The Rangers are going to have to have a lot more weekends like this one if they are going to make the playoffs. Fresh off of Saturday’s shellacking of Buffalo, New York outlasted San Jose in a physical contest 3-1.

Ryan Callahan continued to show the club that he belongs in New York with two goals in the contest. Chris Drury continued his resurgence with his seventh goal in nine games as the Rangers beat a team from the Western Conference for the first time all year.

The Eastern Conference is still wide-open with none of the teams establishing a clear superiority and only 17 points separating the top from the bottom. If the Rangers can show the same tenacity they displayed on Sunday over the remaining 21 games, they have a shot at a top spot in the conference. If not, they may spend the playoffs watching from home.