Some of the “sports talk” radio stations around town are fond of asking the fans to declare their “turning point of game”. Whether that moment turned the game around for good or ill, it always seems to be discernable.

Last night’s loss was directly attributable to one bad decision and some poor play by Henrik Lundqvist. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Lundqvist let in a pretty soft one in Toronto’s first goal, he added insult to injury by coming out of his net to play the puck. He couldn’t get back into position in time and Toronto scored again.

That was the “turning point of the game”. The air went right out of the Rangers tires. I think that it is the third time in his career with the Rangers that Henrik has gotten burned this way. It was unnecessary. Henrik obstinatley continues to handle the puck when it is not his forte.

Maybe Valiquette should start against Tampa to give Lundqvist some rest. Henrik needs to be told that while he is a damn good goaltender, he is not immune from being criticized or being sat if he makes a stupid mistake. He needs to be reminded that he is not invincible.

Renney can’t sit Lundqvist because the Rangers are desparate for wins right now. Some fans are calling for Renney to be fired now. What will happen if the Rangers lose another game or three? The idea of firing Tom Renney now or in the near future is just as ludicrous as sitting Henrik after last night’s debacle.

The Rangers beat New Jersey 2-0 on Thursday playing the same way they did for the first 30 minutes of last night’s game. The only difference was that Lundqvist stopped everything on Thursday night. By the time Toronto had scored the first two of three unanswered goals, there was no going back.

Yeah, the offense stinks right now but Henrik needs to continue to be the solution and not become part of the problem. If this was last season and the Rangers had no offense and spotty goaltending, they would be 0-10. Thank God for small favors.