With no games of interest to the New York Rangers in their quest for a playoff spot, it’s worth looking at what’s ahead in the last five weeks of the season.
It’s a quiet night in the NHL, one of the last of this hockey season. When it comes to scoreboard watching, there are no games that can affect the New York Rangers and their fans. It’s a good opportunity to see what is ahead for the Blueshirts and their playoff rivals.
Realistically, there are five teams vying for the playoffs spots in the Eastern Conference who are direct competitors with the Blueshirts. We are going to assume that Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Tampa and Toronto are all assured of playoffs spots and are not within reach of the Rangers.
That leaves the Islanders, Columbus, Carolina, Florida as the chief rivals for a playoff spot. We’ll include Pittsburgh as the Rangers have three games remaining with the Penguins and that could drastically affect the standings. How tough are their schedules with the remaining games. The “better” teams are teams with more points and the “worse” teams have fewer points. The four point games are the games they have left with the six playoff contenders.
One important thing to remember is that three of the six teams below will make the playoffs.
74 Points – New York Rangers: 17 games left (8 home, 9 away)
Against better teams: 12 (Pittsburgh 3, Washington 2, Columbus, Philadelphia, Dallas, St. Louis, Colorado, Calgary, Tampa)
Against worse teams: 5 (Arizona, Buffalo, Chicago, Florida, New Jersey)
4 point games: 5 (Pittsburgh 3, Columbus, Florida).
80 Points – Pittsburgh Penguins: 18 games left (9 homes, 9 away)
Against better teams: 3 (Philadelphia, Washington 2)
Against worse teams: 15 (Carolina 4, Rangers 3, Ottawa 2, New Jersey 2, Columbus, Chicago, Islanders, Buffalo)
4 point games: 9 (Carolina 4, Rangers 3, Columbus, Islanders)
78 Points – New York Islanders: 18 games left (8 home, 10 away)
Against better teams: 2 (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh)
Against worse teams: 16 (Calgary, 2 Carolina 2, New Jersey 2, Montreal 2, Columbus, Chicago, Edmonton , Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Buffalo, Minnesota)
4 point games: 4 (Carolina 2, Columbus, Pittsburgh)
78 Points – Columbus Blue Jackets: 15 games left (5 homes, 10 away)
Against better teams: 8 (Tampa 2, Pittsburgh, Boston, Washington, Toronto, Dallas, Islanders)
Against worse teams: 7 (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Nashville, Rangers, New Jersey, Carolina)
4 point games: 3 (Carolina, Rangers, Islanders)
75 Points – Carolina Hurricanes: 18 games left (8 home, 10 away)
Against better teams: 12 (Pittsburgh 4, Islanders 2, Boston 2, Toronto, Columbus, St. Louis, Philadelphia)
Against worse teams: 6 (Buffalo 2, New Jersey 2, Ottawa, Detroit)
4 point games: 7 (Pittsburgh 4, Islanders 2, Columbus)
73 Points – Florida Panthers: 16 games left (8 home, 8 away)
Against better teams: 8 (St. Louis 2, Boston 2, Toronto Washington, Dallas, Rangers)
Against worse teams: 8 (Ottawa 2, Montreal 2, New Jersey, Detroit, Buffalo, Winnipeg)
4 point games: 1 (Rangers)