Rangers clinging to 7th in East with shootout victory over San Jose

In a game that no one was giving the Rangers any odds, the blueshirts pulled out an impressive 3-2 shootout victory against another one of the West's red hot teams. Henrik Lundqvist was finally back to being the king in net, and backstopped the Rangers with 31 saves on 33 shots while San Jose carried the play for most of the game.

While this game is a story within itself, lets explore the big picture right now. With this win, the Rangers are back in 7th in the east with 76 points. Buffalo, after a devastating loss last night in Toronto, sits in 8th with 74 points but has 2 games in hand. Carolina has found it difficult to get points of late, posting a 3-5-2 record in their 10 contests. After a crushing 3-2 loss at the hands of the Blue Jackets, the Canes have fallen even further out of the 8th and final playoff spot. Carolina now has 72 points in 69 games and no longer controls their own destiny.

_______________________________________________________GR__ W_____ L___ OT___ PTS

5	Tampa Bay	SE	69	38	22	9	85
6	Montreal	NE	69	38	24	7	83
7	NY Rangers	ATL	70	36	30	4	76
8	Buffalo	NE	68	33	27	8	74
9	Carolina	SE	69	31	28	10	72
10	Toronto	NE	69	30	29	10	70
11	Atlanta	SE	69	29	28	12	70
12	New Jersey	ATL	68	32	32	4	68

While the Rangers have posted a 7-10-1 record since the Allstar break, their overall play has not been of concern. The Rangers have been a hard working grind it out team all season, and last night's victory over the San Jose Sharks not only proves that the Rangers can play with any team in the NHL, but you cannot count this team out of the playoffs just yet.

The biggest concern for the New York Rangers right now should be the New Jersey Devils. The Devils have left everyone flabbergasted by posting a 22-3-2 since Jan. 9th to put themselves in position to make a real run at the 8th and final playoff spot. If Zach Parise finds himself healthy enough to play even 5 of the Devils remaining 14 games, the Rangers will have to watch their heals. It is shaping up to be a very interesting matchup on the final day of the season, where the Rangers host the Devils at the Garden in a game that will most likely have playoff implications riding on it similar to last year's crushing defeat at the hands of the Flyers.

The Rangers control their own destiny at this point. If they can continue to keep up the intensity and the emotion that they have been playing with of late, don't be surprised if the Rangers not only make the playoffs, but play a very good series against the #1 or #2 seed in the East.