New York Rangers playoff picture (it’s not that bad)

The New York Rangers have staggered through the recent schedule, winning only two of their last eight and picking up only five of a possible sixteen points. Despite this mediocre record they still find themselves only one point out of  a playoff spot.

As flawed as the New York Rangers are, they have a lot of company when it comes to the Metropolitan Division. Outside of the Washington Capitals who have built a five point cushion and sit in first place, there are only four points separating the next five teams in the standings.

With the Rangers facing a spate of injuries to key personnel and a bizarre schedule that saw them  play only six games in nineteen days, it was a perfect opportunity for their competition to put some wins on the board and build some space between them and New York.  It didn’t happen.  And now, all of those games in hand held by other Met Division teams are gone and we can really look at the standings and have a realistic picture of where the Rangers really sit.

We are going to focus on the Metropolitan Division since it is becoming more and more likely that both wild card teams will come from the Atlantic Division. Let’s put it this way.  The Montreal Canadiens are the second wild card team in the East right now. If they were in the Met Division, they would be in second place.  In the loaded Atlantic Division, they are fifth.

Who’s hot

The Washington Capitals are finally playing like Stanley Cup Champions.  They have a three game winning streak and have won ten out of their last 12 games.  It looks like they are a sure thing to make the playoffs and could easily be the top team in the Division.

Similarly, the Pittsburgh Penguins have also come to life, though they are still susceptible to bad losses.  Losing 6-3  Wednesday night to the Central Division cellar dwelling Chicago Black Hawks is a good example.  They’ve lost only three of their last ten, but are in a disturbing win one, lose one rut.  They are winning slightly more than they’ve lost and that qualifies as being hot in the Met.

Who’s not

The Devils and Flyers are hovering near the cut line when it comes to the playoffs, but there are showing no signs of getting any better any time soon.  New Jersey is in last place, six games out of the last playoff spot and they’ve won only two of their last ten games.  They’ve gone to overtime six times and lost them all.  An optimist would say that the “loser” points are keeping them in the race.  A realist would say that until they start winning overtime games, they are in trouble.

The Flyers are one point ahead of the Devils and are in a similar slide, having won only three of their last ten games.  They are 2-4 in overtime games and didn’t get much of a bump when the team fired general manager Ron Hextall.   Wednesday night’s game versus Calgary was the Flyers season in microcosm. They jumped out to a 4-2 lead by the midway point of the second period and led 5-3 with nine minutes left in the game.   The Flames scored two goals in the last 1:08 and won the game on a Johnny Gaudreau goal in OT.   Ouch.

Treading water

The final three teams in the Metropolitan Division are the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes.  All three are vying for a playoff spot, but have been unable to sustain any kind of winning streak.

It looked like this was going to be the Blue Jackets year just two weeks ago.  They led the Met Division on November 18 and had the fourth best record in the entire league. Their cushion was four points over the Islanders and five points over Washington.  Since then they’ve gone 4-6 and are in danger of dropping out of a playoff spot.

The Islanders are a similar story, tenuously  holding onto third place.  Inconsistency has been their biggest challenge, perfectly exhibited by the two games against the Rangers in November.  The first game they ran roughshod  over the Blueshirts, winning 7-5.   Six days later they were trounced by the Rangers 5-0.   The Islanders have gone 4-4-2 in their last ten games.

Carolina keeps hanging around though since Thanksgiving they have’t been able to put back-to-back wins together, going 2-4-1.  A pre-season pick by many  to finally make the playoffs, they aren’t out of it, but like the Blue Jackets and Islanders, seem to be treading water.

Where does that leave the Rangers?

At 4-5-1 in their last ten games, the Rangers aren’t setting the world on fire.  At the same time, with nine points out of 20 they have kept pace with most of the teams in the Metropolitan Division.  Ranger fans should be encouraged that they have not been blown out in any of their losses. The team doesn’t give up.  Look at some of the scores from this month.   The Flyers lost to the Jets 7-1, the Pens beat the Devils 6-2,  the Sharks beat the Hurricane 5-1 and Tampa beat New Jersey 5-1,

The dogged attitude has paid off with the Rangers getting to overtime more than any other team in the Division (tied with Pittsburgh).   They have taken 15 of a possible 18 points in overtime games.  That’s three points more than the runner up Penguins.

So, going into Friday night’s game versus Arizona, the Rangers are one point out of playoff spot. They’ve lost Kevin Shattenkirk to injury, but should be getting Pavel Buchnevich and Mats Zuccarello back.  Adding those two skilled forwards will have a ripple effect on the entire lineup in a good way. Remember, it was only two weeks ago that the Rangers had to field a fourth line of Vinni Lettieri, Tim Gettinger and Steven Fogarty versus the Canadiens.  Friday night, all three of those players will be in Charlotte playing for the Wolf Pack.

If they can continue their winning ways Friday at Madison Square Garden and if the Penguins lose to Boston, the Blueshirts will be back in third place and in the playoffs.  Hard to believe, but true.