New York Rangers Playoff Picture/Lottery Look for Saturday, December 29
It’s time for another look at how NHL action affected the New York Rangers drive to the playoffs (for the optimists) or their position in the Jack Hughes sweepstakes (for the pessimists).
Friday was a quiet night with only three games in the NHL, all involving teams from the East. There were no upsets as all three of the favorites (Toronto, Montreal and the Islanders) won their respective games. Here’s how the results affect the Rangers bid for a playoff spot.
The Playoff Picture
The only change in the standings was that Montreal leapfrogged over the idle Boston Bruins into the first Eastern Conference wild card spot. The change means the Rangers fell one more point out of a playoff spot as they are seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the last wild card spot. Boston holds all of the tiebreakers.
The Rangers remain seven points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division and again, the Penguins own all of the tiebreakers.
In “The Athletic’s” daily projection of playoff potential, they have the Rangers with a 6% chance of making the post-season. You don’t want to know the odds of winning the Cup (0.02%). Here are the standings:
The standings
Atlantic Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Tampa 38 29-7-2 60 26
Toronto 38 26-10-2 54 26
Buffalo 38 21-12-5 47 18
Met Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Washington 36 23-10-3 49 20
Columbus 38 22-13-3 47 22
Pittsburgh 37 19-12-6 44 18
Wild Card GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Montreal 38 20-13-5 45 18
Boston 38 20-14-4 44 19
Contenders GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Islanders 36 19-13-4 42 17
Rangers 36 15-14-7 37 10
Florida 36 15-15-6 36 14
Detroit 39 15-18-6 36 13
Carolina 36 15-16-5 35 14
Philadelphia 36 15-16-5 34 13
Ottawa 38 15-19-4 34 15
New Jersey 36 13-16-7 33 13
Who to root for:
After a really quiet night it is as busy as the NHL gets, with 15 games. There could be some major playoff consequences for the Blueshirts.
Rangers @ Nashville – No doubt about this one…the Rangers need to deal the Predators their sixth loss in a row. Nashville is slumping so it is a good time for the Blueshirts to win a road game in regulation.
Hurricanes @ Devils – The Canes are only two points behind the Rangers…the Devils need to win this one.
Bruins @ Sabres – This Atlantic Division grudge match has consequences for New York. Already ten points behind the Sabres, Ranger fans need to root for Buffalo to topple Boston so the Rangers can narrow that wild card gap. A Ranger win and a Boston loss and the difference will be five points and the Blueshirts have two games in hand.
Islanders @ Maple Leafs – John Tavares gets to play his old team for the first time. Ranger fans should hope he is fired up enough to get the win for Toronto. The Rangers have to get past the Islanders to make the playoffs.
Capitals @ Senators – Washington is out of reach, but Ottawa is only three points behind the Rangers, so root for a road win for the Capitals.
Canadiens @ Lightning – The Habs sit in one of those two wild card spots, eight points ahead of New York. Tampa should do what they are supposed to and win at home over Montreal. A Ranger win and a Montreal loss and the difference is six points and the Rangers have two games in hand.
Flyers @ Panthers – This one is a toss up. Both Florida and Philadelphia are nipping at the Rangers’ heels with the Panthers only one point behind. A Flyers win and they have the same number of points as the Panthers. Can both teams lose????
Penguins @ Blues – The Pens are seven points up on the Rangers in third place in the Met. Ranger fans should be pulling hard for St. Louis to upset. It’s not impossible, the Blues have won two in a row and have already beaten Buffalo, Calgary and Winnipeg this month.
Okay, that’s a look at the games that will have a direct impact on the Rangers’ playoff hopes. If you are a pessimist and are hoping for a shot at the #1 slot in the Entry Draft, keep reading. If you don’t want to start considering that option, stop reading.
The Lottery Look
Only two games last night mattered when it comes to draft lottery position and the New York Rangers. In the standings, by winning the Islanders dropped a position away from the worst record, moving ahead of Dallas and Vancouver.
Ottawa and Florida both lost and that didn’t help as they both have fewer points than the Rangers. Four points still separate the Rangers from the team with the fewest points in the league. As you can see below, the standings are incredibly close and they should remain that way for a while.
As of today, tankathon.com has the Rangers with a 8.2% chance of a top three pick and a 2.5% chance of the top pick overall.
The standings (worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
1. Los Angeles 38 15-20-3 33 14
2. New Jersey 36 13-16-7 33 13
3. St Louis 35 15-16-4 34 15
4. Chicago 40 14-20-6 34 14
5. Arizona 37 16-19-2 34 14
6. Ottawa 38 15-19-4 34 15
7. Philadelphia 36 15-16-5 35 13
8. Carolina 36 15-16-5 35 14
9. Detroit 39 15-18-6 36 13
10. Florida 36 15-15-6 36 14
11. Rangers 36 15-14-7 37 10
12. Minnesota 36 17-16-3 37 17
13. Edmonton 37 18-16-3 39 17
14. Vancouver 40 18-18-4 40 17
15. Dallas 38 19-16-3 41 19
16. Islanders 36 19-13-4 42 17
Who to root for:
Wow, it’s a busy Saturday night and practically every game involves a team the Rangers are battling for lottery placement. Going into the action the Rangers have the 11th worst record. By the end of the night, they could be tied for seventh worst.
Hurricanes @ Devils – Carolina and New Jersey are both worse than the Rangers, with the Devils the worse of the two. So, hope for a Devils win, in overtime.
Islanders @ Maple Leafs – The Isles have a better record than the Rangers, five points ahead. If they can beat Toronto and John Tavares, it hurts their lottery position. That’s always good news for Ranger fans.
Capitals @ Senators – Ottawa is only three points worse than New York, but the Rangers have two games in hand. If the Blueshirts are to pass the Senators, they need Ottawa to win some games like this one.
Flyers @ Panthers – A toss-up as both of these teams have worse records than New York. So, for lottery purposes, root for the Flyers to win in overtime.
Penguins @ Blues – One of those unusual games where the optimists and the pessimists can agree on who to root for. Go Blues!
Red Wings @ Stars – Detroit is below New York, Dallas is above. Root for a Red Wings win, but overtime would be nice.
Blackhawks @ Avalanche, Coyotes @ Ducks, Golden Knights @ Kings – Three Western Conference games where Ranger fans should root for upsets. Chicago, Arizona and Los Angeles are all worse than the Ranger, so root for the underdogs.
Canucks @ Flames, Wild @ Jets, Sharks @ Oilers – Minnesota has the same number of points as the Rangers. Edmonton and Vancouver are just ahead of the Blueshirts. For lottery purposes, it would nice to open up some breathing room. So, root for the Canucks, Wild and Oilers to pull off upsets.
This new feature has ruffled some feathers among Blue Line Station readers. Some have derided the Playoff Picture as a delusional effort with the Rangers doomed to miss the post-season. Okay, for those folks we have the Lottery Look. Then, there are the folks who firmly believe that the Rangers have a shot at the post-season and the Playoff Picture is for them.
Next. What to make of the Lias Andersson situation. dark
What is unusual about this season is that amid the mediocrity of a parity-driven NHL, the Rangers are giving us reason for both optimism AND pessimism. For that, I guess, we should be thankful. So, read the page you want to read and ignore the page you don’t want to. And feel free to comment if you think this is a good or bad idea.