The drought is over. Nine years and eight seasons later, the Rangers are finally back in the playoffs. They did it by edging the archrival Flyers 3-2 in a shootout before an energized capacity Madison Square Garden crowd Tuesday night. Amazingly enough, it was the first time the home team prevailed in the first seven meetings.
They can thank Kevin Weekes, who celebrated his 31st birthday in style by picking up his third win in four starts against the Flyers. With Henrik Lundqvist day-to-day with a hip flexor suffered at Monday's practice, the Toronto native was called upon to get the the team's biggest win of the season.
Entering play with eight games remaining, they held a slim two point lead over the Flyers for the Atlantic Division. Looking to secure home ice, they battled tooth and nail with Philadelphia in a game worthy of the postseason to pull three points ahead with seven left.
Making his second home start in eight days, Weekes was stellar throughout making 21 saves, turning boos to cheers and even chants by the end of the night en route to being named the game's First Star.
With the Flyers ahead 2-1 on the strength of second period goals by Mike Knuble and Simon Gagne, the Blueshirts battled back to tie it just 5:34 into the third. Off a faceoff win, Martin Straka rebounded a Michael Nylander shot to knot it.
That's when Weekes stepped up and made two huge saves to prevent the Flyers from retaking the lead. Less than a minute after getting help from the crossbar on a Joni Pitkanen drive, Weekes made one of the best stops of the season by robbing Flyer rookie Jeff Carter on a breakaway. Carter broke in from center ice and went to the backhand but a sprawling Weekes pokechecked it away at the last split second, earning chants of "Weekes, Weekes, Weekes," from the crowd.
The heroics continued when he stoned Sami Kapanen's shorthanded bid with less than eight minutes left, drawing more support than he's had most of the season on home ice.
"He was outstanding," Nylander told the AP. "He made some unbelievable saves in some critical times. It was great to see."
While their goalie was making clutch stops, the Blueshirts pressed for the win late when Jed Ortmeyer drew a Derian Hatcher elbowing penalty with only 4:13 remaining. But they couldn't beat Robert Esche, who was splendid all night in making 38 saves including 17 of 18 in a busy third. In particular, Esche got the better of Jaromir Jagr, denying all 12 shots the NHL's leading scorer fired his way. Having already stoned him on two breakaways, Esche made a huge stick save to prevent Jagr from setting a new Rangers franchise record for goals. With 52 goals, Jagr came in tied with Adam Graves but hasn't scored in the last three since tying the mark against Buffalo last Monday. Esche turned aside all seven third period shots Jagr took.
Unable to convert their seventh power play, the Rangers went to overtime against the Flyers for the fourth time in seven meetings this season. It was the third time they needed OT at MSG. Having dropped the last two that went there and with so much at stake, they controlled play by outshooting the Flyers 4-1. Still unable to solve Esche, they needed a shootout to finally salt away their fourth win against the Flyers in the season series with one crucial game left at Wachovia Center April 15th.
Just as dramatic, they put an exclamation point on their first postseason berth since 1997. Already assured of getting in by virtue of their one point earned after regulation and OT, they opted not to back in. After Simon Gagne beat Weekes on a nifty backhand deke, Nylander tied it through Esche's waffle setting the stage for an exciting finish. After Weekes calmly stuffed Peter Forsberg's backhand try, Petr Sykora's wicked wrister top shelf put them on the brink. Needing to make one more save, Weekes outwaited Michal Handzus to seal the win.
Immediately mobbed by teammates, it was his first victory at MSG since November 19. Long overdue for a goalie who exemplifies what this team is about.
"The fans have supported our team all year long and fallen in love with some of our players, certainly my partner Henrik, and that's fine," Weekes pointed out. "When they cheer us on, we feed off their positivism."
That kind of support has propelled them to a 24-8-6 record on home ice.
Before the season, the Rangers were picked by many to finish near the bottom of the league, including 30th by Sports Illustrated. Few realized how much character and team chemistry this team had. Put together by GM Glen Sather, Assistant GM Don Maloney and Jack Adams candidate Coach Tom Renney, they proved all the doubters wrong.
"This isn't the only goal we have, but it's certainly part of it," Sather said, keeping things in perspective.
"We're speaking kind of casually now that we did clinch a playoff berth, but when you stop and think about what that means and how that looked in August and how that looked in September ... to now be in this position it's very gratifying," said Weekes.
There are plenty of Ranger fans who would agree after how long it took them to get back.
Notes: With Lundqvist resting due to a hip flexor, Rangers recalled Al Montoya from Hartford to backup Weekes. ... Defenseman Darius Kasparaitis sat out his second straight game due to a sore groin. ... With 12 shots, Jagr broke Phil Esposito's Ranger season record of 344 shots-on-goal set back in 1976-77. Jagr now has 345 for the season. ... With an assist on a Nylander goal which opened the scoring in the first, Jagr extended his point streak to 12 straight. He leads the league with 115 points. ... With his 20th goal of the season, Nylander has points in a career high 11 straight. ... Rangers (42-21-12, 96 pts) host the Islanders (33-36-5, 71 pts) Thursday night.
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