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New York Rangers will have revenge on their minds in the NHL Playoffs

By Jesse Burke

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Coming into this season the New York Rangers had something to prove. We all saw the ending of their Cinderella season last year; they made it to the Stanley Cup ball, however the clock struck midnight.  The magic that brought them there, ran out as they were matched up against a faster, better Los Angeles Kings

Granted there was some drama and controversy as the officiating crew of the series issued an apology for some of the calls missed in games 2 and 5 (the final game). The Kings were crowned when it was all said and done.  Missed calls happen all the time it did not affect the inevitable fact that the Kings were just the better team. The real apology that was due was from the Rangers to the fans, and the rest of New York.

Fast forward to today and this season, The Rangers are HOT.  Any hotter and the ice will melt, that may sound silly however so is the way they are playing. An emotional roller coaster season has brought them to their current state as the top team in the east, and having analysts and fans seeing a return to the finals.

All of this has been going on with the absence of their goalie and leader, Henrik Lundqvist, who has been out since early February with a vascular injury. Many thought this would halt the Rangers momentum, however it has propelled it. The team has connected and rallied behind back up Cam Talbot who is keeping up just fine, the Rangers have only lost twice since he has taken his place between the pipes. Originally only expected to play for 3 weeks while Lundqvist heals, it’s been more than a month and the urgency to get Lundqvist back isn’t as high as expected.

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Don’t fix what’s not broken. It’s a powerful feeling knowing that the team did not crumble when the “Quarterback” of the team is not able to go. The man that was mainly responsible for the Rangers playoff push last year must feel honored and respected knowing that his team is pulling it together for when he returns, there was no beat skipped.

Around this time two years ago, the Rangers made a trade which lost a fan favorite in Marian Gaborik which ended up hurting them. At the time it seemed sweet, gaining all-star Rick Nash was part of sending Gaborik to Columbus Blue Jackets, coincidentally for the Rangers, Gaborik caught fire in the playoffs, as he was a strong factor to the Los Angeles Kings championship finish, after being traded by the Blue Jackets to the Kings. Whereas Nash cooled down towards season end only scoring 5 times in the last 37 games.

This time around the Rangers made move to “defend” their hopes of making yet another strong playoff run. They recently acquired defender Keith Yandle. Yandle coming from a losing culture in Arizona is hungry and eager to be part of a winning team. Having experience playing in the west coast gives Yandle an advantage seeing as he knows what to expect come playoff time if they find themselves playing in the Stanley Cup.

Between the team continuing to win without its all-star goalie, the backup goalie doing his job and above and the new defenseman fitting right in and meshing well. All those factors have fans, analysts and the Ranger themselves believe that they will for sure return to the Stanley Cup Championship, however this time finishing the job.

Next: Who is the best Ranger of all-time?

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