New York Rangers are set to Face the Canadiens in Round 1
With their victory against Florida on Monday night, the Montreal Canadiens clinched first place in the Atlantic Division and the right to play the New York Rangers in the first round.
The matchup we have all anticipated for months has been made official.
No, we are not talking about Floyd Mayweather vs. Connor McGregor, although most of us are still holding out hope. We are talking about the New York Rangers meeting up with the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On Monday night, the Canadiens defeated the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-1. Rookie forward Artturi Lehkonen scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season in the victory.
The win helped the Habs clinch the Atlantic Division title, as they now have eight more points than the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs, who can only earn a maximum of eight more points on the season. Montreal has already clinched the tie-breaking regulation/overtime win category.
The New York Rangers have been pretty firm in their top wild card slot for quite some time now. With their victory against the Flyers on Sunday night, the Rangers ensured themselves that they would finish at least in the first wild card position. The Columbus Blue Jackets currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with a six-point lead on the Rangers, who have 3 games to go.
The Rangers can tie the Blue Jackets ROW number of 47, but the Jackets have the second tiebreaker, which is head-to-head record.
Rangers vs. Canadiens Head-to-Head
Since the Henrik Lundqvist era began in New York, the Rangers have never had much success against the Canadiens. The team has only won 11 of 39 regular season games in Montreal and have dropped six of their last seven overall, including the three games this season.
The Rangers do have the best road record in the NHL, but the Habs have a great home record at 24-11-5. Considering how bad the Rangers are at home (20-16-4, including losing eight of their last nine there) this is extremely concerning.
At the end of the day though, the playoffs represent a whole new season. The Rangers went into Montreal and dominated two straight games in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, so they have done it before. At the end of the day though, this is a different Rangers squad–which is not nearly as good on the defensive end–so only time will tell if they are able to recreate that magic this season.
Next: Will Tanner Glass Crack the Rangers Playoff Lineup?
Ever since the New Year, a majority of the Rangers fan base has been clamoring for a first round matchup with an Atlantic Division team instead of having to go through two rounds of Metropolitan opponents. Now, they have their wish.
Stay tuned to BlueLineStation.com throughout the next week and a half for in-depth previews of this ‘Original Six’ matchup.