The Rangers earned their second straight win, seventh in their last eighth and eighth in their last 10 games, with a 3-1 win over Vancouver. The Rangers’ victory established a franchise record for wins on the road, with their league-leading 25th away from home (25-14), with two more to go including Thursday at Colorado and the season finale at Montreal on April 12. Of course, overshadowing the win is the uncertainty regarding Ryan McDonagh, who at best, took an unnecessary and at worst, a dirty hit from Alexandre Burrows with 43.8 seconds left. Initial diagnosis is that the injury is not serious, though McDonagh left the arena with a sling on his left arm and is pretty much out for at least Thursday's contests against Colorado.

Game Highlights:



I will touch on the game first and then the McDonagh hit and after effects. New York didn’t play a great game. They came out strong early, bolstered by the reconstituted fourth line. Carcillo-Boyle-Dorsett got a dirty goal, keeping the puck alive down low, though as Larry Brooks points out, the whistle could have and maybe should have been blown when Eddie Lack had his glove over the puck. But Boyle jammed it free and Carcillo netted the goal 4:59 into the first period to make it 1-0. The woebegone power play came through with the "number one" unit netting the goal. Benoit Pouliot got open to the side of the goal and took the feed from Derick Brassard, who gathered the puck Mats Zuccarello's shot was blocked. Pouliot, who has proven to be a great signing by GM Glen Sather, gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead 14:43 into the first on his seventh power-play goal of the season, tied for the team-high with Brassard. Zucc's assist gave him the record for points by a Norwegian in an NHL season (54), snapping Espen Knutsen’s (Shampoo) 53-point mark in 2000-01 for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Rangers inability to win a faceoff, (22 of 56 overall), finally came back to haunt them in the second when the Canucks cut the lead to 2-1. Ryan Kesler won the draw off Dominic Moore, Daniel Sedin picked up the puck and got it Kesler, who despite good marking from Moore, was able to whip the puck past Henrik Lundqvist. Moore was in good position but didn’t see the puck or have his stick down, enabling Kesler to shoot the puck. Vancouver carried play most of the second, after doing similar in the first, but Lundqvist was the best player on ice for the Rangers and why they led 2-1 after two.

The Rangers started the game with changed-up lines, with Carl Hagelin up with Nash and Derek Stepan, Dominic Moore to the left with Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis, Boyle between Carcillo and Dorsett with the Brassard- Pouliot- Zuccarello unit remaining intact. I would love to say those changes made a huge difference, but that really wasn't the case. St. Louis was not necessarily any better than he was in the prior games nor did the Nash line create a lot of chances. Ironically, St. Louis got his first goal in 15 games as a Ranger and in 17 overall on a shorthanded two-on-one at 10:15 of the third via a feed from Nash with the Rangers clinging to a 2-1 lead. It was the 30th overall for the winger, who blasted the puck over Lack's glove. So for all the moving and maneuvering to get St. Louis jump-started, he scored when line combinations meant nothing. Hopefully, with the gorilla off his back, St. Louis can play like we all know he is capable and AV goes back to the lines that worked against Edmonton.

Special teams again were a big reason for the win. While the PP has struggled lately, the PK has been brilliant. On the man-disadvantage, New York has seven goals in their past 15 games while tallying just five times on the man-advantage. The team speed up front with Carl Hagelin and Rick Nash along with forwards who know how to create space and dish in Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis along with the ability of Ryan McDonagh to pinch and convert have been the big reasons for the hot streak on the PK.

Despite the 3-1 lead, the Rangers did have to withstand a ton of pressure from a desperate Vancouver squad, who forced NY to play way too much in their own zone throughout, preventing any sort of breakout or ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone. Lundqvist robbed Shawn Matthias twice late wide-open in front, first with his pads and stick and the second after he lost his stick with a brilliant glove save. The final score might have been 3-1 but if not for a very good Lundqvist, the end result might have been a lot different.

McDonagh and Lack of Retaliation:

The hit itself was borderline dirty. The problem was the McDonagh was already engaged with Zack Kassian, so he was sideways and had his back to Burrows. It looked like Burrows came up high and extended his arms a bit, which slammed McDonagh into the boards, though the angles shown make it a bit unclear. In the NFL, if you are already engaged, you can be blocked from the blind side. In the NHL, it would almost impossible to eradicate that, given the speed of the game and need to play the puck, so you may be engaged with one while another comes in to get the puck, but I am surprised we haven't seen more of these injuries. I would love to say that it was because Burrows is dirty and with 43.8 seconds to go, there was no need for the hit. While that may very well be true, Vancouver was on life-support to try and make the playoffs, and Burrows, despite his previous reputation, was playing to the whistle, albeit with a bad result. In a perfect world, Dominic Moore would have scored, changing the whole play, since there would have been a draw and McDonagh would have been off the ice. Also, I saw questioning AV for no timeout on the prior icing, but he asked the players if they were fine, which they were, and there was enough time that a change in personnel could have been done when the puck went into the Vancouver zone after the draw, when Moore missed, but none was made. Burrows received a five-minute elbowing penalty and game misconduct and could have a phone hearing, especially given his reputation.

McDonagh is the players the Rangers can most ill-afford to lose. You could say Lundqvist, but Cam Talbot has been solid enough that the Rangers would still get good play between the pipes. With Chris Kreider out, losing another forward, especially a scorer, would be a killer, but McDonagh has been the best and most consistent Rangers' skater this year. I hate to speculate. Best case, he misses a few games, maybe the last five of the year, with a bruised or partially subluxation or separated shoulder. At worst, it was a full separation or broken clavicle, sidelining him long-term. For now, John Moore probably will be able to go Thursday, so move Staal up to play with Girardi, Klein up to play with Stralman and have Moore and Diaz as the last pair. Not the ideal, but with the team only needing three points to at least clinch a playoff berth, the team could get away with it in the short-term.

The lack of retaliation. Girardi and the skaters on the ice did react, though you could argue it should have been a lot more, with someone taking on Burrows, that I can't argue with. Carcillo asked AV to let him go and he declined, which to me was the wise move. Retaliating then could have very well led to a suspension, depending on how bad the retaliation was. With the team already short-handed without Kreider and now McDonagh, losing another skater, especially a forward, could have had major implications in the playoff hunt. In addition, taking out a Vancouver star, which if Carcillo or Dorsett was on, Torts would have responded by sending his fourth line, to me does nothing to bring back McDonagh or send a message that the hits won't be tolerated. In addition, given what happened with Torts and Calgary, any response would have been scrutinized heavily by the league, leading to possible ramifications for NY. The other is the view might have been that the hit was not dirty and despite the injury, it did not call for retaliation, or at least not now. To me, I would rather extract any sort of revenge next year on Burrows and make the one who had the hit pay. I realize that is not the common view, but I don't think the lack of response shows the Rangers are soft or unwilling to stick up for their teammates, as what happened with Gaborik. Carcillo wanted to respond and was told no by AV.

The Playoff Race:

Starting with 12 games to go, scoreboard watching became the sport inside of the sport. As of March 27, the Rangers sit second in the division, 42-29-4 with 88 points. When I do a recap or game preview blog, I will include this at the bottom of the blog. However, on non-game/recap days, I will run this daily since this is a huge topic of conversation and a large component of our focus.

Tuesday, NJ lost 3-2 to Buffalo while Toronto won for the first time in nine games 3-2 over Calgary. Dallas did NY a major favor by beating Washington 5-0 while Columbus blew a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2 in overtime on a Gabriel Landeskog goal to Colorado. Montreal fell 3-1 Tampa Bay, though each clinch a playoff berth and that gives TB the edge on second in the division over Canadiens, while the Flyers got a point but lost 1-0 in a shootout to the Blues. Today, Ottawa looks to win their fourth in a row and stay in playoff contention against the Islanders while Detroit takes on Boston. Tomorrow, Columbus and Philly meet, and given that the Rangers are just three up on Philly for second but seven on Columbus, will likely be rooting for the Blue Jackets.

Division:

Philly - lost 1-0 in a shootout to St. Louis on 4/1, their second straight shootout loss. 6-2-2 last 10, two games in hand on and three points behind the Rangers in third place in division. (played 38 games at home, 37 on road, three left at home, four on road, those are Columbus, @Bos, Buff, @Fla, @TB, @Pitt, Canes)

Columbus - lost 3-2 in overtime to Colorado on 4/1, 4-4-2 in last 10, two games in hand, fourth in the division and seven points behind the Rangers. Second Wild Card. (played 38 games at home, 37 on road, three left at home, four on road, Pitt, @Canes, @Flyers, Chicago, Isles, Phoenix, @TB, @Fla)

Washington - lost 5-0 to Dallas on /1, 4-3-3 last 10, one game in hand, fifth in division and nine points behind NY. (played 39 games at home, 37 on road, two left at home, four on road, Dallas, @NJ, @Isles, @St.L, @Canes, Chi, TB)

New Jersey - won 6-3 over Florida on 3/31, 4-4-2 last 10, one game in hand, nine points behind NY. (played 37 games at home, 39 on road, four left at home, two on road, Caps, @Canes, Flames, @Ott, isles, Bos) (will drop off with next loss or two)

Carolina - lost 2-1 to Ottawa in a shootout on 3-31, 5-4-1 last 10, one game in hand, 13 points behind NY, seven behind last wild card spot. (played 38 games at home, 37 on road, three left at home, four on road, @Pit, Dal, NJ, @NYR, Was, @Det, @Phi) (likely to drop off list with next loss)

Conference (teams within 10 either way, as Boston has a lock of Atlantic division, with second, third and wild cards up for grabs)

Montreal - third in Atlantic, lost 3-1 to Tampa on 4/1, ending a streak of five straight wins, 8-2-0 last 10, no games in hand and three points up on Rangers. (played 38 games at home, 39 on road, three left at home, two on road, @Ott, Det, @Chi, Isles, Rangers)

Tampa Bay - second in Atlantic, beat Montreal 3-1 on 4/1, 7-1-2 last 10, one game in hand and three points up on Rangers. (played 36 games at home, 40 on road, five left at home, one on road, Flames, Dallas, Tor, Flyers, Columbus, @Caps)

Detroit - fourth place in Atlantic, beat Tampa 3-2 on 3/30, one game in hand on Toronto, one game in hand and four points behind the Rangers. First Wild Card. (played 38 games at home, 37 on road, three left at home, four on road, Bos, Buff, @Mont, @Buff, @Pitt, Canes, @St.L)

Toronto - fifth place in Atlantic, won 3-2 over Calgary on 4/1, 2-8-0 last 10, same number of games and eight points behind the Rangers. (played 39 games at home, 38 on road, two left at home, three on road, Bos, Jets, @TB, @Fla, @Ott)

Ottawa - sixth place in Atlantic, won 2-1 in a shootout over Carolina on 3/31, their third win in a row. 4-4-2 last 10, one game in hand, 10 points behind the Rangers and four behind last Wild Card spot. (played 37 games at home, 38 on road, four left at home, three on road). (likely to drop off with another loss or two, NYI, Mtl, @NYR, @NYI, NJ, Tor, @Pit)

Kristyn Repke, digital media coordinator for the Blue Jackets, put together a breakdown of schedule strength, opponents, etc for the six teams in East battling for four playoff spots as of Monday morning: http://t.co/fnl2eutCbs

Summary: Two huge wins over Columbus and New Jersey, followed by a gut-check win over Phoenix, solid team effort in victory over Philly, bad loss to Calgary, convincing rebound win over Edmonton and victory over Vancouver. The Rangers the past several seasons have been excellent down the stretch, to lock in a spot, they may need to do the same thus year. The team has one game remaining on their four-game West Coast road trip that is running from 3/28 to 4/3 with a contests against Colorado, who will be without Matt Duchene, though NY probably has Ryan McDonagh out. Remaining games overall are two on the road and three at home in general and coming out of the last four of the season. The Rangers are going to get no help from others, so they will need to keep winning in order to make the post-season.

The magic number to clinch a playoff berth is three because the Capitals (81 points, six games left) are the only team that can knock the Rangers out of the playoffs. The Caps’ maximum potential finish is 93 points, but the Rangers already have 90 and own the tiebreaker, so three points either gained by the Rangers or lost by Washington clinches a postseason berth.

In order:

3/21- @ CMB - win 3-1
3/22 - @NJ - win 2-0
3/24 - Phx - win 4-3, OT
3/26 - Phi - win 3-1
3/28 - @Cgy - lost 4-3
3/30 - @Edm - won 5-0
4/1 - @Van - won 3-1
4/3 - @Col
4/5 - Ott
4/8 - Car
4/10 - Buf
4/12 - @Mtl

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