Pardon The Maven's slang but my message to the Rangers is this "Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't For Real?

The way the Blueshirts have been acting lately is giving a very emphatic feel of FOR REAL.

Hey, two straight shutouts courtesy of Jonathan (Very) Quick and Igor (Emperor Again) Shesterkin would seem to be a stamp of  approval except there's still a dirigible-size BUT floating around MSG.

"Call it doubt," says The Old Scout. "Call it what you want but now the Rangers have an elite team to beat tonight. The Capitals are legitimate contenders. If New York loses, we start worrying again."

This weekend the schedule is pockmarked with a pair of four-point challenges. First, a Saturday day game in Ottawa followed by a 6 p.m. start on Sunday on Seventh Avenue vs. Columbus.

"Teams the Rangers want to beat out – like the Red Wings and Blue Jackets -- lost last night," adds The Old Scout. "That could be the start of both of those teams folding, each in its own way."

Focus tonight, however, has to be on Alex Ovechkin's Caps – Ovie's crusade to break Wayne Gretzky's record – and the emergence of Charlie Lindgren as an elite goaltender.

The Old Scout: "Washington's revival is one of the amazing stories of the season. The Hockey News Yearbook picked them fifth in the Metro but the Caps have withstood the test of this marathon season."

Tonight we learn whether the Rangers can withstand the test of the Caps! And that means You, too, right wing Tom Wilson with that smirk on your mug!