Wake-up Call: Jason LaBarbera (sigh), Rafael Furcal, Brett Favre

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First things first: The Kings played so well last night and should have won the game outright against the Rangers rather than lose in OT 3-2. Why did they lose? Two words: Jason LaBarbera. The two goals the Rangers had in regulation (one a penalty shot) were cheap, and he should have stopped them (see picture above, clearly after he was faked out on the penalty shot). On one, which hit LaBarbera’s glove and went in, he was slightly out of position and had to dive to his left even though it was clear the shot would go to his left because the Kings’ defense had cut off everything else. (And he got booed on that miss.) We’ve already seen that LaBarbera (2.71 GAA and an .899 save percentage) is weak going to his left anyway. Even the Rangers beat writer from the New York Post could see what was going on: ‘The Blueshirts were routinely beaten to the puck. They were disconnected with and without the puck, leaving [goaltender] Steve Valiquette to his own devices facing repeated odd-man rushes and scoring opportunities from right in front.’ In other words, Valiquette played much better than LaBarbera. Another five or six games of this before Erik Ersberg is back. Sigh.

Add NHL: Todd Bertuzzi, formerly of the Ducks and now with the Calgary Flames, scored the game winner in OT against the Minnesota Wild in a spectacular play that saw Bertuzzi sprawling on the ice as he hit the puck into the net. Watch it.

Deal, deal, deal: There you go. One complaint about the Dodgers, and hours later they get the deal done with Rafael Furcal. I just hope they aren’t done shopping. And what is with the Braves complaining that Furcal ended up spurning them? Get over it. It’s business, and only business.

Deal, deal, deal 2: The Yankees this morning introduced their newest members -- pitchers CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett at the old Yankee Stadium. This is worth another sigh. Will anyone be able to beat the Yankees now? And they may go after Manny, especially with Manny’s price going down each day that Mark Teixeira isn’t signed. Manny deserves better, but he did sound a little greedy and overconfident at the end of the season, didn’t he?

NFL watch: Brett Favre is fun to watch, even though he moves more slowly and is even looking old. The N.Y. Jets are focused on winning the next two games to capture the AFC East crown, but even if they can’t do that, they could remain alive for a wild card. But former USC benchwarmer Matt Cassel may win it all -- he is having that kind of remarkable season.

Add NFL: The Kansas City Star did something unusual. The newspaper did a fever chart comparing the seasons of the flailing Chiefs (2-12) and the resurgent Miami Dolphins (9-5). It seems to indicate that the Chiefs may finally hit bottom this season (as the Dolphins did last season), but the real difference is that the Dolphins hired Bill Parcells to rebuild the team and he has proved over and over that he can win.

-- Debbie Goffa