It is still relatively early, but if the Rangers can take out the Flyers in regulation tonight at the Garden, the Blueshirts will go into the NHL’s Christmas break in first place in the Atlantic Division
“It would be a nice reward for what we’ve done, and it would be a bit of accomplishment if we can be there, but the stakes are going to get a lot higher as we go along,” Brian Boyle told The Post after last night’s 4-2 victory over the Islanders at Madison Square Garden.
“We want to win as many as we can, we want to pile up as many points as possible, but we have one goal in here and that’s to win the [Stanley] Cup.”
There are still six months ahead before the Rangers can achieve the ultimate, still the entire winter and probably the entire spring before that quest can become reality. But the Rangers have earned the right to think big, just as they have earned 44 points in 32 games — a 113-point pace — by continuing to persevere even when not at their sharpest, even when not operating at maximum efficiency.
Last night represented another one of those matches in which the Rangers rode a combination of superior goaltending, opportunism and mental fortitude to another two points. Last night, it was Martin Biron who made the essential saves in lifting his record to 7-1. None of those saves was more essential than the left-pad stretch stop he made on Michael Grabner’s two-on-one drive with the game scoreless 9:30 into the first period.
“I wanted to be able to join this rivalry,” said Biron, whose start broke Henrik Lundqvist’s streak of 15 straight against the Islanders at the Garden, dating back to Dec. 19, 2006. “I was a part of it when I was with Philly and when I was with the Islanders, but I only got one start last year at Long Island and got pulled, so I wanted to accomplish something here.
“I feel a sense of pride within the team to be part of a great tandem with Hankie, where we give it off to each other and have one of the best defensive records in the league.
“A game like this, I could feel the energy. A game like this is special.”
It was special for Brandon Dubinsky to end a 16-game drought by getting his second goal of the year on a right circle drive following a rink-length rush at 14:53 of the first in a match in which the Rangers were tied 1-1, but never trailed.
“It’s always mountains and valleys [for me],” said Dubinsky, who has been taking a series of baby steps of improvement in the last week. “Hopefully [instead] it can be hills and holes.”
The Rangers haven’t fallen into too many ditches this season. When they have fallen, they have gotten up.
“There’s a lot of support for one another in here,” Boyle said. “We have guys pushing and picking up for each other and our goaltending has been great.”
The Rangers defeated the Devils in New Jersey on Tuesday, 4-1. They defeated the Islanders last night. Now comes the final challenge before the holiday moratorium.
“We didn’t look past the Islanders ahead to the Flyers and we’re not going to look past the Flyers to the break,” Dubinsky said. “There’s going to be a lot of build-up because of the show [HBO’s “24/7: Road to the NHL Winter Classic”] and the Winter Classic, but for us, it’s two at the top of the conference with four points at stake.”
And first place in the Atlantic, to boot.