SHOOTOUT

Rangers 3

Bruins 2

BOSTON – So tonight on Broadway maybe the playoffs come a little bit early for a franchise and a fan base that’s been on the outside looking in since 1997.

For tonight the Devils come to the Garden; the Devils who have won three Stanley Cups since the Rangers captured theirs in 1994, the Devils who have won nine in a row to creep within six points of the Blueshirts as the hunt for the post-season increases in intensity by the day.

“This will be a big challenge for us,” Jaromir Jagr said after the Blueshirts prevailed 3-2 over the Bruins here last night by virtue of Petr Sykora’s shootout winner and Henrik Lundqvist’s royal netminding. “They’ve beaten everybody, but they haven’t played us yet [in the streak].

“You never know.”

What we know is that the Rangers were incredibly fortunate to escape with two points last night after 65 minutes of scrambling against an opponent that more often than not was inept and its own worst enemy. The Rangers tried, but had trouble getting out of their own way, much less establishing any flow or rhythm or dominance.

“We’re a work in progress,” Tom Renney said. “We’re scrambling and scratching and clawing to be what we were.”

Still, at this stage of the season when the only points that matter are ones earned in the standings and the ones that may or may not be awarded on style don’t mean a damn, the Rangers did get an essential victory that maintains their eight-point edge on ninth place.

“A lot of the teams behind us are playing great, so this was huge for us,” said Sykora, who scored coming out of the six-hole for the coach.

Why would the sniper have gone so late in the order?

“He was at the other end of the bench and I kind of forgot about him; I lost him,” said Honest Tom. “Don’t tell anybody.”

But going sixth – Jagr had scored on the first chance before Patrice Bergeron knotted it on the Bruins’ third try – was perfectly fine for Sykora, who was all but forgotten for months by Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle before the Rangers rescued him three weeks ago.

“We had [five] shootouts in Anaheim and they put me in once,” Sykora said. “I’m just happy to be part of a club that’s driven to make the playoffs.”

If the Rangers – 5-1 in shootouts – are driven, Lundqvist is behind the wheel. The King was superb last night, just as he was during the victory in Pittsburgh on Thursday. When the match had ended, Lundqvist was pumped, and anticipating tonight’s showdown.

“If the coach wants, I’m absolutely ready to go,” said Lundqvist, 7-1-2 in his last 10 starts. “Physically, there’s no problem. It’s just my head; I have to relax and get ready.”

The Rangers were unable to sustain any type of attack, unable to generate even the rumor of a down-low, cycle game. The power play again came up empty, this time on five advantages, and is now 3-for-41 in the last nine matches. The Blueshirts have now been outscored 13-3 on the specialty teams over the last nine games.