The New York Rangers enter Saturday eight points in front of the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. "We played really well this season to put ourselves in a situation where, we still need to continue to get better, but we have a little bit of a cushion," Derek Stepan said. Defenseman Dan Girardi will return to the lineup after missing the past 12 games with an ankle injury, coach Alain Vigneault said. "I'm feeling really good," Girardi said. "I've been able to work out a lot, skate a lot and get in good shape, so I'm real excited to go. Girardi said he's hoping to contribute to a penalty-kill unit that ranks 23rd in the NHL at 79.3 percent and has allowed 10 power-play goals in its last 23 shorthanded situations. "We've been watching a lot of film on it, and we feel like a lot of goals come right from the front of our net," he said. "When pucks are coming through, we need three, four guys back to the net to help out. I'm not saying I'm a miracle worker, I'm just hoping I can go out and help a little bit with the PK, and hope we get it back on track here."
