Atlanta Thrashers’ Ondrej Pavelec weakens New York Rangers playoff chances shutting them out 3-0 – NHL Update
Atlanta Thrashers knows that it is not going to be making it to the playoffs this season, but it made sure to take Rangers down with them. Thursday night could have clinched a postseason spot for the home team that lost 3-0 at the Madison Square Garden in
New York, New York.
The sold out crowd of over 18,200 anxiously waited to see its team recover, but were disappointed as Carolina Hurricanes came even closer to the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately for Rangers, they only have one game remaining on Saturday against New Jersey Devils while Carolina, on the other hand, has two.
"We didn't make enough plays", New York’s forward, Brian Boyle, said. "We had some chances where we were close. Close isn't good enough, especially this time of year".
Both, Ondrej Pavelec and Henrik Lundqvist, managed to hold down the opposing team’s offense during the first period, but Pevelec remained the better goalie throughout the game.
Pacelec recorded his fourth shutout of this season after making 29 rejections, bringing up the total to six in his four-year National Hockey League (NHL) career.
Lundqvist lost dominance during the second period and managed to make 23 saves in the match.
Thrashers, Rob Schremp and Andrew Ladd, opened up the scoring during the second period, firing the puck through Lundqvist only 15 seconds apart.
Ladd regained the puck quickly after Rangers cleared it, flying from centre and through multiple defensemen to shoot the puck between the goalie’s legs and into the net.
"We had contributions from everybody", Atlanta’s coach, Craig Ramsay, said. "We had the kind of game we talked about and great goaltending. They really went after us early”.
New York had over six minutes of power-play time, including during the final moments, but could not capitalise.
Eric Boulton sealed Rangers’ fate early in the final period as he scored his sixth of the season. At that point, the gap became too wide to recover from.
It will be the second season straight in which New York has to hang on until the final game to decide its postseason fate.
Last season, Rangers lost to Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout during the final regulation game which eliminated it from the playoffs.
If Rangers loses its next matchup then it can say goodbye to the postseason once again.
It is under Buffalo Sabres, sitting comfortably at seventh place, two points above with 93 points.
Carolina needs to win its remaining two games against Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lighting to ensure a fighting chance.
Hurricanes are currently at ninth place with 91 points, shy of tying it for eighth by two.
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