The New York Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils in a matinee at Madison Square Garden. It could have been the final game for Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello and Adam McQuaid, but all three will be spectators and the waiting game continues.
The Devils started the day with two trade chips, left winger Marcus Johansson and defenseman Ben Lovejoy. This morning they traded Lovejoy to Dallas for defenseman Connor Carrick and a third round draft pick. The rumors about the Ranger trio are swirling and there is no way of knowing when a deal can come down.
Today’s game will be significant only for lottery positioning. New Jersey is only four points behind the Rangers and a Devils’ win will make the race even tighter. Yesterday, there were some standings shenanigans (more on that later).
Interestingly enough, it wasn’t until this morning that it was clear that the Rangers would sitting their three players. At practice yesterday, coach David Quinn said that the lineup wouldn’t change unless he was told differently. I guess he was told differently.
The rumored destinations for Hayes include Boston and Winnipeg while Nashville and Dallas are favorites for Zuccarello. The way things are going, Jeff Gorton will be taking this down to the wire on Monday now that Duchene trade has been made.
This is only the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rangers won the first match up 4-3 in Newark in January. Alexandar Georgiev will be in goal for New York.
The Devils have been hit hard by injuries with Taylor Hall still out and he has been joined by Pavel Zacha, Sami Vatanen and Miles Wood. As for the Rangers, Brett Howden is about a week away from returning from a knee injury.
The Lottery Look
Another wacky night in the NHL. Columbus had been knocked out of a playoff spot on Thursday, but beat Ottawa 3-0 and in doing so, moved in to third place in the Met Division. Carolina was pushed out of the playoff position and they passed both Montreal and Pittburgh. Matt Duchene made his debut for Columbus and was scoreless.
Minnesota stayed ahead of Colorado for the wild card as both teams won. Lottery teams taking losses were Ottawa, Detroit, Anaheim and Chicago. The Rangers remain 8th from the bottom of the league standings.
The standings (Worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
1. Ottawa 61 22-34-5 49 22
2. Los Angeles 60 23-31-6 52 21
3. Detroit 62 23-30-9 55 21
4. Edmonton 60 25-29-6 56 22
5. New Jersey 61 24-29-8 56 23
6. Anaheim 61 24-28-9 57 21
7. Arizona 61 27-28-6 60 24
8. Rangers 60 26-26-8 60 20
9. Florida 59 26-25-8 60 23
10. Vancouver 61 27-27-7 61 24
11. Chicago 62 26-27-9 61 25
12. Colorado 61 26-24-11 63 26
13. Philadelphia 61 28-26-7 63 26
14. Buffalo 60 28-24-8 64 24
15. Carolina 61 32-23-6 70 31
Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 71 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 64 points
Who to root for
It’s a busy schedule for the NHL on Saturday with 11 games, seven of them start before 6pm. There are a lot of lottery teams in action so there could be some movement in the “Lose for Hughes Sweepstakes”. The key game is obviously the Rangers-Devils matinee. By the way, the Rangers have played eight day games this season. Their record? 1-3-3.
Kings @ Panthers – If the Rangers think that they can sink to the bottom of the standings, they need the Kings to win more….so root for Los Angeles. Florida has the same number of points as New York so overtime would be nice.
Hurricanes @ Stars -Carolina needs to win to get back in the wild card. Enough said
Avalanches @ Predators – The Avs are on the cusp and this game will be a real test for them.
Capitals @ Sabres – Buffalo is about to drop completely out of the playoff race. This is a must win for the Sabres.
Penguins @ Flyers – Pittsburgh loses and they could be out of the wild card. The Flyers are still in contention, but like Buffalo are dropping out. It’s a big game for both teams.
Ducks @ Oilers – Both teams are slipping below the cut line. However, they still have a shot at the post season and are below the Rangers in the standings. Overtime would be good.
Islanders @ Canucks – Vancouver has one point more than New York so a Canucks win today is important for the lottery standings.
The Rangers get right back to action with another matinee on Sunday in Washington. Only four lottery teams in action other than the Rangers. The game will be a distraction if no trades are made by tomorrow