New York Rangers: Some help in the lottery race

There were a number of games with lottery teams, so scoreboard watching was the order of the day for New York Rangers fans.  Some teams cooperated, some did not.

Perhaps the biggest storyline of the day was the seismic shift in the playoff picture.  Pittsburgh lost and Carolina won and the Hurricanes passed the Penguins and are now in the final wild card spot and the Pens join the long list of lottery teams.  It makes their game on Sunday with the New York Rangers all the more important.

The Lottery Look

There was no major shift in the lottery standings. There Rangers remain 11 places from the bottom of the league.  Only three of the lottery teams won on Saturday, but those wins tightened the race, just a  bit.

The Flyers blew a four goal lead, but still beat the Red Wings in overtime.  The OT point helped the Rangers as it moved Detroit to within four points of New York.  Detroit also moved up from 5th worst to 6th worst, passing Edmonton.  The win gives Philadelphia 61 points, three more than the Rangers.

Believe it or not, the Ottawa Senators beat the Jets in overtime in Winnipeg 4-3.  That’s the worst team in the East beating the best team in the West.  It gives Ottawa 49 points, within nine of New York.

In another upset, the Coyotes beat the Maple Leafs 2-0. The win leapfrogged Arizona from seventh worst to tenth worst in the NHL, only one point behind the Rangers.

That’s it for wins by lottery teams as every other team in the lottery race lost. The Oilers lost 4-2 to the Islanders, the Blue Jackets beat the Blackhawks 5-2, the Sharks beat the Canucks 3-2 and the Blues topped the Avalanche 3-0.

Boston beat the Kings 4-2 and with the win, jumped over Toronto into second place in the Atlantic Division.

 The standings (Worst is first)

Teams                     GP      W-L-OTL    PTS   ROW
1. Ottawa               58     22-31-5      49      22
2. New Jersey        58     22-28-8      52     21
3. Los Angeles      58     23-29-6      52     21
4. Anaheim            58     22-27-9      53     19
5.  Edmonton        58      24-29-5      53     21
6. Detroit                59     23-28-8      54      21
7. Florida                56     24-24-8      56     21
8. Chicago               59     24-26-9      57     23
9..  Colorado           58     23-24-11    57     23
10.  Arizona            58     26-27-5      57     24
11. Rangers           57     25-24-8      58     19
12. Vancouver       60    26-27-7       59      23
13. Philadelphia    58    27-24-7       61      25
14.  Buffalo            57    28-22-7       63      24
15.  Pittsburgh      58    30-21-7       67     29

Who to root for

Six games in the NHL on Sunday including the Ranger visit to Pittsburgh. It will be interesting to see how the Pens react to being knocked out of  the playoff picture.

Sabres @ Devils – Buffalo’s playoff hopes are slipping away, but the Rangers need the Devils to get some points.

Flyers @ Red Wings – A rematch from Saturday.  Detroit is getting closer to the Rangers so a Detroit win in overtime would be nice.

Canadiens @ Panthers  – Florida is only two points behind the Rangers so a Panthers win would either tie them (if the Blueshirts lose) or keep pace (if the Rangers win).

Capitals @ Ducks  – Anaheim is starting to pick up the pace a bit, but are still five points worse than New York.  A home victory for Anaheim will help a lot.

Six more games on Monday and the Rangers are off, so back to scoreboard watching.