New York Rangers' Countdown: And Then There Were 10

Like American Idol, the British TV show Countdown, and the Agatha Christie bestseller called And Then There Were None, the regular season for the New York Rangers has been reduced to this statistic: Games Left: 10.

At 38-26-8, with 84 points, and on a roll, the Rangers could finish as high as fourth in their division or they could finish right out of the playoffs. It's a mystery that will take 10 games over 22 days to solve.

The Rangers are, reportedly, taking it period by period, game by game. They have a three-game win streak going right now and it is the second time they have won three in a row in a very short time.

The Rangers are momentarily in seventh place in the East and 12th overall in the NHL. It is their standing in their own division that is the most important at the end of the hockey season.

They spent months as the No. 1 team in their division, went on their longest slide in decades, were out of the playoff picture, briefly, and now they are on their way back up.

Since John Tortorella took over as coach on Feb. 23, the Rangers are 7-3-1. Since Sean Avery rejoined the Rangers on Mar. 3, they are 7-2-1. The team is on the offensive, in playing style and personality, as Mark Hermann recently noted on Newsday.com.

The Rangers are only two points away from fourth, and they are three points ahead of eighth-place Montreal. They are just four points clear of ninth-place Florida, a team that is currently out of the playoffs but still fighting to get in.

The Rangers raised their record to 22-10-4 at the Garden by winning their third game in a row, 5-3 over the Buffalo Sabres, last night. Tortorella has called the Rangers' wins "ugly" but Rangers fans are happy and calling for more.

The Rangers have five more games in March and five games in April. They have five home games and five away games.

The Rangers' road to the playoffs looks brutal, with the Senators, Wild, and Thrashers ready to play spoilers, and the Penguins, Devils, and Flyers determined to keep them down. The Canadiens are fighting for their playoff lives, trying to stay ahead of Florida.

The Rangers' Countdown In The Stretch Run To The Playoffs

10. Senators in New York
9. Wild in New York
8. Thrashers in Atlanta
7. Penguins in Pittsburgh
6. Devils in New York
5. Hurricanes in Carolina
4. Bruins in Boston
3. Canadiens in New York
2. Flyers in New York
1. Flyers in Philadelphia

In eight games with the Rangers, Avery has four goals, six points, 10 penalty minutes, and is averaging more than 15 minutes of ice time per game. He has taken a lot of hits and given as good as he's got. He is yapping, chirping, antagonizing, drawing penalties, and throwing opponents off their game.

New Ranger Nik Antropov is scoring more since leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs. Old Rangers are re-awakened and re-energized. Scott Gomez, Nik Zherdev, Chris Drury, Marks Naslund, Brandon Dubinsky, and Ryan Callahan are all scoring again.

Henrik Lundqvist has remained solid in the net for the Rangers all season, despite the team's long mid-season slump. The Rangers defense has figured out to play Tortorella's system, joining in the rush, racing back to cover up, with the forwards right with them.

Can the new New York Rangers win their final 10 games? Will they win nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, or one?

Countdown, the British game show, is one of the longest-running game shows in the world. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie's novel, is the world's best-selling mystery.

The Rangers have been called the longest running hit series on Broadway. They are now New York idols.

When the current mystery is solved, there may be a sequel, called the Stanley Cup playoffs, rounds one, two, and three...