The Rangers’ recent hot streak has put them in good position to make the playoffs. But that doesn’t lessen the importance of tonight’s game in Buffalo to Ryan Callahan.
“It’s a huge game for us,” Callahan said after yesterday’s short practice. “We want to be as high in the standings as we possibly can going into the playoffs. . . . We have to try to get these two points.
“This is probably the most important game of the year so far that we’ve played.”
The game’s importance is magnified because the Rangers are one of several teams bunched together at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff race. They are two points behind Montreal for sixth, two points ahead of Buffalo for eighth and five points ahead of ninth-place Carolina. That left the Blueshirts with a magic number of eight points to secure a playoff berth.
The Rangers also have benefited from a break in the schedule. After winning 1-0 in Boston Saturday, the team was given the day off on Sunday, and then had a chance to spend the last two days working on specific things in practice, including a 5-on-3 power play session during yesterday’s workout.
“The day off is the most important thing, plus having a couple days [where] we got to work on our power play and some different things,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “It was a good time to have it. We’ve tried to use these not only for the teaching, but more importantly for some rest.
“So it’s worked out well,” he said. “Hopefully it will help us out here as we go into a back-to-back.”
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The Rangers also announced the signing of free agent forward Tommy Grant.
The 24-year-old, who had two assists Sunday in his debut for the Connecticut Whale, played the last four years at the University of Alaska Anchorage, finishing with 45 goals and 45 assists.