Tonights Game to Watch

New York Rangers vs Atlanta Thrashers 7:30pm

You NEED to be in 8th place to get into the playoffs. As soon as the last game is played, where you are when the music stops determines whether you keep playing hockey or break out the golf clubs.

Every game is crucial right now for so many teams. The Rangers need to find 2 points tonight to keep from running out of gas, and Atlanta needs to 2 points to avoid diluting themselves even more into the “66’ers” – the Lightening, Panthers, and Hurricanes are all in a log jam with one point separating them from each other, but ALL of them 5 or more points away from the 8th spot where the Bruins are trying to build a castle.

Both of these teams have lost their last 4 games so the pressure is incredible for both of these teams to stay in the race by winning tonight.

(Reminder: need 2 points for a win, 1 point for an overtime loss)
Ill start with 7th place because right now this is where it all matters -
Place: 7 Montreal Canadians 74
Place: 8 Boston Bruins Pts: 72
Place: 9 New York Rangers Pts: 67
Place: 10 Atlanta Thrashers Pts: 66
Place: 11 Tampa Bay Lightning Pts:66
Place: 12 Florida Panthers Pts: 64
Place: 13 Carolina Hurricanes Pts: 64
Place: 14 New York Islanders Pts: 61
Place: 15 Toronto Maple Leafs Pts: 56

Players to Watch
NYR: Marian Gaborik. With 70 points, 13 power-play goals, this guy is a dynamo.
ATLANTA: Maxim Afinigenov. His agility, finesse and creativity are amazing. Here’s a taste of what Max is like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeb56blvxtQ