The Rangers are 13-2-3 when scoring a power-play goal and 13-0-3 in their last 16 when scoring a power-play goal.

— Dave Lozo (@DaveLozo) April 25, 2013

The Rangers are 3 for their last 28 on the power play.

...so I guess we'll all be popping champagne if the Rangers score a power play goal in the first two minutes tonight.

...this obviously goes to show how vital it is to take advantage of the opportunities given to you. If the Rangers were merely pedestrian on the power play this season they'd be fighting for seeding right now instead of for their playoff lives.

With the Edmonton Oils Kings staring at a possible 3-1 deficit in the WHL Eastern Conference Finals, Michael St. Croix (2011 - 4th) dropped four points (1g, 4a) on the Calgary Hitman to help his team tie the series at 2-2 with a 7-3 victory.

Here's Jesse Rubenstein of The Prospect Park on the goal...

"This time it was Foster feeding St. Croix who got the puck at the blue line, charged into the offensive zone and into the slot then stopped to set up his shot and then beat Calgary goalie Mac Shields under the glove with a blistering snap shot..."

The four points were a career high for St. Croix, who is now 6th in WHL playoff scoring with 7g, 11a.

For his efforts, Buzzing the Net named St. Croix their No. 1 star of the night.

...haven't done a good job following St. Croix lately, so it's great to see him still tearing it up. He is going to be a player to watch in training camp next season and I fully expect him to make an impression on the coaching staff.

Bergen Record - Rangers' quest: Get in playoffs

New York Post - Zuccarello energizing Rangers’ playoff chase

Daily News - Back in Blue, 'Hobbit' humming for Rangers

New York Times - A Three-Way Battle for Two Playoff Spots

Newsday - Rangers need 2 points in 2 games for playoff spot

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Lets just say as the typical superstitious hockey fan, I was none to happy to see this arrive in my e-mail this afternoon....

...listen, I get the Rangers need to start advertising the tickets, especially if it comes down to the final day of the season, but man talk about jinxing yourself.

The fourth and youngest Staal brother, Jared Staal, has been called up by the Carolina Hurricanes and is expected to make his NHL debut tomorrow night against the Rangers, according to the Hurricanes official website.

Jared, a 22-year-old winger, was originally a second round draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2008 entry draft. He was moved to the Hurricanes for a 5th round pick after the 2009-2010 season and has played in the AHL since. This season, he has four goals and three assists in 52 games for the Charlotte Checkers.

During last night's 3-2 loss to the Panthers, Chris Kreider was given just 3:43 of ice time, including a miniscule two shifts in the second period and ZERO in the third.

Kreider has not cracked ten minutes of ice time since his recall last week.

Good friend of the blog Scotty Hockey said it perfectly about Kreider in his game recap....

"If Torts doesn't trust Kreider to play more than four minutes against the worst team in the league, when is he ever going to trust him?"

...definitely not this season, because as soon as either Dorsett or Boyle are healthy, Kreider is headed to the Whale taxi squad.

...i think I've just given up on the idea that Torts will use Kreider this season, because I wasn't even upset about this after the game. Why would anyone think Torts would magically use Kreider after publicly stating he's worried about him in the big spot and that he didn't even want him recalled in the first place?

Despite the Rangers excruciating loss to the Panthers last night, they actually received some good news in their hunt for a playoff spot as the ninth place Winnipeg Jets lost to the Washington Capitals, meaning the Blueshirts magic number is now two.

If the Rangers can gain just two measly points in their final two games (@Carolina on Thursday, vs. the Devils at MSG on Saturday) the Blueshirts are going back to the playoffs.

The Rangers can also back into the postseason if the Jets lose their lone remaining game at home against the Canadiens on Thursday or if the Senators lose their remaining three games.

If both the Senators (52 points) and Rangers (52 points) lose out and the Jets (51 points) win Thursday night, the Senators will be eliminated as the Rangers own the first tie breaker which is regulation/overtime wins (ROW).

Here are the standings...

...in typical Rangers fashion, they had to prolong their fans' agony by losing to the worst team in the NHL last night. And please God let them take care of business Thursday night in Carolina, because the last thing I want to see are the revenge minded New Jersey Devils standing in the way of a potential Blueshirts playoff berth.

After last night's disgusting loss to the Florida Panthers, John Tortorella was asked what went wrong...

"It's 1-1, we're in full control of the game. I don't think we should take a penalty and we don't get the puck out when we're killing a penalty, twice. End of story."

...the Richards penalty was the height of stupidity and the failure to clear the puck on the unsuing penalty kill was obviously a killer, but Torts must think we're all stupid. You lose to the worst team in the NHL and we're supposed to believe one sequence lost them the game? How about going 0-for-3 on the power play against the worst penalty kill in the league? Or Nash coming up small in his biggest game as a Ranger? Or how about scoring just one non-garbage time goal against a goaltender who had given up 25 in his previous six games? Two of which he was pulled in.

...i also wasn't a huge fan of Torts pulling Hank with the Rangers on the power play in the closing two minutes. Being down just one goal, it doesn't make sense to give the Panthers an opportunity to possibly end the game with an empty net tally?

Here's more from Torts...

The players also talked after the game...

Bergen Record - Rangers lose to Panthers, 3-2; fail to clinch playoff spot

New York Post - Rangers blow chance to make postseason in loss to woeful Panthers

New York Post - Rangers’ power play sputters again

Daily News - Rangers fail to secure playoff spot in Florida

New York Times - Rangers Miss Chance to Clinch but Have Two More

Newsday - Rangers miss chance to clinch in loss to Panthers

Newsday - Rangers' offense has rebounded in April

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A bit of deja vu tonight. Markstrom stood strong and the Panthers held on long enough to get their two necessary goals. Give credit to them for doing what they had to.

Nonetheless, frustrating result for the Rangers. With the Jets losing in regulation, the Rangers had the ability to clinch a playoff spot. And with the Islanders losing in overtime, they had the ability to move up to the six seed. Instead, a loss to the worst team in the Eastern Conference. It's hard to get too mad; they were 7-2-1 in their previous 10 games and significantly outplayed the Panthers tonight. Nonetheless, the struggles early in the season made a loss tonight very difficult to come to peace with. We outhit them, won more faceoffs, had more posession, and more than doubled their shot total. The scoreboard is what matters most, though, and it tilted away from the Rangers tonight. Had the Rangers gotten a couple of bounces in their favor like they did against Buffalo then we're celebrating a Rangers victory and four-game winning streak. Instead, we have this. Let's look at some post-game thoughts: