Jason Garrett has plenty of ties to the New York metropolitan area. He served as Kerry Collins's backup from 2000 to 2003, a period during which he attempted a total of zero passes. (He did, though, once give his teammates on offense harmonicas as a Christmas present.) On October 8, 1988, Garrett was the losing quarterback for Princeton on the day Columbia snapped its historic 44-game losing streak. (He'd also play at Columbia while his father coached there.) And now on Sunday, Garrett will make his head-coaching debut at the Meadowlands, against the red-hot Giants.

On the night Marian Gaborik, one of the pillars of the Rangers' roster, returned to the lineup, another, Henrik Lundqvist, missed the game due to illness. But no matter: Sure, the Rangers took two more leads only to see the Sabres even the score both times. And yes, their power play struggled again. But they'd win the game anyway, 3–2 in overtime.

All things considered, the Rangers didn't play that badly during Marian Gaborik's twelve-game absence from the lineup with a separated shoulder. They won half those contests, at times looking downright impressive (see games against Boston, Chicago, and New Jersey). In fact, over that stretch, they averaged slightly more goals a game than they did last year. Still, the Rangers won't go far relying on Brian Boyle (who's been great, but had never before scored more than four goals in a season) for offense. This team's success depends on a healthy Gaborik more than any other player, save perhaps for Henrik Lundqvist. And Gaborik will return tonight, at the Garden against Buffalo.

The Steve Lavin era at St. John's is going to start at the strangest place, at perhaps the strangest time possible. Next Tuesday, if you want to watch the Red Storm's first game, you'll need to tune in to ESPN-2 at ... 2 a.m. As part of ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, St. John's will play in California against St. Mary's as the second game of the twelve-game marathon. It's a tough game: St. Mary's isn't as good as they were last year, when they made the Sweet 16, but it's still a long way to go to play at such a goofy hour. Particularly when you consider that the Red Storm will then fly back to Queens and play at Carnesecca Arena the very next night. (And then they'll be in Alaska a week later.) It's a whirlwind beginning to what's already been a whirlwind start to Lavin's reign.