Rangers must win, then wait
6) THE ROOKIES
It's been a while since the Rangers had three rookies playing significant roles on a playoff team. In fact, no other NHL team has three rookies playing as many minutes as Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh and Michael Sauer do for the Rangers.
Stepan scored 21 goals this year. He brings needed playmaking and creativity to the Rangers' top six forwards. McDonagh and Sauer have become the Rangers' third and fourth defensemen, an extremely rare feat in the NHL. Perhaps most astounding is the fact that all three youngsters do not seemed overwhelmed. The postseason will be their baptism under fire; how each of them holds up could have a lot to say about the Rangers' playoff fate.
Credit: Getty Images
The Rangers' chances of grabbing a postseason berth narrowed sharply Friday night as the Carolina Hurricanes continued their torrid pace and crushed the Thrashers, 6-1, in Atlanta, bringing them into a tie with the Rangers for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with one regular-season game remaining for each.
Both the Hurricanes and Rangers have 91 points, but Carolina owns the first two tiebreakers, total regulation/overtime wins and points in the head-to-head season series.
So it's going down to the wire, to Game 82, just like last season. The issue will be settled Saturday.
The Rangers, who gave up their control of the playoff berth in a 3-0 loss to the Thrashers on Thursday, host the Devils at 12:30 p.m. If the Rangers win, the Hurricanes also will need two points when they host the Lightning on Saturday night.
If the Devils grab two points, the Rangers' season is over. A point for the Rangers would force the Hurricanes to get at least one against the Lightning.
At practice Friday, the Rangers said that regardless of the result in Atlanta that night, they would bring a maximum effort to the New Jersey game.
"We've played really well after games that we haven't played our best," Brandon Dubinsky said. "I expect that tomorrow. Games against the Devils are always tough. We have to approach it like Game 7. I don't care if it's them or the Vancouver Canucks or the New York Islanders, we have to be ready to go. We've gotta have that urgency and that fire. The feeling after that game [the shootout loss in Game 82 last season], you don't forget the way that feels . . . We're confident we'll get some help from other teams."
They also might get some help from Mats Zuccarello. He was summoned from Hartford, in part because of his shootout skills (he's 5-for-9).
"Yeah, it has to come into our thinking. It's crazy," coach John Tortorella said.
"We're a good hockey team," Tortorella said. "We've had a really good year. We've got 43 wins. In the past five or six weeks, we've gone into San Jose, beaten them, gone into Pittsburgh, they opened the door, we beat them, we've beaten Boston twice, we've beaten Philly twice.
"We've played some clunkers, but we're a good hockey club."
