Sprint to the Finish

Alright, alright. Sorry for the lack of action lately. Eric is without internet and I have had it sparingly. All excuses aside, let’s talk hockey.

As it stands now, I think it’s pretty much a race for the 8th and final playoff spot. Barring a collapse by Philly or Montreal, the top seven teams seem pretty well set. That leaves the last spot the only one left, with the Rangers three points behind the Bruins. I would be surprised if that eight seed goes to anyone other than the Bruins or Rangers based on the current standings and remaining schedules.

Atlanta: 5 points back, 13 games remaining, remaining schedule includes @ Philly, 2 @ Washington, @ Pittsburgh, vs. Pittsburgh…that’s enough for me to say goodnight.

Tampa Bay: 6 points back, 13 games remaining, next two games vs. Buffalo, vs. Washington, also have a four game road trip @ Boston, @ Buffalo, @ Columbus, @ Pittsburgh…see ya next year.

Islanders: 7 points back, 12 games remaining, impressive 3-game win streak but too little too late…still two more games out west (@ Anaheim, @ LA) plus Philly, Ottawa, Montreal, @ Pittsburgh, @ NJ, Pittsburgh to finish out the season…they’re coutin’ on a miracle.

So that leaves the Rangers and Bruins. At this point you can’t expect anything from this team except inconsistency. I saw the game against the Thrashers and was very impressed with how they played. I didn’t see the Flyers game but was pleasantly surprised to see they put together two solid performances. Then we see the team completely not show up against Montreal and get outshot 35-20. In other words, same old, same old.

At this point, the Rangers have a lot of ground to make up. Boston has a game in hand plus three points. There is only one head to head meeting between the two remaining and that comes on NBC this Sunday. If the Rangers don’t come to play in that game, they don’t deserve to play in the playoffs. They have to treat that game like a play-in game. If they lose a game plus two more points on the B’s, you can probably kiss New York goodnight.

We could sit here and compare schedules, but all it comes down to is the Rangers need to win every time they step on the ice. They need to show some sort of consistency in the final 12 games.

Keep running your thoughts through here. Eric and I will get a podcast in once we get back and we’ll try to get some live blogs going down the stretch.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day…cheers to a 12-game win streak…or something like that.