BLUESHIRTS in PLAYOFFS
Rangers dominate ‘Hamburglar’ to clinch fifth straight playoff spot
The Rangers are in, they’re on top, and the goalie is on his way back. Seems pretty good, no? The Blueshirts made ground beef out of Andrew Hammond, the Senators’ rookie sensation netminder nicknamed “The Hamburglar,” en route to a 51 win on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa.
In conjunction with the Bruins losing a brutal 32 overtime game to the Ducks, Boston led 21 with 39 seconds left, the Rangers are now in the postseason for the fifth straight season and the ninth time in the past 10. And with the Canadiens’ 52 loss in Winnipeg, the Blueshirts (47197) and their 101 points are now atop the NHL, still nine games left for them in their chase for the Presidents’ Trophy.
“The last two years we were grinding it out to the end, so it’s a good feeling to clinch,” defenseman Marc Staal told MSG after the game, his team the first in either conference to lock up a postseason berth. “Your goal from the start of the year is to get into the playoffs, get into the tournament. Now we want to finish as high as we can in the standings.”
The Rangers chased Ham mond after scoring five goals on 22 shots through the opening 37:05, as the 27yearold rookie, who came in 1401, went to the bench with a strained neck, or back — or ego. He was ably countered by Cam Talbot, who played well yet again, this time in the hulking shadow of starter Henrik Lundqvist, on the bench as the backup and dressed for the first time since Feb. 2, when the severity of the bloodvessel injury in his neck was detected.
“It’s all about the team,” said Talbot, who has gone 1633 in Lundqvist’s absence and likely will get to watch the franchise goalie make his return Saturday afternoon in Boston or Sunday at home against the Capitals. “We were just happy to come in here and get the two points. It’s not a personal thing [against Hammond], goalieversusgoalie. Obviously he had an unbelievable run to start his career, and he should be commended on that.”
The Rangers hardly gave Hammond a chance, tossing pucks at him from every angle and charging the net with abandon. They were up 31 after the first period when Chris Kreider had two goals to sandwich one from Dan Boyle, offsetting one for the Senators (372511) from Curtis Lazar. The second opened with a quick tally from Mats Zuccarello, followed later by one from Tanner Glass — his first goal this season in his 57th game as a Ranger — chasing Hammond and giving the Rangers a dominating 51 lead.
“We jump out to that lead,” Staal said, “and it’s hard to come back, especially against us.”
The game the Rangers played on Tues day night at the Garden, a disheartening 42 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings, quickly became a distant memory.
“We came out with a lot more energy than we did last game,” Staal said. “We wanted to respond.”
The response, too, is larger than just bouncing back from that one game. The Rangers were so close to tasting glory last summer, as the Kings kept them just three wins short of the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1994.
At least for now they’re officially on their way back into the postseason, with a singular focus, just one goal that really matters.
“Every year you get into the playoffs, you get a chance to win the Stanley
Cup,” Staal said