from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

You know what? This is real. This sustained run of superior hockey on and off Broadway the Rangers have produced over the last 14 calendar weeks that has reached a crescendo in the absence of Henrik Lundqvist is merely affirmation of this team’s upper-echelon status in the NHL.

You can’t win the Stanley Cup in March, and no one is pretending the Rangers have won anything yet. And no one is pretending the Rangers have won anything over the last four seasons — the first two with John Tortorella behind the bench, these last two with Alain Vigneault calling the shots — other than respect.

But step-by-step, year-by-year, the Rangers and their core have established a base of expectations. No, they haven’t won the Cup since 1994, but they have won the most playoff rounds in the East the last three springs and over that span, only the acknowledged powerhouse Blackhawks have as many, and only the two-time champion Kings have won more best-of-seven series than the Blueshirts.

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