Quit being intentionally obtuse. Seriously, not that hard to connect the dots.
The *only* reason the Islanders didn't torch the Rangers tonight was because the Rangers are lucky enough to be blessed with the greatest goaltender in the world. That's it. The Islanders dominated in every other facet of the game. Relying on your goaltender to bail you out every night will inevitably fail. See: 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11. And yes, the Rangers are in a 'playoff position'. Barely, and as the 8-seed. That's the definition of a bubble-team.
Teams like the Islanders who don't sit back and hope their goaltender makes acrobatic save after save tend to fare much better.
Stop looking at the team as a fan and try to analyze them objectively. You'll come to the same conclusion.
Not being obtuse at all. yeah, the Rangers are lucky to have Lundy, the isles are lucky to have tavares, our guy won out on the day. Hockey, like most team sports is simple, score more than the opposition, that's what the rangers did today, and in 3 of the 4 meetings between the 2 teams. Will the rangers win the cup this season? I highly doubt it, but I had us down as a 6-8 seed team who would be out by the 2nd round so it doesn't worry me.
I'd much rather look at the game as a fan and get sense of enjoyment than over-analyze things and be be a sad-sack, but to each their own. Enjoy your night