Igor Shesterkin Putting Himself In Vezina Conversation And Rangers In Playoff Race

It's time to ditch the Rangers "Playoffs Or Bust" mantra and get serious again. Yeah; now it's gotta be "Stanley Cup Or Bust."

Why not?

The Blueshirts finally have put the "jugger" in front of "naught" and have become a JUGGERNAUT once again.

While humbling John Tortorella's Flyers 6-1 at MSG last night, the Blueshirts also have put all the necessary winning ingredients in place.

"The key," says The Old Scout, "is that Igor Shesterkin has stopped fooling around. He's playing serious goal and everything has grown from there."

Over the last seven games, he's gone 6-0-1 with a .948 save percentage and a 1.39 mark. He out-goaled Philly's netminder Samuel Ersson last night by a ton and even earned Torts' praise.

"We couldn't solve their goalie," says the Flyers coach; and that in five little words summed up the contest, although there was a lot more to the Rangers success than that.To wit:

SCORING: All the cats joined in, from Fiery Fil Chytil to Reilly Smith and even very-up-and-coming Adam Edstrom, just to name a few lamplighters.

TRADE BAIT: K'Andre Miller boosted his value on the meat market with not only a goal but a solid two-way game.

CONFIDENCE: The ten-game point streak is no fluke. The club is 7-0-3 since January 5th and if you're thinking of blowing your nose, it's nothing to sneeze at.

DEFENSE: The club's supposed weak underbelly now appears surprisingly strong as a whole. "We're playing 'five-man defense'," says Braden Schneider who the Vancouver Canucks want but won't get.

"We didn't forget how to play hockey," adds Chytil, who also might be offered in a deal. "And we never lost our heads." (Well, Fiery Fil had better watch his head, but that's another story.)

As for this being a Stanley Cup team, why not? The Hockey News Yearbook has them at 14-1 odds. And, hey, you never know, it could happen; especially with the secret weapon now in tow.

Matt Rempe!