Rangers move closer to wild-card spot after destruction of Senators
NY Post
Entrenched in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, the Rangers are making their push.
A 5-0 rout of the Senators on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden extended their season-best point streak to nine games. The win not only bumped the Blueshirts up to just two points out of the second wild-card spot, but it also prevented Ottawa, currently occupying the first spot, from widening their lead.
Every time the Rangers have stepped on the ice since the new year began, a big-game aura has followed.
That’s what happens when your season reaches the brink of ruin and you’re fighting to make up for it.
Though the Rangers have rather consistently answered the call in these high-stakes contests, and it’s allowed them to bulldoze their way back into contention after their season was all but dead in the water.
“Defensively, I think one of the best games of the season,” goalie Igor Shesterkin said after making 20 saves to extend his shutout streak to 164:43, following a 1-0 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
In a different time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In a different time, in a season to come, the Nets will be seeking to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.
The NBA has an All-Star Game problem. Despite Adam Silver’s efforts to inject juice into the February showcase — including a format alteration to the 2025 game that is too confusing to attempt to understand before it’s inevitably changed again — there’s little interest in watching teams eschew defense for a series of layup line highlights. That also means the most entertaining part of the NBA All-Star Game is just like the Pro Bowl — debating over who should get a spot.