Friday, April 4, 2008

Welcome to the Playoffs


Last night the New York Rangers (42-27-11) defeated the New York Islanders (34-38-9) by a score of 3-0 to clinch their third playoff spot in three years. For a full recap go to Yahoo! Sports.

- Jaromir Jagr scored two goals giving him 23 on the season.

- Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves for his 10th shutout of the season which is best in the NHL.

- Christian Backman had 1 assist last night, giving him 2 goals and 5 assists in his 16 games with the Rangers. Backman only had 1 goal and 9 assists in 45 games with St. Louis before the trade.

- The Rangers were 2-for-7 on the power play, and have now scored seven power play goals in the past four games.

- The Rangers are one of only three teams in the Eastern Conference to have made the playoffs all three years post lockout. The Senators and Devils are the other two.

...after going through eight straight years (including lockout season) of no playoffs (1998-2005), I don't take any clinching for granted. So I've got to admit I'm pretty fired up right now. I mean what Ranger fan isn't.

...big players show up in big games and our Captain showed why he is still considered one of the most dangerous players in the game last night. He now has five goals in his last six games. If he's ready to go on a huge run it couldn't have come at a better time.

...congratulations to Lundqvist for hitting double digits in shutouts. He was awesome last night especially early in the first and the entire second period. With the Rangers holding a 2-0 lead in the second Lundqvist made save after save preventing the Islanders from getting back into the game. He's another player who is locked in right now.

...speaking of locked in. Seven power play goals in the last four game!!!!

...was it me or did the team look younger and faster without Shanahan in the lineup. While his experience is absolutely crucial to the team's success in the playoffs this year, I would be ok if the team decided not to re-sign him next year.

...can someone please stop me the next time I think about criticizing Renney for anything. I killed him the other day for changing up the lines (which I still don't necessarily agree with), but the team is now 3-1 since the switch, while giving up a grand total of six goals in those four games. You can criticize Renney for a lot of things (and god knows I have), but what you can't criticize is his ability to get the Rangers into the playoffs. Sure the team is full of superstars and they were expected to get into the playoffs, but it takes a special coach to be able to massage all those egos and keep them all on the same page. Great job Tom keep up the great work. I'll give you a couple of days off to enjoy clinching the playoffs before I start bashing you again.

...Isles again tonight at MSG with seeding up for grabs.

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