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Rangers Among 4 Teams Scrambling for the Playoffs

Only days ago the Rangers seemed a sure bet to make the N.H.L. playoffs, but now, in the next to last weekend of the regular season, it is anyone’s guess where they will end up The Rangers, in eighth place, and the seventh-place Buffalo Sabres are looking over their shoulders at the surging Carolina Hurricanes, who have won five of six and are in ninth, 3 points behind the Rangers. Even the Montreal Canadiens, in sixth, are in danger of missing the postseason. All four teams have critical games this weekend as they vie for the last three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have been on the right side of the playoff cutoff line since Oct. 30, 传世私服 their 10th game. But after consecutive defeats this week in Buffalo and at the Islanders, they are in peril. “Everyone around here is going to be negative, but we’re going to keep it in the room and be positive,” Rangers forward Erik Christensen said after Thursday’s 6-2 loss to the Islanders. “That’s the way it has to be. We’ve got to think of ourselves as a family in here, no matter what’s going on, just stick together.” Last season, the Rangers’ frantic effort to earn a playoff berth fell short in a season-ending shootout in Philadelphia. The Flyers, who took that final spot, reached the Stanley Cup finals. On Saturday night, the Hurricanes, with a game in hand over the Rangers, visit the Islanders. The Islanders have been a .500 team in the second half of the season, but the Hurricanes have won their last five meetings. Carolina’s rookie sensation, Jeff Skinner, has five goals and three assists in his last six games. Also Saturday night, the Sabres play the Capitals in Washington. 传奇世界私服 传世私服 The Sabres are coming off a 1-0 victory against the Rangers, preserved by the rookie Jhonas Enroth’s first N.H.L. shutout. Ryan Miller, Buffalo’s regular goalie and last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, has what the team is calling an upper-body injury. He did not travel with his teammates to Washington on Friday. If Miller does not rejoin the Sabres this weekend, Buffalo will have to rely on Enroth to thwart the Capitals, who have won 7 of their last 10 and are challenging for the Eastern Conference title. A third game Saturday night has the Canadiens, who have lost four of five, in New Jersey to face the Devils, who still had a mathematical chance of making the playoffs going into Friday’s game at Philadelphia. On Sunday at 12:30 p.m., the Rangers visit Philadelphia to play the Eastern Conference-leading Flyers. 魔域私服 The Rangers have scored five goals in their last five games, after scoring 17 in the previous three. “That’s the way it is right now,” Christensen said. “It’s tough to win games when you’re getting shut out or scoring just one.” Later Sunday afternoon, Buffalo plays at Carolina. After that, all four teams will have three games remaining in the final week, Wholesale nfl Jerseys Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL NHL Jerseys NBA Jerseys with the Rangers hosting the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins on Monday, the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night and the Devils on Saturday.