There is such a thing as a "Four Point" game and it will be available tonight at The World's Most Famous Arena.
It's a "Four-Pointer" because the visiting Buffalo Sabres are in a position to boot the Blueshirts out of a playoff berth.
In a sense this is hard to believe since Buffalo has held a mortgage in Non-Playoff-ville for 14 – as in fourteen – years. And from the looks of things in October it would be 15 years without even a Wild Card berth.
But something wonderful has happened in Western New York State. The Lindy Ruff-coached team has a 9-1-0 won-lost record in its past ten games.
What's more the Sabres overall record 22-15-4 for 48 points places Buffalo – egad, what a cad – ahead of the Blueshirts (20-18-6) 46 points.
"The other key here in comparing the teams," says The Old Scout, "is that the Sabres have played only 41 games to the Rangers 44 games. Three games in hand could be mighty important, especially if Buffalo wins the 'four-pointer' tonight."
One major difference between the two teams is that the Sabres aren't allergic to scoring goals. Despite having played three fewer games than the Rangers, Buffalo's 130 goals scored are 14 more than the Downstaters from Seventh Avenue.
"The other key," adds The Old Scout, "is that Buffalo is skating with a hot streak and has the momentum that the Rangers wish they had."
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Another issue is personnel. Injuries to goalie Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox means that Jonathan Quick must be at his goaltending best and promoted Dman Scott Morrow likely will get a shot quarterbacking the home team's power play.
That is if Vlad Govrikov fails with the key assignment.
It may seem cockeyed when you consider how bad Buffalo had been that, this time, the Sabres actually come in as a favorite and the Rangers are the underdog, although not far under.
When you think about it, the Rangers outdoor picnic last weekend in Miami seems as if it happened months ago.
A four-pointer tonight will make a fan forget just about everything!