NY Post: RANGERS‘ PLAYOFF PICTURE TAKES HIT

The Rangers have no answers for their third periods and they have no answers for their power play. They have not scored a single goal in the third period of their last seven games, outscored by an aggregate 6-0. And after failing yesterday on two third-period PP’s, the Rangers are 0-for-14 in those third periods and 3-for-37 overall throughout the 2-4-1 skid.

NY Daily News: Sean Avery, Rangers losing grip on playoff race with 1-0 loss to Bruins

And as a result, it’s the Rangers’ season that is on the brink of fading into oblivion, because given the chance to control their own fate and play their way in, they are showing few signs of being able to do so. Tim Thomas – the ink still wet on his four-year contract extension – was the source of their frustration yesterday, stopping all 31 shots he saw and still drawing the biggest cheer of the afternoon when he sprinted out to center ice after Sean Avery late in the Bruins’ 1-0 win – clinching the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed for Boston.

Newsday: Rangers shut out in Boston

In his brief post-game comments after a disappointing 1-0 loss to the Bruins here Saturday, coach John Tortorella stated the obvious: “You’re not going to win if you don’t score a goal.”

What’s also obvious is that with three games left in the regular season, if the frustrated, eighth-place Rangers keep losing, they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

NY Times: Odd Goal Sinks Rangers, Who Fail to Get Any

“I should have expected it,” Lundqvist said. “I saw it was on end as he was shooting it, and it went down and took a really wide right turn. It was like someone touched it on the way in, but no one did. It was the most difficult shot I faced all day. Tough goal to lose a game on.”

That was the only goal Lundqvist allowed as the Bruins and their goalie Tim Thomas held off the Rangers, 1-0, putting the Rangers’ postseason chances on the knife’s edge.