The current playoff picture is as follows:

Team………….GP…..W…..L…..OTL…..Pts
5-Montreal…..66…..35….24…..7…….77
6-Florida………66…..34….24…..8…….76
7-Rangers……66…..34….24…..8…….76
8-Pens…………67…..35….26…..6……..76
————————————————————————————
9-Carolina……67…..35….27…..5……..75
10-Buffalo……67…..33….26…..7……..73

Suffice it to say, tonight’s game against Carolina is huge. None of the other teams in this logjam are in action tonight, so the Rangers can gain two points in the standings and move into sole possession of 5th place, while knocking some wind out of Carolina’s sails tonight, and drawing even with Pitt in wins. Should they lose, the Rangers will drop to the 9 seed, and out of the playoff picture (Pitt has the tie breaker in total wins), with one game in hand on Carolina.

Every point matters, so the Rangers should be aggressive in winning this before overtime. It will be a tough task, as Carolina has been red hot lately, going 7-2 in their last 9, including dominating wins over Calgary and Washington, before raping TB on Saturday. Cam Ward has started the last 14 games for Carolina, and will probably make it 15 straight tonight.

As for the Rangers, Steve Valliquette will be in net tonight. Hank started the previous 13 straight, and will be getting a breather in the 2nd of back-to-back games. Aaron Voros will also be scratched tonight for the 4th straight game (as per Zipay). Voros probably won’t get much playing time under Torts, he’s too slow to play at the level Torts’ system calls for.

The game is on Vs. tonight at 7pm. I’ll be watching the game on mute, while listening to Kenny Alberts’ call of the game. I just can’t stand Emerick. I still want to know what a waffle board is. I’ll be at Local watching the game with a friend. No live blog from me tonight.

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