It was a rough night for the Rangers. They had their five-game win streak halted in Montreal, falling 6-4 to the Canadiens.

After a splendid first period in which Michael Nylander and Paul Mara tallied to put them up two, the Blueshirts self destructed in the next 20 minutes- allowing the Habs to score the next five in less than a 12 minute span.

Ex-Ranger Alexei Kovalev got the comeback started by popping a rebound home upstairs at 2:17. It took just 32 seconds for Steve Begin to tie it, capitalizing on a dreadful Martin Straka giveaway before wristing one home. Less than two minutes later, Michael Ryder was allowed two whacks in front before beating Henrik Lundqvist for the go-ahead tally.

Tomas Plekanec followed with his 20th off another blown assignment 5:11 later to send Lundqvist packing. Kovalev would tally for the second time on the power play less than five minutes later to complete the explosion.

Though the Rangers would mount a comeback getting goals from Thomas Pock and Matt Cullen 1:15 apart in the third, they ultimately couldn’t come all the way back as Habs’ D-man Mark Streit connected with 6:57 left to restore the two-goal cushion- dropping a huge game in the process.

The defeat was costly because the Rangers could’ve gained valuable ground on the Hurricanes, Islanders and Lightning, who all lost their respective games. Even though the Habs won to pull into an eighth place tie with Tampa, New York still finds itself in sixth with five games remaining. The problem is they don’t play again until the weekend when they visit Philadelphia Saturday before returning home for a crucial game against the Leafs on April Fool’s Day. By then, the playoff picture could look very different increasing the pressure on them to bounceback from this debacle.

With Toronto posting a 6-1 win over Carolina, they pulled into a three-way tie for ninth with the Islanders and Hurricanes. The Islanders dropped a 3-2 decision at home to the Devils, allowing New Jersey to clinch a playoff berth for the 10th straight season. For the Fishsticks, they’ll most likely have to overcome the loss of starting netminder Rick DiPietro (postconcussion symptoms) for the remainder of the year. Combine that with a difficult schedule with two games left against Ottawa along with one each against Buffalo, Toronto, the Devils and Rangers- the playoffs become a difficult proposition.

So, who will make it?

You decide:

6.Rangers  87 Pts    39 Wins   5 GR (@ Phi, vs Tor,@ NYI, vs Mtl, @ Pit)

7.Tampa    86 Pts    41 Wins   5 GR (@ Car, vs Wsh, vs Car, vs Fla, @ Atl)

8.Habs       86 Pts   40 Wins   5 GR (@ Ott, vs Buf, vs Bos, @ NYR, @ Tor)

9.Canes     84 Pts   38 Wins   6 GR (@ Phi, vs TB, @ Fla, @ TB, vs Atl, vs Fla)

10.Leafs    84 Pts    37 Wins  6 GR (@ Atl, vs Pit, @ NYR, vs Phi, @ NYI, vs Mtl)

11.Isles     84 Pts    36 Wins  6 GR (@ Buf, vs Ott, vs NYR, vs Tor, @ Phi, @ NJ)

*Wins are the No.1 tiebreaker if teams finish tied. In the event they have the same amount of victories at the season’s conclusion, the next tiebreaker would be head-to-head.

Congrats to the Pens on qualifying for their first postseason in six years. They cameback to defeat the Caps 4-3 in the nation’s capital. NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby notched a goal (35) and an assist while probable Calder winner Evgeni Malkin tallied two assists. Ryan Whitney added two goals including the deciding goal to help Pittsburgh keep pace with the Devils for the Atlantic. By virtue of one more win (45-44) and the season series, New Jersey is technically still in front even though the teams have the same amount of points (98). Also in their favor is that they’ve played one less game. In either event, it’s great for the league that the Penguins are back in the postseason. They should be very exciting to follow this Spring.