Blue Line Station
Fansided

New York Rangers: Lottery Look/Playoff Picture for Sunday, January 13

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 12: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders plays the puck against Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers at Barclays Center on January 12, 2019 the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 12: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders plays the puck against Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers at Barclays Center on January 12, 2019 the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 2
Next
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 12: Vladislav Namestnikov #90 of the New York Rangers plays the puck against Leo Komarov #47 of the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on January 12, 2019 the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 12: Vladislav Namestnikov #90 of the New York Rangers plays the puck against Leo Komarov #47 of the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on January 12, 2019 the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Going into today’s game 11 points out of a playoff spot, the New York Rangers were on the verge of become spectators in the race for the playoffs.  With their dramatic win over the Islanders, the New York Rangers actually gained ground.

The Playoff Pictures was doomed to mothballs if the New York Rangers fell 12 points out of a playoff spot.  Wouldn’t you know that the Rangers gave some life to their slim playoff chances with their win in Brooklyn.   The Rangers are now nine points out of the last wild card spot. Of course they are only five points out of last place overall in the NHL as well.

The Lottery Look

It was a very busy day for the race for lottery position.  Since the Rangers won, they would need help from their rivals in order to maintain their proximity to the bottom of the standings.  Pretty amazingly, seven of their lottery rivals who saw action won or got at least a point.  The Rangers did move up one slot (bad)  with the win past the idle Panthers and are now 9th worst overall. The Canadiens moved into a playoff slot again, this time at the expense of Buffalo.  L.A. moved out of last place overall past Philadelphia and Ottawa.

Montreal beat the fading Colorado Avalanche and jumped out of the Lottery Look.   The Lightning trounced the Sabres, dropping Buffalo out of a playoff spot and back in to the Lottery Look.

In an afternoon game, the Devils beat the Flyers in regulation.  By winning, New Jersey stays two points behind the Rangers while the Flyers fall five points behind and back into last place overall.

Detroit pulled off a minor upset by winning on the road in Minnesota. They keep pace with the Rangers, remaining two points behind them.  Meanwhile, Minnesota hangs onto a playoff spot, but are only four points better than the Rangers. Better for New York that Detroit won.

The Blues continue to win and remain one point behind the Blueshirts.  St. Louis has won six of their last ten.  Meanwhile, Arizona beat Edmonton to stay abreast of the Rangers.  New York moved to within two points of the Oilers.

In the late game, there was an unexpected outcome as Los Angeles upset the red hot Penguins. That kept the Kings on pace with New York and they moved out of the last spot in the NHL.

The Blackhawks blew a late lead and then lost in overtime to the Golden Knights.  They still picked up a point and that helps.

Okay, some lottery teams had to lose (besides Philly, the Oilers and the Wild).  A good thing can only last as long as it can and so ended the Ottawa two game winning streak.  They drop six points behind the Rangers, one point out of the last overall position.

The standings (worst is first)

Teams                  GP     W-L-OTL     PTS   ROW
1. Philadelphia    45      16-23-6      38      14
2. Ottawa             46       17-24-5      39     17
3. Los Angeles    46       18-25-3      39      17
4. Detroit             47       17-23-7      41      15
5. New Jersey      44      17-20-7      41     16
6. Chicago             47       16-22-9      41     16
7. St Louis             43       19-20-4      42     19
8. Florida               42       17-18-8      42     15
8. Rangers            44       18-19-7      43     13
10. Arizona           44       20-21-3       43    18
11. Vancouver      46       20-21-5      45     19
12. Edmonton      45       21-21-3      45     19
13. Anaheim          45       19-18-8      46     16
14.  Carolina          44        21-18-5      47     20
15.  Buffalo            45      23-16-6       52     20

Who to root for

Sunday is definitely a more quiet day with only six games. Only one game is of real interest as Florida swapped places with the Rangers in the standings on Saturday and they are in action on Sunday.

Rangers @ Blue Jackets – We know who to root for here, right?  This is a big game for New York in the race for the playoffs…and they didn’t lose a lot of ground in the lottery race by winning on Saturday.

Predators @ Hurricanes – The Rangers inched closer to Carolina with their win. Four points is a little too close for comfort.  Root for Carolina to upset the Preds. .

Anaheim @ Jets – The Ducks have lost  ten in a row and have fallen out of the playoff picture.  Only four points in front of the Rangers, it would be nice for Anaheim to get back on track with a win in Winnipeg.

Panthers @ Canucks  –As mentioned, Florida moved one point behind New York into 8th worst. Vancouver is only two  points better than the Rangers.  A key factor is Florida has played two fewer games while the Canucks have played two more.  So, root for the Canucks to win in overtime.

Coyotes @ Flames -Arizona and the Rangers are tied points-wise.  Root for the Yotes to pull off an upset in Calgary.

Home/Analysis