Last Gasp

I won’t lie, looking at the standings earlier today made me rather depressed. With Boston’s shootout loss this afternoon New York is now in a three-way tie for ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings, two points out of a playoff spot. That may not sound too bad, but we all know it has been a brutal stretch for the Rangers. There really isn’t too much you can look at and be encouraged. Sure, they scored five goals against the Caps the other night, but they gave up six and lost the game. I know the Caps are clearly the best team in the NHL right now and in the midst of a 13-game winning streak, but New York should’ve won that game. Five goals, but too many penalties, turnovers, inconsistent play. There is rarely that game where the Blueshirts are clicking on all cylinders and come out with a win. Speaking of cylinders, check this ESPN power ranking comment from October 19 when the Rangers were 7-1.

“The Rangers, winners of seven straight, are hitting on all cylinders, from their peerless goaltending to an impressive young blue line to the hot hand of Marian Gaborik.”

Boy, does that feel like a long time ago.

As for what’s to come, who knows? The Rangers host the Devils tonight in what is sure to be a high-intensity game. Games between these two always are. In fact, the last time the Rangers played a really solid game, and what Eric coined as their best game of the season, was on January 12 against the Devils. What’s sad about that is they didn’t even score a goal, let alone win the game.

I’m encouraged by the trade and how it has played out so far. Jokinen cost the team with a couple penalties in the Caps loss, but he has already contributed on the offensive end. Donald Brashear is not playing, so that is great news as well. “The Maven” claims that trade will propel the Rangers into the playoffs and past the first-round. All signs are pointing to that not being true, but there still is time.

And that brings me to the topic that has been brought up by many of you: do you hope the Rangers continue spiraling into this tailspin in hopes for a good draft pick and some rebuilding? While I understand the rationale behind this feeling, I just can’t bring myself to doing it right now. When your favorite team is only two points out of a playoff spot with 24 games remaining, I just can’t root against them. I don’t care how bad it has been (and it has been dreadful), but I still want this team to have success. All you need to do is get into the playoffs. You do that and who knows what can happen. It was only a few years ago when 8th seeded Edmonton upset Detroit and eventually went on to the Cup finals. Do I expect the Rangers to do the same? Of course not. But the point is this team has a goaltender who can steal games, and almost a series if you go back to last year’s playoffs. It also has one of the most dangerous offensive players in the game today who can, like in Colorado, single-handedly be your offense. Obviously this is not a recipe for sustained success and that’s why the Rangers are where they are now. But get in the playoffs and let’s see what happens. I know many will disagree with me, but you won’t get me to bail on this team this season just yet.