In what the rest of the world calls football, when a player kicks the ball into his own side’s net, it’s an own goal and is marked down as such in the box score. In hockey, when a player shoots the puck into his own net, it’s credited to the last opposing player to touch the puck. So, Zach Parise gets full marks for Karel Rachunek putting the biscuit in behind Henrik Lundqvist.

Rangers fans can speculate about whether the puck would have gone in off Lundqvist had Rachunek not done what Sandis Ozolinsh did last year in the playoffs against the Devils. The truth of the matter is, though, that they lost. There are no what-ifs, only what actually happened. There have been some famous own goals in the history of all sports. In hockey the one that stands out most for this kid who grew up in the ’80s is Steve Smith putting his Edmonton Oilers out of the playoffs.

Own goals are heartbreaking for the fans, and they must be devastating for the player … made worse by the stakes. Thankfully, this was a regular season game, but these two points mattered greatly to the Rangers. Again, the Blueshirts saw two more points slip by.