“The Rangers make the playoffs! The Rangers make the playoffs!” It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as “The Giants win the pennant,” but after nine long years, the Blueshirts finally find themselves back in the postseason by virtue of their shootout victory over the Flyers on Tuesday night. Their work this regular season is far from done, though; winning the Atlantic Division – and securing home-ice advantage for the playoffs’ first round – will likely have an enormous impact on their Stanley Cup hopes.

Meanwhile, the murky playoff picture in the Western Conference has gotten no clearer over the past seven days. Only three points separate Northwest Division-leading Calgary from sixth place Colorado, and ninth-place San Jose is only two points behind eighth place Vancouver, but it holds a precious three games in hand. After appearing dead in the water just a week ago, the Los Angeles Kings mounted a furious comeback only to lose a heatbreaker to Anaheim, which might well have been their death knell.

Statistically, teams are measured from left to right in standings points, WL-OTL, goals scored, goals allowed, power play success, and penalty-killing success (as of start of play yesterday). Note that our statistics for special teams effectiveness also take shorthanded goals into account. Each team’s ranking from last week appears in parentheses.

1 DETROIT RED WINGS (1) Already a three-time Norris Trophy winner, Nicklas Lidstrom is the favorite to win the award again. If he does, he will trail only Bobby Orr (8), Doug Harvey (7), and Ray Bourque (5).
PTS REC GF GA PP PK
112 52-15-8 274 186 20.9% 87.4%

2 OTTAWA SENATORS (2) Ray Emery, the NHL’s defensive player of the month for March, is making a strong case for why he – and not the injury-prone, aging Dominik Hasek – should be between the pipes when the postseason arrives. 107 50-17-7 287 172 18.9% 90.9%

3 CAROLINA HURRICANES (3) Doug Weight finally returned from a nagging groin injury on Monday night and tallied an assist. The perennial All-Star is struggling a bit as he adjusts to Carolina’s fast-paced system, but should be fine come playoff time. 104 49-20-6 268 232 15.4% 85.6%

4 DALLAS STARS (4) The Stars will need goaltender Marty Turco to raise the level of his play significantly if they’re to represent the West in the Stanley Cup Finals. 103 49-21-5 232 195 15.8% 86.0%

5 BUFFALO SABRES (5) Whichever team – the Rangers or the Flyers – fails to win the Atlantic Division will have to swallow the bitter pill of facing the high-flying Sabres in the playoffs’ first round. 98 46-23-6 246 221 16.9% 88.6%

6 NEW YORK RANGERS (6) With the season he’s having, it’s amazing to think that Jaromir Jagr has only won one Hart Trophy in 15 years. That will change when the NHL’s leading scorer wins it this season. 96 42-21-12 234 187 16.9% 85.3%

7 NASHVILLE PREDATORS (7) Top prospect Alexander Radulov has put together a spectacular season for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts (152 points in 62 games). Will the Predators give him a chance to shine in the playoffs? 94 43-24-8 229 213 15.4% 86.5%

8 CALGARY FLAMES (11) The shootout has been the bane of Miikka Kiprusoff’s existence; he has posted a 1-6 record and a .476 save percentage in the competition of skill, the only blemish in what will likely be his first Vezina Trophy-winning season. 93 42-24-9 198 182 17.1% 85.9%

9 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (8) Injuries have plagued the Flyers all season. Come playoff time, it’s perennial clutch performer Keith Primeau and smooth-skating blueliner Kim Johnsson they’ll miss the most. 93 41-23-11 243 232 16.6% 83.4%

10 ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS (10) One of the NHL’s best teams in the sea son’s second half, the plucky Ducks, led by Niedermayer, J.S. Giguere, and a resurgent Teemu Selanne, have what it takes to go deep into the playoffs. 92 40-23-12 232 199 15.7% 86.0%

11 COLORADO AVALANCHE (9) Jose Theodore passed his first practice with the Avs with flying colors. Given the severe lack of experience among starting netminders, he could be a huge asset in the playoffs. 90 41-26-8 262 228 17.2% 86.6%

12 EDMONTON OILERS (14) He started off slowly, but blueliner Chris Pronger has rounded into form as the season has progressed, and will be a force for Edmonton in the playoffs. 88 38-26-12 237 231 17.3% 86.6%

13 MONTREAL CANADIENS (15) Journeyman Cristobal Huet has put together a spectacular season for the Habs, but it’s his playoff performance that will determine whether he will be their “goalie of the future.” 87 39-27-9 221 222 18.3% 83.0%

14 NEW JERSEY DEVILS (17) That That Brian Gionta’s +10 plus-minus rat ing leads the Devils is a strong indication of how tough this season has been for the team; in the previous three seasons, 27 Jersey skaters finished at +10 or better. 87 39-27-9 204 209 15.8% 82.7%

15 SAN JOSE SHARKS (12) If the Sharks reach the postseason, Joe Thornton is likely the only skater who can compete with Jagr for the Hart Trophy. 85 37-26-11 235 217 15.4% 83.7%

16 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (16) The Lightning have played well down the stretch, but with John Grahame between the pipes, they won’t survive the first round. 85 40-30-5 230 232 14.2% 84.6%

17 VANCOUVER CANUCKS (13) After a disappointing season, it seems likely that a big shakeup is forthcoming in Vancouver, especially if the Canucks miss the playoffs. 87 40-30-7 236 232 15.6% 83.1%

18 LOS ANGELES KINGS (18) The Kings have responded well to new coach John Torchetti, but their late-season surge probably won’t be enough to propel them into the postseason. 85 40-32-5 236 256 12.5% 81.6%

19 ATLANTA THRASHERS (19) Though they’ve improved a great deal this year, a first half without netminder Kari Lehtonen ultimately sunk their chances. 78 36-32-6 244 248 17.4% 81.8%

20 FLORIDA PANTHERS (20) One of the NHL’s best teams during the past month, Mike Keenan’s Panthers will be a force to be reckoned with in 2006-07. 77 34-32-9 214 227 13.0% 84.2%

21 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (21) The Ed Belfour era is all but over, and it will be interesting to see whether Tuukka Rask or Justin Pogge can wrest the starting job from Mikael Tellqvist next season. 77 35-32-7 224 239 17.5% 82.7%

22 MINNESOTA WILD (22) Rookie Josh Harding got his NHL career off to a great start, backstopping the Wild to a shootout victory over the Blues on Tuesday. 77 35-34-7 212 199 16.2% 89.3%

23 PHOENIX COYOTES (23) This season will go down as a learning expe rience for the young Coyotes and rookie head coach Wayne Gretzky, and we can expect much better results from them next year. 76 36-35-4 225 247 15.7% 82.8%

24 NEW YORK ISLANDERS (24) Their fans might not want to hear it, but this has actually been a bounce-back year for Alexei Yashin, who is en route to his best statistical results since 2001-02, his first year on Long Island. 71 33-36-5 201 249 13.8% 80.1%

25 BOSTON BRUINS (25) By firing GM Mike O’Connell after the trade deadline, the Bruins ruined a golden opportunity to accelerate their rebuilding effort. 69 28-35-13 213 238 12.9% 85.0%

26 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (26) He’ll probably miss the remainder of the regular season with a knee injury, but young forward Nikolai Zherdev (43 points in his last 49 games) has made great strides with his game. 67 32-40-3 189 253 12.1% 83.5%

27 WASHINGTON CAPITALS (27) The Caps need to provide Alexander Ovechkin with some serious scoring support next year if they’re to compete with the best. 61 25-38-11 208 276 11.5% 81.5%

28 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (28) Nikolai Khabibulinhas not exactly pro vided the ‘Hawks with a solid foundation this season, but look for the “Bulin’ Wall” to bounce back in 2006-07. 57 23-40-11 189 252 9.3% 84.6%

29 ST. LOUIS BLUES (29) Former first-round pick Marek Schwarz is the Blues’ most important prospect, and could steal the starting job between the pipes as soon as next season. 54 20-40-14 184 261 13.5% 83.3%

30 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (30) Anyone who labels Sidney Crosby’s rookie season as a “bust” misses the point. He’s the NHL’s 10th-leading scorer at age 18, and his best is most assuredly still to come. 51 19-42-13 213 285 14.9% 80.3%

Mr. Greenstein, the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com, ranks the NHL’s best and worst each week in The New York Sun.