Can the Rangers hold on to the number one seed?

Published: 11^th Mar 12 11:47 pm

garymarchese
garymarchese

RANT It!

The New York Rangers have gone into a bit of a funk. Coming into the home game tonight against the New York Islanders they had lose three games in a row. They didn’t really play too well in the two games before that either. They lost to the New Jersey Devils 4-1 and then lost their next game 4-1 as well. They showed some signs of coming out of it the other night in Chicago but still lost the game by the score of 4-3. They did defeat the Islanders tonight 4-3 in overtime. It was a big win for the Rangers as the Penguins picked up their ninth straight win earlier in the day. The Penguins were breathing down their necks, only two points behind. The Rangers are now four points behind with a game against them on Thursday night at the Garden.

The question is was this just a little slump at the wrong time, or were there problems to be aware of. I think it was just a slump at the wrong time. Is it possible some guys are tired, yes but I don’t know if that is really it. The defense and goaltending haven’t been as sharp and that has been the major problem. I personally think they got out to a huge lead and relaxed a little bit. They lost some of their edge and then lost a couple of games in a row and it started to get bad but in reality how bad was it or is it?? I don’t think it is as bad as it looks. A three game losing streak is no big deal, the problem is they didn’t lose three regulation games in a row all year. That also shows how good this team has been though and why they had such a huge lead. It may be a good thing for them that they have to battle right to the end. The Rangers now have six home games in a row, they can get a lot of points and hold onto that number one seed. They play the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night which is a game they should win and then they face the Penguins. That will be a huge game but if the Rangers are at least four points ahead it won’t be a game for first place. I think the Rangers will hold onto first place and head into the playoffs with some momentum as they will get it back here in the last couple of weeks of the season. It could just take one win like they had tonight and that could get them right back to where they were before the slide. Also the stars need to step up when it is needed most and Brad Richards and Marion Gaborik did just that.