The Rangers couldn't have picked a better time to get their act together. Beating rival Philadelphia last night, 3-1, was the Rangers fifth straight and put the Rangers three points ahead of the Flyers, in second place in the Metro. It gave them a six point cushion over Washington and Toronto for the last playoff spot in the East.
What made this rewarding is that the fourth line, along with Ryan McDonagh made the big noise. McDonagh scored his 14th while fourth liners Moore(6) and Dorsett(4) connected. Boyle and Klein rang up assists so it was the down and dirty's who did the grunt of the work. Its a good omen. Maybe St' Louis will wake up in the playoffs. Maybe. Or maybe this is the wrong chemistry for the dynamic point a game forward. Maybe. Lets hope its a temporary aberration. We need the little guy to come up big.
Meanwhile, the biggest of our big guys, Henrik Lundqvist, came up big, again. He made 30 saves and came within 1:53 of shutout number 51. He made some great saves which had the crowd chanting, "Hen-reek, Hen-reek, Hen-reek! It was classic Lundqvist.
Some bad news. Chris Kreider has a broken hand and may be lost for the season. Kreider has 17 goals and 37 points. J.T. Miller skated in his place and he brings lots of promise. Miller had 33 points in 35 games in Hartford so the potential is there. Some more bad news. The power play has reverted to the past two regimes. It's now 3-33.
Good news. Lundqvist and McDonagh are on top of their game. Bad news. Power play, oxymoron, and the lack of punch from the top guys. Can two guys carry the team? Not through the playoffs. The Rangers have eight games to get it fixed.
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