Ok stat of the night: The Rangers have never lost a series when they took a 2-0 lead. Well it looks like this trend will continue.

Think about it, do you honestly believe the Devils will take two games at the Garden, a place where they are 9-2-1 against the Devils in the regular season since the lockout and the two regulation losses had Kevin Weekes in goal? Sure the Devils beat the King twice at MSG in the 2006 playoffs, but remember he did have the hip flexor and migraine headaches back then.

With the Garden rocking and a determined Ranger team, it’s going to be tough for the Devils.

Bottom line, the Blueshirts should win this series, unless a 2004 Yankee-like collapse occurs.

Before we get ahead of ourselves and look at the Montreal matchup, there are still two games to be won and unlike last year’s Atlanta Thrashers, which saw Kari Lehtonen meltdown, Marty Brodeur won’t go out that easy. Tom Renney knows this and will have his team ready.

First the Rangers will need to put more pressure on Brodeur and get more pucks to the net. With only 13 shots through two periods, the team will have to play like they did in the third tonight, while keeping Lundqvist well protected.

It’s not going to be easy, but I am keeping a quiet confidence.  

  

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At this time of the year, there are some that want the Rangers to just go for it. Damn the farm system and acquire what is needed to make a deep run at the playoffs. And that was the way of things pre-lockout, as the Rangers just traded all their prospects for veterans and generally those trades didn’t help the team to get to the playoffs, let along make a run. After the lockout, though, general manager Glen Sather played it smart and made choice trades at the deadline, which didn’t hurt the farm system, while helped the main club in its back depth. This trading deadline was an example of that.

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After sitting out last season deciding what to do, Brian Leetch finally made it official and retired from the NHL after 18 seasons.

The Daily News reported today the Rangers all-time leader scorer for a defenseman finally packed it in. He finished up with 240 goals, with 741 assists in 1129 games as a Rangers, while winning the Calder, the Norris twice, and Conn Smythe trophies. He was a 10-time All-Star and won the Stanley Cup with the Blueshirts in 1994.

He is second only to Rod Gilbert in overall scoring for the franchise.

Leetch spent most of his career with the Blueshirts, but when sent packing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in March 2004 and then, after the lockout, played for the Boston Bruins in 2005-06.

It was rumored Leetch would come back to the Rangers last season, but that never materialized.

Yet, just remember the good times.

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