Well, it's finally crunch time for the New York Rangers ... if it weren't already.
The Rangers will go on the road to face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, in a pivotal matchup with tremendous playoff implications. The Hurricanes are a mere two points behind the Rangers for seventh place, and they have a game in hand to boot.
A Ranger victory would push them four points ahead of the Hurricanes, with Carolina holding one game in hand. A loss would tie the two teams with 66 points, although the Rangers would hold the tiebreaker and remain in seventh, with the Hurricanes still holding a game in hand.
So the Rangers, who are playing without Marian Gaborik due to concussion symptoms, need the win. Badly.
The question is wether or not their offense will be able to preform well enough for a win. The Rangers have seen both their offense and defense abandon them at the worst times this post All-Star break, that can't happen tonight.
Notes:
- Henrik Lundqvist has been confirmed to be in goal tonight, although expect Martin Biron to get a look sometime in the future.
- The Devils, who we now need to talk about in the playoff race, are the only other team playing tonight that the Rangers need to keep an eye on.
- With the trade deadline upcoming keep an eye on who sits and who starts for the next few games. For now it's all speculation, but we can be sure that the Rangers are going to do something at the deadline.