Rangers Sweep Thrasher Out of the Way [J. Mark English]

So long sad times, go long bad times, we are rid of you at last. Howdy gay times, cloudy gray times, you are now a thing of the past.

Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again, so lets sing a song of cheer again, happy days are here again.

Altogether shout it now:

LETS GO RANGERS!!

What more can we say? Lynn Zinser of the New York Times reports on the Rangers happy win at the Garden:

As the minutes of suspense ticked by last night, the Madison Square Garden crowd grew restless, chanting, “Goal, goal,” as the referees huddled by the glass in the third period, waiting for replay officials to determine if Rangers center Matt Cullen’s slap shot had been the go-ahead goal that could clinch the game and the first-round playoff series for the Rangers.

Cullen and his teammates waited by the bench, some of them skating nervously around. Finally, when the referee Mike Hassenfratz pointed to center ice to signal a goal, the crowd erupted and the seats shook. Cullen’s shot had indeed dropped over the goal line after clanging off the crossbar, scoring the Rangers’ third goal in a 4-2 victory that wrapped up a first-round sweep of Atlanta.

It is the Rangers’ first playoff series victory since 1997. Last year, the Rangers were on the other end of a first-round sweep, shoved out of the playoffs by the Devils.