New York Rangers: Three storylines to follow versus Montreal
The New York Rangers host the Montreal Canadiens host for the last time this season. There are three storylines to follow.
Fans of the New York Rangers have reason to be happy., Despite trading away some of their best assets, the team has come together and played with heart and determination against some of the best teams in the league. With Montreal in the thick of a desperate playoff fight, this game will be no different.
There are a three storylines worth playing attention to.
Storyline One – Can they keep it up?
First Washington. Then Tampa. Now Montreal. Three teams that are clearly better than the Rangers talent-wise and definitely better record-wise. Against Washington and Tampa, the Rangers fell behind in both games and came roaring back to tie. Although they lost in overtime, the fact that they threw a scare into two very good teams bodes well for the future of this young squad.
Montreal is not as good as the Caps or Tampa, but they still are sitting in a wild card spot. They have been hampered by inconsistency. In February they beat Winnipeg, Columbus and Philadelphia and thrashed Detroit, but lost to the Devils and Florida. They still have an all-world Carey Price in net.
The key to the Rangers maintaining this streak is to not fall behind. Take out the first period of the last two games and they win both, soundly. The question is, can they maintain that high level of play for three periods and does it require a kick in the butt from David Quinn for falling behind to get started?
Storyline two – All eyes on Hajek
There will be an inordinate amount of attention paid to Libor Hajek as he makes his NHL debut tonight. The cornerstone of the McDonagh deal with Tampa, he has high expectations to live up to. Despite minimal scoring numbers in Hartford, David Quinn says that he has been improving lately and deserves this chance. Let’s see if he can live up to the hype.
It’s important to remember that he is not Rasmus Dahlin. He is a mid-second round draft pick with a solid upside as a defender. He’s not going to win any scoring titles, but he will hopefully be a solid defender who will take the body and make solid outlet passes. He will be paired with Neal Pionk on defense so that in its own could be an adventure.
Storyline three – Lemieux and Montreal
Okay, I may be just making this up, but it has to be significant for Brendan Lemieux to play the Montreal Canadiens. His father, Claude, was a Stanley Cup Winner with Montreal and played four full seasons in the bleu blanc rouge. A native of Quebec, Claude was one of the greatest post-season players of all time. Although Brendan was born in Colorado and grew up in the United States, playing Montreal has to be of some importance to him.
It won’t be the first time he has faced Montreal, but as a member of an Original Six team, with his extended family watching, we could be in for some fireworks. I am sure there won’t a Ranger fan alive who wouldn’t like to see Lemieux dish Brendan Gallagher a bit of his own medicine.
Things you should know
- About the Rangers
- Henrik Lundqvist gets the start. He is 16-17-3 in his career vs. Montreal. Lundqvist has won only two out of his last nine starts.
- When Libor Hajek takes the ice he will be the 33rd different player to play for the Rangers this season and the tenth rookie. He won’t be the last, but it isn’t likely that the team will hit the mark of forty different players that they achieved last season.
- Brendan Smith looks to be getting a regular shift as a winger on the fourth line. He has looked pretty solid as a physical winger and has had two breakaways in the last two games.
- It appears that Fredrik Claesson will be the healthy scratch with Hajek in the lineup.
- Filip Chytil will sit for his second straight game.
- Tony DeAngelo will look to extend his point scoring streak to nine games. He led the team in ice time vs. Tampa and has become a mainstay on the blueline.
- The Rangers’ power play needs to get going. They have scored only four goals in their last 23 attempts including a 0-6 vs. Tampa. It’s where they miss Zuccarello and Hayes the most. The penalty kill has been solid and did not allow more than one PP goal in a game in the month of February.
- Mika Zibanejad continues his fine play and is on a point-a-game pace. He is one of 38 players in the NHL at that pace who have played in at least 50 games this season.
- About the Canadiens
- Montreal is in a precarious playoff spot, only one point above the Eastern Conference cut line.
- The Montreal power play is the second worst in the NHL with a 12.7% efficiency rating. They take a lot of shots per game, fourth highest in the league, but are 12th in goals scored. They are in the middle of the pack when it comes to all over team statistics.
- Montreal didn’t stand pat at the trade deadline. They re-acquired Dale Wiese earlier in February and traded for forwards Jordan Weal and Nate Thompson.
- The Canadiens are healthy with only Paul Byron a question mark due to illness.
- Carey Price will start in goal for Montreal.
- Head to head
- This is the third and final match-up between the two teams. The Rangers, behind Lundqvist, won the first game at the Garden, 5-3. That was the game that featured the highlight coast-to-coast goal scored by Neal Pionk. In their second match in Montreal, the Rangers lost 5-2 with Alexandar Georgiev in net.
- The last game in Montreal was emotional for the Habs as it featured the return of team captain Shea Weber from a long recovery from surgery. In 40 games since returning, Weber has nine goals and 23 points.
- Game Info
- Start time is 7pm. The game will be on television on the MSG Network and on radio on ESPN 98.7.
The Lottery Look
It was a busy night, but there wasn’t much of an impact on the standings. The biggest moves were in playoff positions as Dallas and Columbus both moved into post-season contention while Colorado and Pittsburgh both dropped out.
In positive outcomes for the Rangers, Edmonton beat Ottawa 4-2 and moved to within three points of the idle Blueshirts. Arizona beat the Canucks 5-2 to open a three point cushion on New York. The Panthers obliged by taking the Golden Knights to overtime before losing in a shootout. They are now two full points ahead of New York and own the tiebreaker.
Of some positive note, even the Kings got a point for getting to OT in a 4-3 loss to Dallas, but they remain a full ten points worse than the Rangers. The Flyers salvaged a point in their 4-3 OT loss to Columbus so they are still four points ahead of the Rangers.
The Rangers remain ninth from the bottom of the NHL pack. For what it is worth, the Senators fired coach Guy Boucher, replacing him with Marc Crawford. Maybe Crawford will get the team to win some games.
The standings (Worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
1. Ottawa 64 22-37-5 49 22
2. Los Angeles 64 23-33-8 54 21
3. Detroit 64 23-32-9 55 21
4. Anaheim 64 24-31-9 57 21
5. New Jersey 62 25-31-8 58 24
6. Edmonton 62 27-30-7 61 24
7. Chicago 64 27-28-9 63 26
8. Vancouver 65 27-29-9 63 24
9. Rangers 63 27-26-10 64 21
10. Florida 63 28-25-10 66 25
11. Buffalo 63 29-26-8 66 25
12. Arizona 64 31-28-5 67 27
13. Colorado 64 28-24-12 68 27
14. Philadelphia 64 30-26-8 68 28
15. Pittsburgh 63 33-22-8 74 32
Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 74 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 68 points
Who to root for
The significant games tonight are not in the lottery standings, but are for teams fighting to make the playoffs. Eight games are on the schedule with seven lottery teams in action.
Penguins @ Sabres – The marquee match up of the night, featuring two desperate teams. Buffalo is eight points out of the playoffs and they have to win. The Pens were dropped out of a playoff spot last night and win moves them back to the wild card. This will be a good one. Root for Buffalo in overtime.
Flyers @ Devils – If the Rangers are to move up in the lottery standings, they will need wins from teams like the Devils. At the same time, Philadelphia is still close so an overtime win for New Jersey would be the best option.
Golden Knights @ Ducks – Anaheim is definitely looking for a top three draft slot. Root for the Ducks to win, but they won’t.
Avalanche @ Sharks – Colorado wins and they are back in the post-season. It’s amazing that only four points separate them from the Rangers.
Next. How good is Chris Kreider?. dark
“The Athletic” website projects the Rangers to finish eighth from the bottom just ahead of Vancouver and Edmonton so games featuring those teams are important to keep an eye on. A really big night on Saturday with ten games on the schedule including ten lottery teams. The roller coaster ride continues.