Blue Notes

A five-piece brass band performed excellent versions of the American and Canadian national anthems at the Bell Centre Tuesday night. Reminded me a bit of the musicians at a New Orleans jazz funeral.

As you know, the Rangers played the part of the corpse in some of the second and all of the third period, losing their intensity with a 5-0 lead. When they survived the second period up 5-2, I though they might have changed the momentum.

Nope. The third and fourth goals had me thinking they would lose in regulation.

You've read the quotes from some players and the coach about lessons learned. No need for me to provide some more. As Renney said, the blame falls from the bench on out.

Fans should hope the troubling, bitter taste lasted through this off day.

Imagine if the worst meltdown in the 81-year history of the Rangers happened at Madison Square Garden instead of Montreal. Imagine if the Rangers would have blown the five-goal lead and lost 6-5 in regulation on Broadway.

Maybe the debris wouldn't have rained down---I was totally surprised and disappointed by the littering of the ice---but the mood would have been black and the language many shades of blue.

The Rangers have no recourse but to shake off the memories of a night that started out as a walk in the park and ended in a shootout humiliation by the Canadiens, who swarmed like the Cleveland insects over Joba Chamberlain last fall.

Bear in mind, the players and coaches will have psychoanalyzed themselves before meeting for practice tomorrow in Westchester. That's because in the final 30 minutes of the game---which will be remembered as the greatest comeback in the 99-year saga of the Canadiens---more questions were raised than answered:

* Why not summon a winger from Hartford rather than use defenseman Jason Strudwick as the fourth-line right wing with Colton Orr out with the flu? The Rangers were also missing Petr Prucha, whose sprained shoulder is restricting his shooting, and Marcel Hossa, assigned to the AHL for conditioning. Against the speedy Canadiens, the 32-year-old Strudwick couldn't keep up, yet that line was on the ice for the two Mike Ryder goals that started the comeback.

* Marc Staal was weakened from a week-long bout with the flu and the defense failed to adequately cover the slot and clear the zone. But is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist intimidated by teams who charge the crease and maintain position there? If so, the Rangers have to address that need by Tuesday's trade deadline and acquire a no-nonsense defenseman. And a couple more third-period saves by Lundqvist could've stopped the bleeding.

* Veterans Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan moved up the scoring charts---Jagr into 10th place in career points with four assists and Shanahan with his 19th season of 20 or more goals---but Martin Straka (one shot in 16:57) and defenseman Michal Rozsival struggled in the third period and Nigel Dawes was pretty much invisible.

* The Rangers had been winning faceoff battles. Not Tuesday night; the Canadiens won 62 percent.

* Did the ferociously loud crowd un-nerve the Rangers---who dressed eight players age 25 or under? If so, earplugs might help because these games are reaching playoff-level intensity.

The Canadiens, tied for first in the East, received a major boost in confidence; the Rangers were rattled, but had chances in overtime and the shootout. Can't explain Shanny's bizarre attempt, Jagr needs to shoot, not stickhandle and Drury was an odd choice, except that he's been hot.

Nothing else to say; with 20 games left, the Rangers can't afford any similar lapses.