Since Wednesday, I've had the head cold to end all head colds. I haven't gone anywhere outside my house with the exception of two classes Friday afternoon. My Xbox conveniently broke Tuesday night, on the eve of the release of MLB 2K8. I'm miserable. Now that I'm completely up to date with episodes of The Office, I've turned to any hockey I can find to amuse me enough to pass the time.

With all the different storylines produced from the Rangers' 4-1 spanking of the Islanders Thursday, I realized that was a perfect game to do a running diary. Unfortunately, I realized this after the game.

I wanted badly to do one for the pivotal Rangers-Bruins game tomorrow, but I'll be at work tomorrow for the 3 p.m. start. I can't even blame NBC for the latest in the Blueshirts' weekend afternoon affairs, because they're too busy with Sidney vs. Ovechkin to worry about a game that could more than likely decide the sixth and seventh seeds in the Eastern Conference. In fact, I was originally happy to hear the Penguins-Capitals game was on NBC, because I figured the Rangers would be on at 7, like they should be. I was wrong.

So instead, I turned to another game that would go a long way in shaping the Eastern conference playoff picture, tonight's game between the Islanders and Flyers. With that loss to the Rangers, the Isles fell five points behind Philly, and a loss tonight would all but end any playoff hopes the Islanders still had.

So with this in mind, I sat down right before the puck was dropped at 7:05. Though my head felt ready to explode, surely a matchup between my two most hated teams in the NHL couldn't hurt. Right?

6:56 p.m. - The opening montage is filled with highlights of the two teams' last meeting one week ago. The Flyers won 4-1 on the strength of some "dirty goals" according to Howie Rose. But don't fret Isles fans, he brings good news: Rick DiPietro is back in goal after missing the previous three games. Uhh Howie, wasn't he in goal last week too?

7:03 p.m - Ted Nolan claims "Ricky is ready." Mmm, I'm pretty sure he was ready on Thursday, Ted.

7:06 p.m. - Wow, Deb Kaufman is hot. I wish she still covered the Rangers. I'd trade John Giannonne for her in a second.

7:07 p.m. - Butch Goring just called Mike Comrie a scorer. I just laughed out loud for the first time. I'm going to keep tabs on how many times I laugh at this team tonight.

7:10 p.m. - DP is 26-24-7... So that really means he's 26-31 for those of you scoring at home.

7:12 p.m - Rose describes Brendan Witt like a hero for playing through a knee injury. I'll keep track of this, too. I hate Brendan Witt. Actually, I think he's a great defenseman. But he tries to talk smack to every player, ever. He literally tries to be Sean Avery and it just doesn't work. Just shut up and block shots.

7:13 p.m. - Okay, Blake Comeau does not have that much of an upside. Islanders fans are in love with him. I can't figure out why. Jeff Tambellini, on the other hand, is a budding star. Of course he is, that's a Michigan boy they're talking about. I point this out to my little brother watching with me, as I do pretty much every time I see a Michigan player.

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