The Rangers Got Lucky But That Luck Will Run Out

Do you know how The Maven knows that Pittsburgh has the worst team in the league?

Easy: The Rangers beat them yesterday in The Land Of The Penguin.

The 5-3 “victory” was roughly equivalent to what Rumplestiltskin did in mythical times – weaving straw into gold.

“You’ve got to be pretty bad to lose to the Rangers these days,” says The Old Scout, “but that’s how awful Sidney Crosby’s team is these days.”

Then, again, you could look at the arithmetic and argue that the Rangers were worse.

Outshot on the game, the Blueshirts were smothered another time, 26-5!

“One night Shesterkin gets yanked in the first period,” adds The Old Scout, “and the next day he saves his team by himself.”

Oh, Iggy got help here and there

Adam Fox, whose goal stick disappeared on a distant safari, got a biggie – an assist as well –  for the go-ahead red light and Shesty took care of the rest.

The open-netter belonged to J.T. Miller, who had scored earlier, and even Jimmy Vesey climbed out of the doghouse long enough to corral one.

Pittsburgh – doomed to another non-playoff year – started their third-string goalie Joel Blomqvist who made a grand total of 11 saves and looked like a 30th stringer doing it.

Now for the REALLY good news:

1. The Rangers still are alive in the playoff race although that will partially depend on your definition of “alive.”

2. At 28-25-4 they are above the .500 mark.

3. New York has won four out of its last six games.

4. J.T. Miller is earning his dough.

5. Next up are the Islanders at UBS Arena on Tuesday. The Nassaumen are in the throes of a losing streak.

But before you do cartwheels of joy, remember these quotes:

“We’ve got to play better,”  Peter Laviolette said.

“That was not a recipe for winning games,” Ryan Lindgren said.

Or, The Maven: “If the Rangers were a Broadway show, it would have closed on the road!”