Daneyko's down day

Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko got popped pretty good by Manny Malhotra in the third period of Saturday's 5-5 tie. But he had enough sense to admit his memory was stilll good. "I'm not a happy camper," said Daneyko, who was jumped by Manny Malhotra after Daneyko inadvertantly elbowed Eric Lacroix in the head during the third period. Malhotra tussled with Daneyko and then dropped him with a haymaker to the face. "He popped me good, no doubt about that. But I have a good memory." That last phrase hinted that Malhotra should see a fair amount of Daneyko the next time these teams meet. The punch literally knocked Daneyko out of the game, but afterward, he said that was more because he twisted his left knee during the scuffle and didn't want to risk it. Whether or not that's typical NHL injury deflection -- or pride-induced repression -- remains to be seen. But Daneyko was visibly upset about what happened. "I was just trying to clear the puck," he said. In fact, Daneyko didn't even know what happened, and coach Larry Robinson could be seen after the game explaining to Daneyko why Malhotra -- who's hardly considered an NHL ruffian -- went after Daneyko. Malhotra, however, honestly ackowledged what happened. "I just saw Eric in a little pain. I didn't see the entire play. I was just going in to stick up for Eric," Malhotra said. Message to Manny: You better hope someone sticks up for you next time the Devils are in town.

NEW YORK -- Matinees in the NHL are snoozers more often than not. The players' body clocks are more accustomed to the rapid-eye movement of game-day naps than rapid-fire shots in warmups. The games usually are low-scoring affairs and rarely get exciting until late.

Not so in Saturday's 5-5 OT tie between the Rangers and Devils. Credit the rivalry. Or the Rangers' 20-game winless streak against New Jersey -- now 21. In a way, none of those were as big a factor as the simple fact that, entering the game, the Rangers were a desperate team. They carried an 0-5-0-1 skid into Saturday, while the Devils hadn't lost in nine games.

If the Rangers didn't play with playoff intensity, it had the potential for embarassment.

So, the Rangers shocked the Devils by jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Sandy McCarthy fought Jim McKenzie twice ... in the first 12 minutes. The Devils fell behind 3-1 before storming back to tie it 3-3 heading into the first intermission.

Six goals and two fights in one period is better than 90 percent of all NHL afternoon games.

"Obviously, there was a lot of emotion in the game," said Rangers coach Ron Low. " It started right off the bat with Sandy. There were all kinds of things that happened in the hockey game. It was a tough, very intense game, and it was a game we dearly needed."

There was a little lull in the second -- fans were at least one beer run behind, and the players settled down a bit from the initial adrenalin high. But then, things went wild again. A few more highlights: