I think it all comes down to that. Rangers did what they needed to do in order to win. Score on the power play, kill penalties, play solid in front of their goalie, and get the goaltending needed to win. Great, but where was that before? And, more importantly, will it be there as we move forward?

The funny thing is, the Rangers looked like a team that can beat any team they want, and a team that looked like any team in the world could beat them all in the span of 3 games. Wildly inconsistent would be the term to describe them best, wouldn’t you say?

I think the key is how the team plays when they are revved up. When they know they are in for a battle, against a team they friggin hate, and a team they want to bury. When they want it, they take it. When they are blasé, they get humiliated. Which leads me to my next point. The schedule makers may have inadvertently helped the Rangers with their schedule down the stretch. They play a lot of inter-divisional games from here on out, and the Rangers should put up a good fight in those, assuming they keep their “battle level” nice and high. So, without further ado, some charts…

So, with the Rangers currently having 62 points, the estimated 33-35 points we should win down the stretch will put us at 95-97 points. Which, according to my guesstimations puts them in either 6th or 7th in the conference, against the Canes or the Penguins. Both teams I think we can beat.

As I said during the first intermission, I will be missing tomorrows game with a family engagement which I mistakenly thought was today. I will watch it later on in the night though and will post my thoughts. Rangers need to win, end of story.

Posted by inferno272 on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 6:03 pm.