New York Rangers: A big move in the Lottery Look for Tuesday, January 15
By Steve Paulus
The Montreal Canadiens won tonight, so the New York Rangers are officially 12 points out of a playoff spot. That means no more Playoff Picture. We will be focusing on the NHL Draft Lottery standings on a daily basis.
We aren’t giving up on making the playoffs as long as there is a mathematical chance so we will continue to update the playoffs situation, but in an abbreviated form. Here is tonight’s version.
Montreal won and has 55 points, 12 points more than New York. Buffalo lost so they missed a chance to keep up with the Habs. Now, on to the lottery situation.
The Lottery Look
Although the Rangers had an off day, it was a good night for the Ranger’s lottery standings. The Rangers came into the day ninth from the bottom of the standings. Two teams below them played each other and two teams below them played playoff teams. Upsets were needed and they got them. Now, the Rangers have the seventh worst record in the league and are only four points from the bottom. This is the worst position for the Rangers since the first weeks of the season.
The first upset was kind of a shocker. The Blues beat the Capitals 4-1 in Washington. By winning, the Blues jumped over the Rangers in the lottery race. St. Louis has won three in a row and if they keep this up, they won’t be a factor in the race to lose for Hughes.
The second upset wasn’t as big, but it helped make the lottery race that much closer. Philadelphia beat Minnesota at home and move out of last place overall with 40 points. Ottawa and Los Angeles now reside at the bottom with 39 points.
Finally, New Jersey beat Chicago in a goalfest, 8-5. With the win, the Devils move into a tie with the Rangers (by points) while the Blackhawks remain two points worse that New York. In fact, the Devils have the exact same record as the Rangers, but are better because they win the ROW tiebreaker.
The standings (worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
1. Ottawa 46 17-24-5 39 17
2. Los Angeles 46 18-25-3 39 17
3. Philadelphia 46 17-23-6 40 15
4. Chicago 48 16-23-9 41 16
5. Detroit 47 17-23-7 41 15
6. Florida 43 17-19-8 42 15
7. Rangers 45 18-20-7 43 13
8. New Jersey 45 18-20-7 43 17
9. Arizona 45 20-22-3 43 18
10. St Louis 44 20-20-4 44 20
11. Edmonton 46 22-21-3 47 21
12. Vancouver 47 21-21-5 47 20
13. Anaheim 46 19-18-9 47 16
14. Carolina 45 22-18-5 49 21
15. Buffalo 46 23-17-6 52 20
Who to root for
There are ten games on the schedule for Tuesday, but only six involve teams in the lottery standings, including the Rangers who take on the Hurricanes.
Blues @ Islanders – The Blues have a three game winning streak, but take on the red hot Islanders. Let’s hope the Blues can keep the magic going.
Devils @ Blue Jackets – The Devils need to win to either keep pace with the Rangers or move ahead of them by points.
Panthers @ Canadiens – If Florida wins and the Rangers lose, the Blueshirts slide into sixth from the bottom. As of now the Panthers are one point worse than New York. Root for Florida.
Ducks @ Red Wings – Both of these teams are out of the playoffs, but Detroit is below New York in the standings. The Red Wings have also played two more games than the Rangers, so root for Detroit to win.
Kings @ Wild – Los Angeles continues to hand around the cellar, virtually tied with Ottawa for worst overall. A win over Minnesota lifts them out of last place. Go Kings.
Who is rising and falling in the Rangers stock market report?. dark. Next
The lottery picture remains incredibly tight with only four points separating the nine worst teams in the NHL. The race for the top three slots will probably go down to the last day of the season.