After a slow start that has become a bit too much of a habit lately, the Rangers relied upon a trio of entities - Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis and the power play - that have been non-existent lately. It was Richards and St. Louis who jumpstarted a man-advantage that was 5-for-52 in the previous 17 games coming into Tuesday's contest. The end result was a dominant 4-1 win over the Hurricanes and a reduction of the magic number down to four for the second seed in the conference and to two for the third seed in the Metro.
Game Highlights:
Richards and St. Louis showed good chemistry on the power play, notching the first and third goals. Richards, so good before the Olympics, and invisible since then, took a brilliant no look, backhand feed from St, Louis, and with all day, blasted a goal short-side against Cam Ward to make it 1-1. The third goal, also on the PP, was due to strong recognition by St. Louis, Dan Girardi and Richards that the Patrick Dwyer at the top of penalty kill had no stick and they moved the puck to create some space and shooting angle. Rick Nash screened Ward and it was 3-1 on Richards' 20th of the year; the ninth time in his career he has hit that mark. Later, St. Louis corralled the puck after his first play was blocked and found a wide-open Derek Stepan for the slam-dunk goal, his 17th of the year, giving him 56 points on the season. Those three helpers by St. Louis almost match the number of points he scored in his first 17 games as a Ranger; during which he had four points.
Beyond the Richards and St. Louis combination, the Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello line was dominant again on 5-on-5. That line was on the ice for the goal against, similar to what happened against Ottawa, but that trio produced what proved to be the game-winning goal, Zucc, who received the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award before the contest, took a pass from Anton Stralman (two assists) after Derick Brassard dug the puck off the boards. Zucc made a great shot fake and found a wide-open Pouliot to make it 2-1. That line could have had even more tallies, since their puck possession and ability to generate quality chances were very apparent throughout.
I thought Jesper Fast played a very solid game. Nothing spectacular but also no major bobbles in his 13:54 of action. Fast should get another look Thursday against Ottawa, since he fits better on the reconfigured second line better than Dominic Moore or Derek Dorsett or anyone else on the active roster, with JT Miller not viewed as ready.
Someone lost in the win was Henrik Lundqvist's strong performance. He wasn't overly tested in the second and third periods. but after allowing the first goal, on which he had no chance, he was very good. Lundqvist made a huge glove save on Alexander Semin on a breakaway and two stops on Jay Harrison. Keeping the deficit at 1-0 was huge and may get short-shrift in the victory, but shouldn't be. Defensively, following the breakdown on the only goal allowed, I thought the Rangers were very solid and will need to be the final two games of the year with Ryan McDonagh, who is listed at 50-50 to return before the end of the year, but to me is unlikely to do so.
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, 43-31-5 with 93 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, the Rangers didn't get any help, as Philly defeated a Florida team that was without Roberto Luongo 5-2 while Columbus allowed the tying goal with 14 seconds left but won 4-3 on a Ryan Johansen marker in OT. In addition, Tampa knocked Toronto out of the playoff hunt with a 3-0 win, Detroit stayed in the seventh spot with a 4-2 victory over Buffalo, Washington remained four points back of the Blue Jackets with three games left with their 4-1 win over a Blues team that has lost three in a row while Ottawa, despite their 4-1 win over the Islanders, are also out of contention for the eighth spot.
Division:
Philly - won 5-2 over Florida on 4/8. their second win in a row, 4-4-2 last 10, one game in hand, third in division and two points behind the Rangers. (played 40 games at home, 39 on road, one left at home, two on road, those are @TB, @Pitt, Canes)
Columbus - won 4-3 in overtime over Phoenix on 4/8, their second win in a row, 5-4-1 in last 10, one game in hand, fourth in the division and four points behind the Rangers. Second Wild Card. (played 41 games at home, 38 on road, none left at home, three on road, @Dal, @TB, @Fla)
New Jersey - lost 1-0 to the Flames on 4/7, 5-2-3 last 10, no games in hand, seven points behind NY. Five points behind second wild card with three contests to go. (played 39 games at home, 40 on road, three left at home, one on road, @Ott, Isles, Bos)
Washington - defeated the Blues 4-1 on 4/8, their second win in a row, 4-3-3 last 10, one game in hand, fifth in division and eight points behind NY. Four points behind second wild card with three games to go. (played 39 games at home, 40 on road, two left at home, one on road, @Canes, Chi, TB)
Conference (teams within 10 either way, as Boston has a lock of Atlantic division, with third place, since Montreal locked into a spot, either second or third, and wild cards up for grabs)
Montreal - second in Atlantic, won 7-4 over Ott on 4/4 and 5-3 over Detroit on 4/5, 8-2-0 last 10, no games in hand and six points up on Rangers. (played 39 games at home, 40 on road, two left at home, one on road, Det, @Chi, Isles, Rangers)
Tampa Bay - third in Atlantic, defeated Toronto 3-0 on 4/8, but win may have been costly as Ben Bishop was injured in the victory, 5-3-2 last 10, one game in hand and two points up on Rangers. (played 39 games at home, 40 on road, two left at home, one on road, Flyers, Columbus, @Caps)
Detroit - fourth place in Atlantic, defeated Buffalo 4-2 on 4/8, 6-3-1 in last 10, one game in hand and three points behind the Rangers. First Wild Card. (played 40 games at home, 39 on road, one left at home, two on road, @Pitt, Canes, @St.L)
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, solid victory over Vancouver, disappointing shootout loss to Colorado, frustrating loss to Ottawa and dominant win, following slow start, over Carolina. 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. Rangers have two games left, one at home, Senators at the Garden on Thursday before the Apr. 12 finale in Montreal.
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 - lost 3-2, S/O 4/5 - Ott - lost 3-2 4/8 - Car - won 4-1 4/10 - Ott 4/12 - @MTL
Also, as a reminder, I will be out starting next Thursday as having surgery to repair a hernia today and then out the first two days Passover on April 15 and 16. I am still looking to see if anyone would like to write a blog while I am out. Please PM me and let me know so I can make sure we have robust and new coverage while I am out. I have one definite and one maybe but looking for more just in case.