It’s a day of celebration for Ranger fans. After clinching their third-straight playoff berth last night at Nassau Coliseum, the Rangers need just four more consecutive postseason appearances to match the seven-year drought that proceeded the NHL lockout.

Sorry, had to throw that in there - gotta keep those fat cats on notice!

In any event, the Rangers truly have put together a season of which they can be proud. As is often the case in sports, this Rangers team was not the offensive juggernaut that most pundits expected and managed to stay afloat for most of the season on the back of their strong commitment to the defensive zone. Even now the team isn’t exactly lighting up the scoresheet, and their powerplay, a pair of tallies last night notwithstanding, remains among the league’s worst. Nevertheless, on the 80th game of the season, the Blueshirts finally managed to separate themselves from the pack, and with two games remaining, they are faced with an opportunity to keep climbing.

Looking at the seeding, the Rangers now sit comfortably in 5th with 95 points and 2 games to play, 1 point ahead of the Ottawa Senators, who have just one game remaining on their schedule, and 3 points ahead of the 7th place Bruins, who have 92 points with 2 to play. The Washington Capitals have claimed the 8th seed, for the time being, potentially setting up one of the most-hyped first round matchups in league history as Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin could face Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Rangers, meanwhile, aren’t done working yet. The team trails the 4th place New Jersey Devils by just two points, and more importantly, concludes their season in Newark on Sunday with a chance to sweep the season series against their cross-river rivals. Whether or not home ice is on the line for that contest hinges on the outcome of tonight, when the Rangers will complete the backend of a home-and-home with the Islanders, and the Devils are in Philly, where the Flyers face a season on the brink.

In early March, I wrote a plea to the Rangers to raise their game in order to secure a top-4 seed and avoid early matchups with the Conference’s elite. I wrote that a sweep of the three remaining games against the Devils would virtually assure the East’s 4th seed. As it turns out, that 4th seed could indeed be on the line Sunday afternoon, and let’s be honest, hockey doesn’t get much better than that.