Tonight, we play in Montréal at 7:30. This, you'll recall, is the final game of the stretch my father referred to as "season-defining." So far, we're 2-1-0 in that stretch. 3-1 is a better definition of a season than 2-2 is. You've seen the standings. You know why this is big. Winning puts us at the top of the bubble, losing puts us back near that dreaded dashed line (ooooooooooh). But seriously, this is another game against an in-bubble team. The Canadiens, meanwhile, are a team a lot of us are starting to smell blood around. Since firing Carbonneau, they have gained 3 points in 6 games without winning in regulation. This is an opportunity to strike while they're faltering and gain some very important points against some very nearby competition (again, see the current standings 3 posts ago).
In "unimportant storylines people are writing about because they need to write about something" news, Lundqvist hasn't done well in Montréal lately. That's a dumb thing about which to write a story. Relatedly, I'm depressed by how much this blog seems to come down on Larry Brooks, who I really do like. And hey, I guess you have to write about bullshit sometimes, when you write to pay the rent. The point is: that's a dumb article.
More importantly, notice that tonight is our last game until the weekend. That gives the other bubble teams the rest of the week to start making up points on us. This is part of that whole "you need to get points in the games-in-hand for them to matter" thing. If we don't pick up the 2 tonight, and other bubble teams win a lot this week, our recent feel-good success will stop feeling quite so good again. As my father is so fond of saying, "Of course, I'll start to really feel good if they can do this for more than one game in a row..."
Also tonight, at 7:00, is a game the Rangers don't actually care about, but that I'll mention anyway - Blackhawks in New Jersey. Tonight, barring miracles, Martin Brodeur will pass Patrick Roy and become the winningest goalie in NHL history. I threw up a little in my mouth when I said that. I'm not watching this game, but I feel obligated to mention it for a sentence. I'm, of course, rooting for the Blackhawks, but not just on general principle (at this point, Brodeur is obviously going to get this record soon, I'd rather spend that energy blogging about why Roy was still a better goalie, which I may do at some point later in life) - if he fails, he gets another chance against Carolina tomorrow night, and I'd like to see the desire to win that record help us out there. But realistically, he's going to make some modicum of numerical history tonight, so, there you have it. Moving on.
Every game that matters tonight is at 7:30:
Sabres in Ottawa - If the Sens do us a favor here tonight, then the Sabres move on to face the Flyers Friday night. If that game goes as it ought to (not that I necessarily want it to), we could be poised, on 3 days' rest, to put the final nail in the coffin of a tired Buffalo team. I know, I'm getting ahead of myself. But still - an Ottawa win at home can't hurt.
Thrashers in Pittsburgh - Oof. This sucks. Thrashers are playing without Kovalchuk AND Lehtonen tonight, while Malkin seems to be healthy enough to suit up for the Pens. I appreciate the Thrashers' current 6-game streak, and I'd LOVE to see them pull this off for us, but...we might have to bite the bullet on this one. Even so, as you've heard me say before, stranger things have happened.
Capitals in Florida - The Caps need to get their shit together. The Panthers are 2 points behind us with a game in hand, and this game would be a great one for them to lose, against #3 in the conference, as opposed to, for example, Thursday, when they play Toronto. I'd like to get invested in this game, since it has every reason to go well for us, but the Caps keep breaking my heart. Please, guys? You have the best player in hockey!
Flyers in Detroit - I know, we're not thinking about the Flyers yet. I talked about this game before. Just keeping it on the rader.
Let's Go Rangers!
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