Inside the Division: 12/5 Long Live the King

It's been over a week since our last look inside the Metropolitan Division and quite a lot has changed since the 21st of November. Henrik Lundqvist just signed a seven year extension to make him a New York Ranger for the rest of his NHL career, Chris Kreider scored his first career hat trick, and Michael Del Zotto not only returned to the Rangers lineup- he also scored a goal! Unfortunately not everything has changed since last we looked inside the division... the Rangers are still stuck at the .500 mark and in third place in the Metropolitan Division. One game the Rangers will look impressive, intimidating, and promising and the next game they'll find a way to lose. At some point something is going to have give if the Rangers want to make an appearance in the 2014 NHL Playoffs... let's hope it happens as soon as possible because if not for the very weak Metropolitan Division the Rangers' .500 record would be disastrous instead of simply infuriating.

Before we sink our collective teeth into our links for the past week or so, let's take a look at the Metropolitan Division standings and where the Rangers are compared to their division rivals.

• WSH: Caps' Up and Downs: Week 9. | Caps Will Sink or Swim with Holtby's Play. | Erat Wants Out... A Trade Gone Bad. | Early Returns for Erat-Forsberg Trade Show Clear Preds Victory.
  

• NJD: Return of the Mark. | The Youth Movement On Defense is Here, But is it Here to Stay? | Are the NJD a "Passing Team"? | November in Review. | Brodeur's Strong November Meant Less Games for Schneider. | Time to End the Cam Janssen Experiment. | What is Going on With Damien Brunner? | Will Schneider Re-Sign with NJD? | Five Things for Devils Fans to be Thankful For. | Devils Leaning Heavily on Jagr. | Devils Going Green for Outdoor Game.

• NYI: Isles Fall to Penguins, Winless in Seven. | Donovan Down, de Haan Up. | Checking in on Some Baby Islanders. | Prospects, Vets: Where do GM and Coach Align? | Outdoor Jersey. | Matt Martin Trying to be First 400 Hit Man.
  

• PIT: Simon Despres is Good at Hockey, so Play Him. | November Ups and Downs. | No Stopping Malkin. | Prospect Update: December. | Olympic Preview: Russia. | Unconventional Wisdom: Possession. | AHL First Quarter Results. | Crosby and Malkin have Penguins Flying High.
  

• PHI: How Many Chris Prongers Are There Out There? | Flyers' Improvement in Puck Possession. | Peter Luukko Resigns! | Anthony Stolarz Named to USA Junior Team. | Scott Hartnell: Children's Author. | Couturier's Offense in Context. | Five Things for Flyers Fans to be Thankful For.
  

• CAR: Storm Tracking. | Carolina Attendance Down This Season. | Renewed Faith in Zach Boychuk. | Canes Must Return Lindholm to AHL. | Canes Can't Win with Shortened Bench. | Q & A With Manny Malhotra. | DiPietro Hanging it Up.
  

• CBJ: BOBROVSKY TO MISS 4-5 WEEKS. | First Quarter Awards. | Can We Talk About Ryan Johansen's Ceiling? | Mike McKenna Recalled. | Mike Commodore's Story. | Can Ryan Johansen Keep the Fire Lit? | Answers Are on the Way?
  

• Around the League and Life Links: Yep. This Happened. | Weekly Dose of Cute. | EarthPorn: Blue Hole, Canary Island. | Top Ten Hockey Bloopers of 2013. | Wyshynski's Take on Hank's New Contract. | Issue Three of Blueshirts Monthly is Out! Have you Subscribed Yet? | Brian Regan. | Kicking Helmets is a New Thing?
  

Well there are your links for the week boys and girls. Hope that you are all having a splendid December thus far and that we start to see more wins in the immediate future. I'm just not sure how long the Rangers are going to get away with being this inconsistent and losing games that they should be winning. Until next time, everybody love everybody and Let's Go Rangers.

Have any thoughts about developments in the division since last we talked about it? Have any links or thoughts you want to share? This is the thread to do it! Let us hear what you think and have to say in the comments.

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