updated 7:14 p.m. ET April 6, 2006

NEW YORK - Jaromir Jagr was right. The New York Rangers are a playoff team.

The odds-on choice to be the NHL MVP shook off the doubters and said so at the start of training camp in September. Then he went out and made it happen.

His record-setting season is going to stretch longer into April as the Rangers march into the postseason for the first time since 1997.

“I was 90 percent sure we were going to make it,” Jagr said after the Rangers locked up a spot Tuesday with a shootout win over Philadelphia. “I’m glad. I got what I expected. I would be very upset if we didn’t make it.”

For seven seasons, the Rangers were the NHL’s face of mismanagement and overspending. It was because of them that many smaller-market clubs claimed they couldn’t compete in the same league. Last year’s lockout produced the salary cap that leveled the financial playing field for all 30 teams.

Truth is, it was New York that was noncompetitive. Payrolls that climbed into the $70-million range failed to produce anything close to a winner.

Success couldn’t be bought, at least not by anyone in charge at Madison Square Garden.

“Sometimes it’s too much and it’s not good,” Jagr said. “I felt like there were too many superstars on one team.”

New York snapped the longest-running playoff drought in the league and has a three-point lead over Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division with seven games left — including one head-to-head matchup.

The Rangers aren’t satisfied with just making the playoffs.

“I feel really reluctant to talk too much about it because this is only the first step in what we are trying to do and what we are trying to accomplish,” general manager Glen Sather said. “There are more goals to achieve and there is a bigger picture ahead of us.”

The lockout is ultimately what helped the Rangers produce a young, energetic team that clicked right away with a road win at Philadelphia on opening night.

Jagr was the established force, and the offense was complemented by fellow Czechs Martin Straka and Martin Rucinsky. Throw in veteran forward Michael Nylander and rookie Petr Prucha — who has 29 goals — and the Rangers had the makings of a potent offense, especially with new rules implemented to open up the game.

“Nobody believed we could do any damage in this league and I think that worked to our advantage,” Jagr said.

The biggest addition was rookie goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who showed New York he could be a big-time player months before leading Sweden to the Olympic gold medal. Lundqvist wrested the No. 1 starting job away from Kevin Weekes and won over the home crowd.

He is the first Rangers rookie to win 30 games.

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