The Rangers again find themselves getting no help as both the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes won tonight.

The Sabres 4-3 OT victory over the Flyers clinched a playoff spot for themselves, while the Canes 6-1 win over the Thrashers tied them in points with the Rangers at 91, but put them in the eighth and final playoff spot due to the tiebreaker.

So what does that mean for the Rangers? In order for the Rangers to make the playoffs they need to beat the Devils at MSG tomorrow afternoon and then hope that John Tortorella's former team the Tampa Bay Lightning can beat the Hurricanes at home later that night.

The Rangers can also get in with an overtime loss and a Hurricanes regulation loss.

If the Rangers do get in they can only get the 8th spot and can only play the Washington Capitals who have clinched the #1 seed.

...can you imagine how depressing the post game "Shirts Off Our Backs" ceremony is going to be if the Rangers lose. Each fan chosen win receive a jersey and an official apology from a Rangers player.

...i am so distraught that the Rangers allowed it to come down to the final game for the second straight season. The ultimate cruelty will be if the Rangers win in the afternoon and Carolina clinches a playoff spot in a shootout that night.

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Rich Carpiniello at the Rangers Report has numerous quotes from John Tortorella and players on tomorrow's game from practice today...

Tortorella on the short memory his team has had:

"It's got to be really short. We play at 12:30 tomorrow. Listen, this team has bounced back from clunkers that we've played, from injuries, from a lot of different things this year. And we have full trust that we will be ready to play. Again, like I said, we lose control as far as losing last night. But you wake up today, you go to work and you need to look what's ahead of you here. They've bounced back in a lot of different situations this year. They'll do it tomorrow."

Marian Gaborik on tomorrow's game...

"We have to stick together and focus on this one last game. Whatever happened last game, it happened. We don't want to look back to it. We really just want to focus on this last game. It's do-or-die, so we're going to approach it that way and everybody's going to be ready."

Gaborik did not want to talk about being benched after his horrific defensive play (or lack thereof) against Atlanta.

...weak.

Brandon Prust on playing the Devils...

"We've got to be loose tomorrow. You know, this is it. We can't lose. So we've got to throw everything at them. We've got to stay patient at the same time. We've got to play our game, play the way that's made us successful and we'll be alright."

Chris Drury on if he'll play tomorrow...

"I don't think that's really even in the equation. I skated hard today and the whole goal of skating is to have a good 12-24 hours after. We've had that. So, I just want a good rest of the day and see how it feels tomorrow."

Brandon Dubinsky on Game 82 being a motivator...

"Yeah, I mean, obviously we've got to have that fire. We've got to come in with that urgency and that fire. The feeling after that game, I can still feel it. Obviously it was a year ago, but you don't forget the way that feels. So we've got to make sure we take care of ourselves. And we're pretty confident we're going to get help from some other teams."

Henrik Lundqvist on tomorrow's game...

“We have to see this as a Game 7, playoffs. If we don’t get it done tomorrow it probably will be over, so we don’t room for any bad games now. We just have to go out there and do our best. We can’t put too much pressure on ourselves. We just have to go out and enjoy it and see it as an exciting game and a great challenge. That’s usually when you play your best.”

...amazing job by Carp getting all these quotes. Click on the link above for more.

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Update, 1:43 p.m.:
Andrew Gross reports that Marc Staal had a maintenance day today.

Update, 1:41 p.m.:
Chris Drury and Tortorella both say Drury is not likely to play tomorrow.

Update, 1:30 p.m.:
John Tortorella says Zuccarello was called up in part due to his shootout success...

"crazy that that figures into your thinking now, but it does"

Original Post:
The Rangers announced that they have recalled Mats Zuccarello from the CT Whale.

...wonder if someone is hurt. Hope they just brought him up to infuse a spark into the offense.

...most likely just an admission that Gilroy at wing isn't the answer.

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Jesse Spector at the Blueshirts Blog has this on Marian Gaborik being benched for the final 15:41 last night against the Thrashers...

"Gaborik getting beat up ice by Eric Boulton, of all people, was just the last straw. The $37.5 million right wing now has gone without a goal in his last eight games – his second such drought of the season – and his invisibility, with one shot on goal in 13:44 that included four minutes of power play time, was particularly conspicuous given his place in the lineup: the spot where Callahan usually skates on the right wing with Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov."

...to be honest Gaborik has been so invisible lately I didn't even notice he was being benched.

...having said that, despite his struggles he is the only legitimate scoring threat on the team and to bench him with the season on the line to me doesn't make much sense. And as we've seen in the past with Gaborik he's not a player who responds well to a benching.

...i have to say I am in complete shock at the struggles Gaborik has had this year coming off such a dominating performance last year. I don't want to make excuses for the guy because if you're in the lineup I expect you to perform but his shot has looked woefully weak this year and I have wonder if his shoulder injury ever properly healed.

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Adam Proteau at The Hockey News takes a look back at this pre-season predictions and criticizes himself for missing the mark with the Rangers...

New York Rangers
I picked them: 13th in the East.
They'll finish: Anywhere from sixth to eighth.
How am I feeling about the pick? As badly as any pick I made this year. Give Blueshirts credit for overcoming injuries – now let's see if they're better than a first-round-and-done team.

...if the Rangers don't end up making the playoffs his pick won't look all that bad actually.

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For those of you not familiar with the Yahoo Sports fantasy rotisserie scoring system click here. For more on TheNYRBlog Fantasy Hockey League Championship round click here.

OVERALL POINTS
Team   G   A  +/-  PPP  SHG  GWG  H   W  GAA  SV%  SO  TOT
GS     7   8   7   5.5  6.5   5   1  6.5  8    8   7   69.5

JDAS   8   2  3.5  7.5  6.5   8   5   8   2    2  2.5  55

MSGU   4  3.5  6    2   2.5   5   3  6.5  7    6   7   52.5

BLUE   2   1   8    1   2.5  1.5  8   3   6    7   7   47

FS     1   7   5    3   2.5   5   6  4.5  5    5  2.5  46.5

TG     3  5.5  2    4   2.5   7   4  4.5  3    3   5   43.5

GTFM   5  5.5  1   7.5  6.5   3   7  1.5  1    1  2.5  41.5

S'94   6  3.5 3.5  5.5  6.5  1.5  2  1.5  4    4  2.5  40.5


Team Key: JDAS = Jim Dolan's All Stars, TG = The Greeks, S'94 = Spring of '94, GTFM = GetTheFrolovMatteau, BLUE = BLUESHIRTS, FS = Fire Sather, MSGU = MS G-Unit, GS = Glen Sather

Scoring Key: G = Goals, A = Assists, +/- = +/-, PPP = Power Play Points, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, GWG = Game Winning Goal, H = Hits, W = Wins, GAA = Goals Against Average, SV% = Save Percentage, SO = Shutouts, TOT = Total Points

OVERALL STATS
Team         G  A  +/-  PPP  SHG  GWG  H  W  GAA  SV%  SO
GTFM        16 23  -10   14   1    2  88  3  3.50 .884  0

Fire Sather  8 27   6    10   0    3  77  5  2.18 .927  0

Spring '94  18 22   4    13   1    1  62  3  2.20 .923  0

Glen Sather 20 28  11    13   1    3  49  6  1.44 .947  2

The Greeks  13 23  -4    11   0    4  72  5  2.36 .922  1

MS G-Unit   14 22   8    7    0    3  64  6  1.80 .933  2

Dolan Stars 21 21   4    14   1    5  76  8  2.39 .919  0

BLUESHIRTS  10 18  13    5    0    1  92  4  1.85 .934  2

Thank you to the Rangers and Glass Bangers T-Shirts (I definitely recommend checking them out) for hooking us up with some great prizes.

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It wasn't Mark Messier's Game 6 guarentee against the Devils in 1994, but here's what Brian Boyle said to Rick Carpiniello of the Rangers Report about Saturday's game against the same Devils...

"We're pissed off tonight. It's hard to even put it into words. But I think we'll be pretty motivated for Saturday and we're going to have no doubt in our mind we're going to win the game."

...love the confidence by Boyle. Let's hope Lemaire doesn't see this quote and use it as bulletin board material. Don't need the Devils anymore motivated than they already will be to knock off the Rangers.

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...in all my misery last night I totally forgot to congratulate Prust on this very well deserved award.

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Christopher Botta at Slap Shot tells us that a night after rooting against the Thrashers, Rangers fans will be pulling for them big time against the Carolina Hurricanes...

"Now the Rangers are counting on the Thrashers on Friday. Atlanta hosts Carolina. If the Thrashers beat the Hurricanes in regulation, the Rangers would clinch a playoff berth if they are tied after 60 minutes of regulation when they play the Devils at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon. If the Thrashers lose Friday, the Rangers will continue to have no control of their destiny."

...to be honest, I'm not very confident that this Thrashers team is talented enough to put together a second straight solid performance. I wouldn't even be surprised to see their backup in there tonight.

...having said that, Let's Go Thrashers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Bergen Record - Rangers lose control of playoff fate with 3-0 loss to Trashers

Bergen Record - Rangers hand out awards

New York Post - Rangers' postseason hopes take big hit after ugly loss

New York Post - Tortorella says team will rebound after flop

New York Post - Dubinsky bemoans Rangers' lost opportunity

Daily News - Rangers' playoff fate in doubt after 3-0 loss to Thrashers at Garden

New York Times - Rangers Lose, Leaving Playoff Hopes in Other Teams’ Hands

Wall Street Journal - Rangers Fall to Thrashers

Newsday - Staple: Rangers just didn't get the point(s)

Newsday - Rangers lose; destiny out of their hands

Newsday - Callahan wins pair of awards

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