Playoff Picture/Lottery Look for New Year’s Eve, Monday, December 31
A sleepy Sunday in the NHL with only one Western Conference game, one day after the busiest day of the season. The one game had absolutely no effect on the New York Rangers’s playoff aspirations, but did have a minor influence on their lottery positioning.
The best hockey to watch today was at the WJC and we will lead off with a report on how the future New York Rangers fared before we get into the playoffs and lottery sections.
WJC Update
With a slow NHL day, let’s recap the one game involving New York Rangers prospects. It was a primetime match between Switzerland (Nico Gross) and Russia (Vitali Kravtsov) and it was a doozy. Switzerland jumped out to a quick lead and were up by as much as 3-1. Russia scored four straight goals and added three late third period goals to seal the win 7-4.
The second period saw one of the strangest segments you will ever see in a hockey game as Switzerland was awarded two penalty shots on the same breakaway. After Marco Lehmann mised both shots the Swiss team was handed a five minute power play when Ivan Muranov got tossed for butt ending a Swiss player. For a moment it looked like Ranger prospect Kravtsov was going to be ejected, but they cleared up the case of mistaken identity and he continued in the game. At any rate, Switzerland failed to score and then allowed Russia to score a shorthanded goal to seal the victory.
Vitali Kravtsov had an excellent game. He got a primary assist on the Russians’s second goal with a marvelous saucer pass to Grigori Denisenko who one-timed the shot. He also scored the last goal for Russian when he put in a rebound as he trailed the play into the zone. He had 19:35 of ice time and took a team leading seven shots.
Nico Gross played only 11 minutes for Switzerland with no points and he was plus one.
light. Related Story. Why the WJC can be depressing for Ranger fans
There are three huge games on Monday to determine quarterfinal seeding. Nils Lundkvist and Sweden take on Kazakhstan at 630pm as they look to clinch top spot in Group B. Kravtsov and team Russia takes on Canada at 8pm. Both teams are undefeated so it will be a good one. Finally, Team USA and K’Andre Miller take on Finland at 1030pm to determine second place in Group B.
All games will be televised on the NHL Network.
The Playoff Picture
Okay, back to the NHL and we’ll start by updating the playoff race. “The Athletic’s” daily predictions of playoff contention had the Rangers with an 8% chance of making the playoffs. Here are the standings, unchanged by Sunday’s game:
The standings
Atlantic Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Tampa 39 30-7-2 62 27
Toronto 39 26-11-2 54 26
Buffalo 39 21-12-6 48 18
Met Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Washington 37 24-10-3 51 21
Columbus 38 22-13-3 47 22
Pittsburgh 38 20-12-6 46 19
Wild Card GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Boston 39 21-14-4 46 20
Montreal 39 20-14-5 45 18
Contenders GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
Islanders 37 20-13-4 44 18
Rangers 37 16-14-7 39 11
Florida 36 16-15-6 38 15
Detroit 40 15-19-6 36 13
Carolina 37 15-17-5 35 14
New Jersey 37 14-16-7 35 14
Philadelphia 37 15-17-5 34 13
Ottawa 39 15-20-4 34 15
Who to root for:
It’s a busy New Year’s Eve in the NHL with 13 games. Eight of the games are of playoff consequences. Here they are in order of importance.
Rangers @ Blues – The Rangers need to beat one of the worst teams in the league.
Penguins @ Wild – The Penguins have been winning and that is not helping the Rangers playoff aspirations. Minnesota beat Winnipeg on the road Saturday, is it asking too much for them to beat Pittsburgh at home? Go Minnesota!
Canadiens @ Stars – Hopefully the scolding Dallas got from ownership has spurred them on. The Rangers need them to beat Montreal, one team standing between them and the wild card.
Senators @ Blue Jackets – Columbus is eight points up on the Rangers, though NY has a game in hand. An Ottawa win would be very helpful.
Islanders @ Sabres – After beating Toronto on the road, the Isles will be looking to build a winning streak. Root for Buffalo to stop them in their tracks. The Rangers are still five points behind the Isles and need to make up that ground.
Canucks @ Devils – The Devils are four points behind the Rangers. Root for Vancouver to beat the annoying Devils.
Panthers @ Red Wings, Flyers @ Hurricanes – All four of these teams are outside the playoff picture and virtually tied. These games are toss ups. I guess you root for the teams you hate the least.
Okay, that’s a look at the games that will impact the Rangers’ playoff position and hopes. If you think the playoffs are a pipedream, keep reading to see how the draft lottery competition looks. If not, stop reading.
The Lottery Look
The only game on Sunday was a Vegas win over Arizona. As the Coyotes have 36 points to the Rangers’ 39, an Arizona win would have been nice, but it wasn’t to be. Important? Well, the Rangers now have two games in hand on the Yotes. Here are the standings in the Jack Hughes sweepstakes:
The standings (worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
1. Los Angeles 39 15-21-3 33 14
2. Ottawa 39 15-20-4 34 15
3. St Louis 36 15-17-4 34 15
4. Philadelphia 36 15-17-5 35 13
5. New Jersey 37 14-16-7 35 14
6. Carolina 37 15-17-5 35 14
4. Chicago 41 15-20-6 36 15
5. Arizona 39 17-20-2 36 15
9. Detroit 40 15-19-6 36 13
10. Florida 37 16-15-6 38 16
11. Rangers 37 16-14-7 39 12
12. Minnesota 37 18-16-3 39 18
13. Edmonton 38 18-17-3 39 17
14. Vancouver 41 19-18-4 42 18
15. Dallas 39 20-16-3 43 20
16. Islanders 37 20-13-4 44 18
Who to root for:
Lots of games that can influence the lottery standings, ten to be precise. Here they are in order of importance to the Rangers:
Kings @ Avalanche, Senators @ Blue Jackets – The Kings and Senators are below the Rangers in the standings and need to pull off upsets on the road. Cross your fingers.
Flyers @ Hurricanes, Panthers @ Red Wings – All four of these teams are worse than the Rangers. Root for them all to win….in overtime.
Canucks @ Devils – New Jersey is worse than the Rangers, the Canucks are slightly better. This one is actually a toss-up as the Rangers have four games in hand on Vancouver so they could make up ground on the Canucks pretty quickly.
Penguins @ Wild, Jets @ Oilers, Canadiens @ Stars, Islanders @ Sabres – Minnesota, Edmonton, Dallas and the Islanders all have better records than New York. However, it is very close so root for all four to upset their better opponents.
This is a new feature on Blue Line Station that is intended to serve both factions of Ranger fans, the optimists who believe a playoff spot is on the horizon, and the pessimists who are desperately hoping for a top three draft lottery position. I’m not taking sides in this debate, though as a lifelong Ranger fan I want them to win now.
Next. What the Rangers need to do to make the playoffs. dark
The bottom line is that the Rangers are six points out of a playoff spot and six points away from the worst record in the league. 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. And Happy New Year to all of you, no matter which side you are on!