While the Buffalo Sabres stumbled and sleepwalked their way through a tough opening round win against the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers were putting on a clinic playing the woeful Atlanta Thrashers, dispatching them in four straight games, topped by a 7-0 beatdown in game three at Madison Square Garden.

Coach Tom Renney and GM Glen Sather have done a solid job of adjusting to the new economics of the NHL in bringing the Rangers to the postseason in back-to-back seasons after a seven-year absence.

You remember the swagger and confidence we all felt as the playoffs began two weeks ago. Well, that is now the feeling over in New York, as many in the Rangers organization, their fans and their media contingent are already making noises about dispatching the Sabres and making a Cup run.

“I don’t say they’re the cream of the crop right now,” Coach Tom Renney said before the series began. “I’m not suggesting that I don’t want to give them credit, but we’re where we are because we belong here, too. We’ll let the series play itself out.”

Here is what the New York Rangers bring to the table: five 20-goal scorers, named Jagr, Nylander, Straka, Shanahan and Prucha. They have their resident pest in the form of Sean Avery, who has a way of getting under the opponents’ skin. Ask Ilya Kovalchuk of Atlanta.

The blueliners boast size and strength: Marek Malik 6’6”, 240; Paul Mara 6’4” 219; Jason Studwick 6’4” 225.

Special teams have been a strong point for the Rangers. They are eighth on the power play and 12th killing penalties. Their power play performance is the best of the remaining teams in the East.

One could easily rank the goaltending duel as even, with Buffalo’s Ryan Miller and New York’s Henrik Lundqvist both capable of excelling in big-game situations. But while Buffalo swept the Rangers in the regular season, Kevin Weekes was in the net for three of those games.

During the last quarter of the regular season, the Rangers were one of the league’s hottest teams, going 13-3-4. Then the first round sweep.

In the face of all this, Buffalo fans might have every reason to be concerned. But remember, the Sabres have yet to put their “A” game on the ice. If we see the team that overcame all of its injuries and adversity to snare the division title and the President’s Trophy, there is no reason that Buffalo shouldn’t prevail in this series.

B-O-X! B-O-X! BANDITS ADVANCE

The Sabres aren’t the only playoff game in town. The Buffalo Bandits opened their National Lacrosse League playoffs against the Minnesota Swarm this past Sunday. It was ugly early as the Bandits fell behind 4-0 on just five shots. Buffalo clawed back and even took a brief lead in the second, but a late “hidden ball trick” stunt with the Buffalo goalie out of the net backfired, giving Minnesota a last second goal and an 8-7 lead at the half.

Buffalo was the team “swarming” after the half, playing almost a perfect game and stifling Minnesota’s attack with superb defense. The Bandits then completely dominated and ended up winning 14-8, with John Tavares scoring three of the goals in the second half.

Bandits head coach Darris Kilgour gave credit to his defense. “We really shut ’em down in that second half and Mikey [goalie Mike Thompson] came up big and I give them all the credit for that.” Kilgour also admitted that there was some panic after those early goals. “It felt like deja vu from last year’s Champion Cup game falling behind like that.”

The Bandits go on to play at Rochester this Friday, a team that beat them twice in the regular season. Said Kilgour, “Hopefully they [Rochester] are due for a game where their shots don’t go in and their goalie doesn’t stop everything, but other than that we just have to stick to our system.”

Coach Kilgour added that injured star goaltender Steve Dietrich might not be ready to start but will most likely dress as the backup. If Buffalo finds a way to win Friday’s game, they will host the Champion’s Cup Final right here in Buffalo on Saturday, May 12.

ROUND TWO PREDICTIONS

Taro is pleased to report that Andrew nailed all four series in the East in round one, with a differential of only six points. AV editor Geoff Kelly came in second, picking two of four correctly with a differential of nine points. Peter came in dead last, only correctly picking Buffalo, and his differential was a whopping 14 points.

Here are their picks for all the series in Round Two:

■ (#1) Buffalo vs (#6) New York Rangers

Reg Season Buffalo 4-0 (two wins in overtime, one win in shootout)

Andrew’s pick: Buffalo in 5

Peter’s pick: Buffalo in 6

Geoff’s pick: Buffalo in 5

■ (#2) New Jersey vs (#4) Ottawa

Reg Season New Jersey 3-1 (one win in shootout)

Andrew’s pick: New Jersey in 7

Peter’s pick: Ottawa in 6

Geoff’s pick: New Jersey in 7

■ (#2) Anaheim vs (#3) Vancouver

Reg Season Anaheim 3-0-1 (one loss in overtime)

Andrew’s pick: Vancouver in 7

Peter’s pick: Vancouver in 6

Geoff’s pick: Anaheim in 5

■ (#1) Detroit vs (#5) San Jose

Reg Season San Jose 3-1

Andrew’s pick: San Jose in 6

Peter’s pick: Detroit in 6

Geoff’s pick: Detroit in 6

TARO SEZ…

■ We’ve finally figured out how to turn the jeers to cheers for Sabres game night host Nicholas Picholas. Here’s the plan: Dress Picholas in military issue khakis, sit him down on the hood of a Humvee, somewhere that looks like a desert, holding up a Sabres flag. Snap a picture and shuffle it in with that fan photo segment that runs on the Jumbotron. Instant applause—like turning on a switch!

■ And no need to send Picholas to Iraq for the shoot. Sunset Beach in Evans or the Buffalo Crushed Stone quarry in Cheektowaga will work just fine. “Wag the Dog,” baby!

■ The Sabres and Rangers have met in the playoffs but one time, a first round mini-series won by Buffalo, 2-1, in 1978. And no, Brendan Shanahan was not in the lineup then.

■ Local folks to watch: Ryan Callahan of Rochester made the Rangers regular lineup in spring, and also nabbed a pair of goals in the 7-0 Atlanta blowout. Callahan made his NHL debut on December 1 vs. Buffalo.

■ Useless stat of the week: The Rangers’ Sean Avery has played in 84 regular season games this season. The record is 85 games.