The Rangers kept their flickering playoff hopes alive last night with a 5-2 win over an undermanned Atlanta Thrashers. The win moved the Rangers to within 3 points of the Boston Bruins. The Bruins have two games in hand but are also without Marc Savard for the rest of the year, so anything is possible.
The Rangers big guys did their work which makes "King John" especially happy, at least for one night. Oh yes, there were the usually changing of lines and mixing and matching but the big guys did deliver. Lundqvist made 29 saves while Johan Hedberg made 30. This was possibly the worst game I've seen Hedberg play against the Rangers. Prospal had two goals and an assist while Gaborik bounced back with a goal and two assists. "King John" also benched Sean Avery for poor play. Really. How come those Twin Towers of Ineptitude, Rozsival and Redden are still in the lineup?
So the Rangers live to play another day. Remember though, this was Atlanta, sans Kovalchuk, and in the previous five games against formidable opponents the Rangers were 1-2-2. However, to paraphrase that great poet Gertrude Stein, "A Win Is A Win Is A Win."
CBC.ca:
White House press secretary wears Canada jersey (with video) -- White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has made good on a bet on the outcome of the Olympic men's hockey gold-medal game, wearing a Team Canada hockey jersey at his daily briefing on Friday.
Gibbs lost the bet he made with Prime Minister's Office spokesman Dimitri Soudas on the outcome of the Feb. 28 game...
Atlanta simply ran out of time. They pretty much had their way the last couple of periods.
Rangers defense is simply painful to watch. They make the same mistakes over and over again.
This game filled me with the same sense of dread as the Devils game. All game long, even when they were ahead and making it look like no contest...a sense of dread.
This team plays very poorly in their own end. I've known this for some time, but thought maybe, just maybe they could improve.
Have you ever seen a less inspiring sight than Wade Redden?
This year, unlike other years, I don't have that optimistic feeling that they are going to play an improved brand of hockey down the stretch.
The win bumped their chance of making the playoffs up to 25.1%.
http://is.gd/awrVh
Which means a 74.9% chance of not making it. The forecasters say getting to 8th means going at least 6-5-3 down the stretch. Don't see it happening based on what I've seen since they came back from the Olympics. Who are the players who really playing for a job next year?