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The Rangers have become a magic act. vThey win by losing and lose a game they should have won.
Amazing.
Let's face it, the visiting Edmonton Oilers were set up to lose last night at the Garden in every way
1. Weary from their four-game Eastern road swing; they couldn't wait to fly home.
2. Slumping at 4-6 in their last ten games, they were far less than awesome,
3. Oilers' starting goalie Stuart Skinner, who lately had been having trouble stopping a 12-foot cotton candy puck, did not look like a match for super-wealthy Igor Shesterkin.
So here's the Rangers magic. They lose 3-1, but they still retained their precarious Wild Card Berth. (Give 'em an A with an Asterix.)
That's nice work if you can get it and you can get it if you try. So give Peter Laviolette's skaters credit, they did try but were foiled by their own goalkeeper.
Before last night's game at The Garden, I said I wanted to see Igor Shesrterkin start because he came off a shutout the night before in Columbus.
Besides, there was great motivation; New York had not had a three-game winning streak since Veterans' Day. Beating Edmonton would have meant three W's in a row.
"Will Cuylle got the Rangers goal," says The Old Scout, "but none of the big names -- alias Fat Cats – came through."
Cuylle is doing more for the Rangers offense than the rich guys and that's where the goalie has to come through.
Shesterkin bombed with an .870 save percentage. Skinner was .955. And there's the hockey game right there.
If I still harbored any doubts about the game, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal reiterated it for us. "Skinner played better than Shesterkin."
The good news: Rangers still hold the Wild Card spot. The Bad News: Rangers don't know how to win three straight!
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