Even after getting blown out by the on Thursday night, the are still in a pretty good position when it comes to grabbing one of the two remaining playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.All they have to do is beat the in regulation or overtime on Saturday afternoon (they would need some help with a shootout win because of tiebreakers), and their streak of consecutive postseason appearances extends to 25 straight years. Based on the lineup the Rangers are going to be using in that game, the Red Wings will be catching a pretty big break when it comes to clinching a playoff spot and continuing their streak.The Rangers have already announced that they will be playing Saturday's game without defensemen and , Jason Kidd Jersey as well as forwards and .Along with those lineup changes, the Rangers will also be starting backup goalie in place of just to give him a day off before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. That is all potentially ma sive for the Red Wings (and also the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers).Even just getting Raanta instead of Lundqvist is a significant advantage. Raanta has had a fine season in net for the Rangers, but he is not one of the best goaltenders in the world. When you combine that with the fact the Rangers are also going in without their leading scorer (Zuccarello), two of their top-four defensemen (McDonagh and Giradi) and a quality depth forward (Stalberg) and it creates quite the opportunity for the Red Wings.Now they have to take advantage of it.McDonagh was injured earlier this week after blocking a shot against the , while Girardi was injured by a big hit from forward that resulted in Boyle's ejection from the game. McDonagh's timeline is unknown at this point, but the Rangers expect Girardi, Zuccarello and Stalberg to all be back for the start of the playoffs next week."Viktor could not play tomorrow for sure, but I don't think it's anything serious," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault on Friday, via the Rangers' website. "Mats would be le s than 50-50 if we were to push it. They both should be fine for the playoffs."The team that is not benefitting from this, of course, is the Bruins.Boston can still catch Detroit in the race for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division (and avoid a potential first-round matchup against the ) if they beat the on Saturday and the Red Wings lose to the Rangers. But with the Rangers going into the game without a significant portion of their lineup, including their best player (Lundqvist), and the Red Wings having everything to play for, everything seems to be falling the Red Wings' way. You can't blame the Rangers for being cautious in their regular season finale and sitting people. There is no doubt they are all injured or banged up -- other than maybe Lundqvist -- and that at least a few them (Lundqvist and Zuccarello, anyway) would be able to go if it were a playoff game. But the Rangers have already clinched their playoff spot and the only thing they have to play for is finishing in third place in the Metropolitan instead of getting the first Wild Card. And even then the Rangers, even if they would never admit it, would probably still rather be in the Wild Card spot because it would mean a first-round matchup against the Florida Panthers instead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.Their only responsibility is to themselves (not to the teams that might need their help to get in the playoffs) and to do what is best for when it comes to trying to win the Stanley Cup. And in this case, it only makes sense to sit players that may not be 100 percent and to give their goalie that has faced a huge workload this year an additional day off.The Red Wings play the Rangers at Kyrie Irving Jersey 12:30 ET on Saturday afternoon, the exact same time the Bruins are playing the Senators. If both teams win their games on Saturday afternoon the Red Wings would get the No. 3 spot in the Atlantic (and a first-round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning). The Bruins would then need the Flyers to lose one of their two games over the weekend, either against Pittsburgh on Saturday (who could also be sitting some players) or the New York Islanders on Sunday ( ).If the Bruins fail to gain a point on Saturday they would need Philadelphia to lose both of its games with at least one of the lo ses coming in regulation.
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