C'mon folks! You've gotta be kidding me?!!!?

This is like watching an old 3 Stooges Movie...Atlanta, Boston, New York as the "stars", with Philly and Montreal ready to step in as guest stars!

Monday night, when both Boston and Atlanta could have distanced themselves just a bit from the NYR, Boston manages to lose to Buffalo by a 3 - 2 count, and Atlanta gets dominated by Carolina by a score of 4 - 1.

Boston could have moved into a dead heat with both Philly and MTL at 82 points with a win. Atlanta could have tied Boston if they'd won and Boston, as they ended up doing, lost.

Florida had a chance to move within 2 of the NYR, and they managed to lose to Nashville, 3 - 2.

Nobody really wants those 7th and 8th seed spots.

"Here - you take it."

"No no no.....I insist - it's yours...."

"I couldn't, really! Please - after you."

The best part may well be that whichever of these comics manages to secure those last 2 spots - they're going to get dominated in round 1. That, of course, is when the comedy turns into a real tragedy......

The standings:

Edit/Update: Appears that Andrew Gross has similar (though not necessarily as "comedic") thoughts:

If the Rangers do make the playoffs this season, it will not be so much because of Henrik Lundqvist, as coach John Tortorella has now guaranteed twice (after Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss at Toronto and again after yesterday’s practice) but because the other Eastern Conference playoff contenders the Rangers are battling are as mind-numbingly inconsistent as they are.

http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/rangerrants/comments/good_breaks/