed off the ice, losing to the Panthers, 4-0. If the Rangers were hoping to recruit a new generation of hockey fans, this wasn’t the game to do it. They were lucky they weren’t pelted with Wiggles coloring books when they left the ice.

The first period saw a wide-open, back-and-forth game, and the Rangers had plenty of chances to score. Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury all had great opportunities to put the puck in the net, but all failed. In the second period, the game turned quickly and Florida took complete control. They scored their first goal on a breakaway when Marc Staal fell down and Michal Rozsival was left in the dust in the Rangers’ offensive end. And about five minutes later Florida scored two more goals in the span of 12 seconds. I didn’t even have time to finish yelling at the TV after …

For the second game in a row the Rangers went to a shootout down in Florida, and for the second game in a row they won, this time beating the Panthers, 4-3. They’re using the shootout as a crutch. If they blow a late-game lead - like they’ve done the last two games now - they know they’ll win if they can survive overtime, because they have a not-so-secret weapon: Henrik Lundqvist. He’s only allowed two goals in 17 shootout atttempts, and the Blueshirts are 6-1 in shootouts.

The Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. The romp was on. Ok, the romp wasn’t on. That’s two consecutive games that they’ve had an early lead. It’s a brand-new world for them, and I’m not sure if they know what to do with it. Nikloai Zherdev got New York on the board first with his eighth goal of the season. That gives him a goal, five assists and a fight in his last …

Now that’s more like it. The Rangers put the last couple of disasters behind them, and whipped the Winnipeg Jets, er Phoenix Coyotes, 4-1. Scott Gomez was back on the ice. Henrik Lundqvist was back in the net. And the Blueshirts were back to actually trying to win.

The Brandon Dubinsky/Nikolai Zherdev/Markus Naslund line had it going on in this one. Zherdev had three assists, and his world-class talent was on display all game long. With Wayne Gretzky looking on from behind the Coyotes’ bench, Zherdev played like the Great One tonight. If only he could do this every night. He was stickhandling and zipping passes all over the ice. Dubinsky recorded a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (not to be confused with a Michal Rozsival Hat Trick: giving up a shorthanded goal on a turnover, committing a stupid penalty leading to a power play goal and having your pants fall down at center ice). The center scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, which was his first …

Getting off to a good start was a priority for the Rangers in their match up in Ottawa. How’s this for a rousing beginning to a game? They were killing penalties for the first six out of eight minutes. They didn’t get a shot off until roughly 13 minutes into the first period. Chris Drury and Michal Rozsival let Dany Heatley skate right between to set up a Jason Spezza goal to fall behind 1-0. They were flatfooted, lifeless, had no aggression, no energy, no nothing. They just flat out stunk. And they deservedly lost, 4-1.

Coming off the disaster against Vancouver, you’d think the Rangers would show a little more effort and heart. But you’d be wrong. With the exception of their goaltending and penalty killing, they’re not particularly good at anything, so if they don’t out-work the other team, they’re going to lose. And they didn’t even come close to out-working the Senators. Were they mesmerized by Ottawa’s new alternate jersey? That’s the only excuse I can think of. …

The Rangers left Henrik Lundqvist out to dry. And then he did the same to them. After giving up five goals, he had enough and pulled himself from the game. He couldn’t get out of that nightmare fast enough. Can you blame him? So much for the goaltending matchup of the century between the King and Roberto Luongo. Who knew the best netminder on the ice would be Stephen Valiquette? The final score was 6-3, but it wasn’t really that close.
This is what the Rangers look like when Lundqvist isn’t there to bail them out. The turnovers are becoming a broken record. The breakdowns and mistakes keep on coming. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Rangers are on the power play, a forward passes the puck back to the point, the defenseman mishandles said puck, the opponent saunters down the ice and scores. Last night it was Wade Redden who …

Henrik Lundqvist is great in regulation. He’s great in overtime. He’s great in the shootout. And unlike Donovan McNabb, he actually knows the rules: there are no ties in hockey, only in the NFL. He made 27 saves and led the Rangers to another come-from-behind, shootout victory, beating Ottawa 2-1. Hank has now let in two goals or fewer in 12 consecutive games. Unbelievable. Last night’s victory was his league-leading 12th win of the year. His positioning is impeccable. He’s always in the right place. Remember suffering through the Mike Dunham era (who was always in the wrong place)? And the highlight-reel saves are piling up for the King also.
As for the game itself, it was kind of a nothing-special, ho-hum affair. Jarkko Ruutu spiced things up, though, by running at Rangers players, hitting them late and leaving his feet on his checks. Aaron Voros gave him a nice little crosscheck to …

Thanks, Devils. They seem to solve all the Rangers’ problems, don’t they? The Blueshirts defeated David Puddy’s favorite team (el diablo!) out at the Rock yet again, by a score of 5-2. New Jersey was sorely undermanned (John MacLean had to fill in and take a few shifts), but it still counts in the standings. It was the first time the Rangers faced the Devils franchise without Martin Brodeur in goal since they were the Kansas City Scouts back in 1976.

After (another) slow start and falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Blueshirts just completely turned it on in the second. New Jersey aided the Rangers immensely by having one player after another take turns sitting in the penalty box (four infractions in all in the second). New York ended up with two five-on-threes in the period and scored on both of them. That would be routine for most teams, but five-on-threes haven’t been the Rangers’ best friend this season. Michal Rozsival scored the first one, slapping it …

The Rangers played two games last night in their 3-2 shootout loss to Edmonton. They skated for the first 25 minutes or so in a nice deep sleep. There was no hitting, no pressure, no puck control, no hustling, no scoring. Then the alarm clock went off, and the hitting, hard work and (some) scoring miraculously arrived. But it wasn’t enough as they came out of the game with only one point.
After starting out the season 10-2-1, the Blueshirts have gone 1-3-1 in their last five games. Do we know what kind of team this is yet? They can’t seem to play a solid 60 minutes. They don’t score enough. They can barely score at all on the power play. They don’t always outwork the opponent. They get pushed around too easily. They don’t stick up for their goalie when he gets run over. They have too many defensive breakdowns. They turn the …

The Washington Capitals came out of the locker room, revved up their engine and ran over the Rangers. The Caps outhustled, outhit and outscored the Blueshirts, winning 3-1.

For the first half of the game, Washington steamrolled over the Rangers. The Blueshirts didn’t know what hit ‘em. They ran over Henrik Lundqvist twice (with no penalty called either time), and Alex Ovechkin ran over everybody (but especially Marc Staal). Lundqvist (25 saves) was the only thing keeping the game close. The Capitals scored a crazy, flukey goal to take a 1-0 lead in the first. The puck ricocheted off the crossbar, off the top of the glass, back down off the net, off Lundqvist’s head and then bounced off Brooks Laich’s stick into the net. You won’t see that again. Later in the period, Washington scored another controversial goal, when Tom Poti (ouch) put in a rebound after the goal post was dislodged from its mooring. The play was reviewed, and the goal was upheld, because the net was …

The big story in the Rangers 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay was the return of Marek Malik. He received a hero’s welcome, with the crowd drowning out the National Anthem with chants of ‘Marek! Marek!’ Tears streamed down his face, and the Garden faithful spent the game rooting for the Lightning to win because of their love for the former Ranger legend. Oops, that was Eddie Giacomin’s return. Malik was, of course, booed every time he touched the puck.
The real story was the power play. But first things first. Tampa Bay didn’t score while the Rangers were on the man advantage. And there was no third period meltdown. After dropping to 29th in the league, the Blueshirts scored three power play goals. They were less tentative, and quick to make decisions with the puck. On the first two power play goals, they were breaking into the zone, making quick, smart passes and scored …