One Swift Kick, Avery Delivers

In case you were living under a rock for the past few days, which is possible considering a ton of people lost power over the weekend, then you missed some Sean Avery drama. First, he was scratched in Atlanta. The reason being that he was not engaged enough, and that he hasn’t been Sean Avery in many games this year. Then, he was reinserted back into the lineup against Philly, a game where both teams had their heavyweights dressed because of that whole Dan Carcillo incident.

What happened during that game was Avery at his best. He scored two goals, he was hitting everyone in sight, he was drawing penalties. He was doing what he is paid to do, be a pest. He coaxed Scott Hartnell into dropping his gloves, drawing a roughing minor on that particular caveman. More importantly, he was a contributing factor in a must win game.

The Rangers now sit just one point out of a playoff spot, but 8th place Boston has two games in hand. The Rangers’ have two of their three games are the most crucial games of the year. They face Montreal, the #7 team in the East, then St. Louis, then they face off against those Bruins. The first and the last games will be the determining factor of the Rangers playoff chances. If they win both, then I think that they will sneak into the playoffs. If not, then, well, I don’t think they can get in. That game against Boston on Sunday is the most important game of the season.