That said, the Rangers now face the tricky situation where they will have to stay sharp without knowing who they will play. Last year, we saw that become a problem. After sweeping the Thrashers, the Blueshirts had to wait a week until Round 2 started. They came out flat in Game 1 against the Sabres and then lost the second match.

I asked Jromir Jagr about that after the game on Friday to which he said the team will need to practice like its playing in a game. 

Round 2 is expected to start either Thursday or Friday, so it will be a long layoff for the team.

***  

Too much is being made from the Marty Brodeur snub of Sean Avery. Sure, Avery is a bit annoyed and called Brodeur “Fatso” during his post game interview on the MSG Network.

But to make it out to be some sort of crime is like making Avery’s face guarding play into some sort of international crime.

Bottom line here is this: 77 games is just too much for Brodeur to play in a season and needs to play about 60 at 36 years old. He has burned out in the playoffs the past three seasons and Lou Lamoriello needs to sit down and talk to his goaltender in the offseason.

And if the Devils keep insisting on playing Brodeur so many games, then why keep a veteran like Kevin Weekes in the roster. They would be better served with a goalie from the ‘A’ who can fill in for five games.

For the next round, the Blueshirts will get three possible opponents depending on what happens in the two remianing series in the Eastern Conference.

The most likely opponent is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who the Rangers went 5-3 this season. They were 4-0 on Garden Ice and 1-3 in the Igloo, so if the trend continues they will win it in seven games. Now the trick with the pens is to do to Marc0-Andre Fleury, what the Blueshirts did to Marty Brodeur. If that can crash the net and get him off the game, they can steal a game in Pittsburgh and then continue Penguin mastery at the Garden.

For the series, Tom Renney may put Colton Orr back in the lineup, because the fourth line of Blair Betts, Ryan Hollweg and Orr, did a great job at shutting down Sidney Crosby during the year, while relying upon the Ranger big guns to come through with less ice time.

Also watch if Jaromir Jagr melt unter the Scott Gomez treatment in Pittsburgh.

Now if the Caps come back and Montreal wins, the Rangers will visit the Bell Centre for game 1. The Blueshirts were 3-0-1 against the Habs, who are relying upon Carey price. As we saw in Game 5, Price can get rattled by little mistakes as the Bruins were able to keep the series alive. In this possible series the Ranger penalty kill needs to shut down the Hab pwer play and also stay out of the box, because the Habs offense is centered around taking advantage of other teams mistakes.

They also will be visiting a hostile Bell Centre, unlike the cushy Prudential Center they got in the first round.

If Boston and Philly win, they the Blueshirts will open at the Garden against the Flyers. They were 5-1-2, but Stephen Valiquette took three of thoise wins. Don’t expect Vali to replace the King in the beginning, but coach Tom Renney may use his backup in this series to change things up. Valiquette has a 1.04 gaa against the Flyers.

On offense, the Rangers need to solve Martin Biron and doing the same things to him as they did to Brodeur should do the trick.

They can also play the Capitals if the Caps and Briuns win their respective series. Again, they will have to deal with Cristobol Huet, who was great in the regular season, but struggled against the Flyers who ran him. However this matchup seems unlikely due to the nature of their round 1 matchup.    

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.  

  

With the Rangers coming through for two goals in the third, the Blueshirts take home ice back for a 1-0 lead in the series.

And this was a Devil Fans nightmare. Their ‘favorites’ like Scott Gomez and Sean Avery performed and Marty Brodeur looked like a rookie out there [or at least like Mike Dunham] in the third when he tried to handle pucks that should have been just covered up.

Good job by the young Rangers like Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky who didn’t melt under the pressure and good work from Brandan Shanahan scoring the first goal.

The star of the night was Henrik Lundqvist who outplayed Brodeur and could have had a shutout if Marty Straka’s stick didn’t break causing a 5-4 powerplay to be a 5-3 since the Rangers couldn’t clear the puck and Straka couldn’t do too much.

But that’s water under the bridge, because the Callahan and Avery goals were the difference.

And what leadership from Chris Drury at the end of the game, giving the puck to Nigel Dawes for the empty netter so he can get his first goal.

All in all, a nice win.  

Winners of nine in a row, New Jersey finally caught on to Brent Sutter’s system and have been killing opponents.

And the Rangers, looking to break out of a three game losing streak, need a win.

Marty Brodeur always plays great at the Garden, while the Rangers need to get Henrik Lundqvist back up to speed after a forgetable week and a few days off.

And because the game is at 5 p.m. you can watch it in peace because the Giant game will be over.

BTW six minutes left, Giants up by 3.