The race is still sitting there … thanks to the Bruins loss to Buffalo last night.

But the Rangers have to get points to stay in it. Four behind eighth-place Boston, with seven games left.

Beware, though. You can’t possibly expect the I…

Rangers head coach John Tortorella speaks to reporters about the Blueshirts’ 4-3 victory over the Islanders on March 30 at the Nassau Coliseum.

MSG broadcaster and former Ranger Ron Duguay looks back at the Blueshirts’ 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Islanders on March 30 at the Nassau Coliseum.

Henrik Lundqvist was furious once the Rangers’ overtime loss on Saturday in Toronto was in the books, letting his equipment and himself have it and lamenting the “(bleeping) terrible goal” he let in that tied the game in its dying minutes.

It all broke right tonight for the Rangers on the out-of-town scoreboard as both the Bruins and the Thrashers fall on home ice. Buffalo scored three straight times and then held off Boston for a 3-2 win, while Carolina scored four times in the final two periods for a 4-1 victory in Atlanta. Ryan Miller stopped 40 shots and Cam Ward was pretty good, too.

So if the Rangers can manage a win tomorrow night at the Coliseum, they can pull even with Atlanta in ninth place, two points behind Boston for the last playoff spot and - get this - four points out of sixth place, where the Habs and Flyers are tied.

However, the Rangers will have no Sean Avery and no Ryan Callahan tomorrow against the Islanders. Both have knee injuries that will keep them out, Callahan for the second straight game - Avery tweeted earlier today that he and Callahan were on their way for PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatments. Avery has had that once before this season, in his other knee, after he and Callahan accidentally collided in training camp; that injury kept Avery out through the first week of the season.

Henrik Lundqvist and Vinny Prospal were the other Rangers off the ice at today, for rest purposes, while Corey Locke was up from Hartford and practicing with the team and is slated to plug into Avery’s spot against the Isles.

The Rangers, of course, would be feeling even better about the help they got tonight if they could have held onto a two-goal lead against the Eastern Conference’s basement dwellers in Toronto on Saturday. It’s hard to get a sense of exactly how John Tortorella felt about that game - which really was a bad flop - given how he attacked it from two different angles today.

Speaking of P.A. Parenteau, who got the Rangers started with his second NHL goal 10:25 in (and who tomorrow returns to the scene of his first NHL goal), Tortorella said: “P.A. was probably our best forward. That’s great for him, it’s not good for our hockey team. He can’t be our best forward.”

That didn’t sound like a coach who was happy with how his club played, but here’s Torts again: “We gave up 13 scoring chances. You (media) guys paint the bleak picture of how bad we played - I don’t buy it. We were right there, I thought we were playing a really good third period. …

“The boys are loose. There are breakdowns as you go through, (but) not nearly as many as everybody tends to talk about (with) this club, like we’re just a bunch of idiots out there playing.”

At least one Ranger didn’t think his team was quite so loose on Saturday, as had been all the talk when the Rangers ran off a pair of wins over the Islanders and Devils last week. Brandon Dubinsky, who gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 19:49 of the first, felt they seized up some playing with the lead - and because of the way they had suddenly gained in the playoff race and had a chance to accomplish something.

“It’s interesting what happens when you just play - you get tired of worrying about everything that you do wrong. You just go,” Dubinsky said. “I thought we played loose those last couple games like that, and then in Toronto I thought we maybe got a little bit tight again, because we’d put ourselves right back in the hunt and all of a sudden you’re tighter again. Sometimes if you’re a ways away, you’re just going.”

It would appear that’s how the Leafs (and perhaps the Islanders) are able to play, though Dubinsky said, “I’ve never been in that situation so I can’t speak for how they feel. But I feel like when there’s nothing really to play for because your last game’s going to be the first week in April, they’re just playing for themselves and playing to spoil other people’s chances of making the playoffs.

“We have a lot more on the line, but if we can just loosen it up … not to be tight and be staring at the standings every second of every day and crossing our fingers hoping for things to happen. We’ve got to take care of what’s ours first.

Matt Gilroy and Enver Lisin will be the healthy scratches as Tortorella sticks with Anders Eriksson on the blue line and Aaron Voros up front - same lineup as Saturday’s, save for swapping out Avery. The Rangers naturally are expecting a different Islander team than the weak lot they faced last Wednesday at the Garden.

“I think so. I don’t think they were ready to play - if you even ask them,” Dubinsky said. “They usually give their best games against us, we don’t expect anything different. We’ve got to be ready to push back.”

• VOTE FOR CALLAHAN NOW

Rangers alternate captain Ryan Callahan, last year’s winner of the team’s Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, is in the running for another honor this season — the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, presented by Br…

How could we possibly be having more rain?

Good morning, class.

As you know, the Devils rolled over for the Flyers last night, further lengthening your playoff chances, and forcing me to the realization that the second annual Boneheads “Paul …

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that forward Corey Locke has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

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