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New York Rangers: Lottery standings get tighter with a big game in Vancouver

By Steve Paulus |
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 12: New York Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk (44) skates to loose puck as Vancouver Canucks center Markus Granlund (60) defends and Vancouver Canucks center Tyler Motte (64) tracks the play during the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers NHL game on November 12, 2018, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 12: New York Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk (44) skates to loose puck as Vancouver Canucks center Markus Granlund (60) defends and Vancouver Canucks center Tyler Motte (64) tracks the play during the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers NHL game on November 12, 2018, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 12: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2018 in New York City. The New York Rangers won 2-1. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 12: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on November 12, 2018 in New York City. The New York Rangers won 2-1. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The New York Rangers take on the Vancouver Canucks in the second game of a four game road trip.  This is another game with major implications for the Entry Draft Lottery standings.

With only 12 games left in the New York Rangers season, focus has shifted almostly completely to the entry draft lottery.   The Rangers sit in 7th place with the same number of points as three other teams.  They are at the bottom of that group because they have the fewest regulation and overtime wins (ROW’s) with 22, the second fewest in the league.

At this point, the best (for lottery purposes) that they can finish is 5th from the bottom.  In order for that to happen, the have to pass Anaheim and Vancouver.  That’s why tonight’s game is important.

A Vancouver win will put them only two points worse than New York, with both teams having played the same number of games.

Although the Rangers are doing everything in their power to short circuit a drive to the bottom of the standings, the good news is that that Anaheim is doing the same thing.  The Ducks held on for a clutch 3-2 win over the second place Nashville Predators last night.

In other good news for the Rangers, the Coyotes won in St. Louis 2-1 and moved into the last wild card spot, dropping the Wild into the lottery picture.  Minnesota sits five points better than the Rangers and with the final game of this road trip in the Twin Cities, that game now takes on more importance.

Both New Jersey and Detroit lost their games last night and are basically out of reach.  Let’s put it this way.  If the Rangers LOSE all of their remaining games, here’s what the bottom four teams would have to do to finish AHEAD of the the Blueshirts.

Ottawa   8-3-1
Detroit    6-6-0
Los Angeles   5-7-1
New Jersey    5-7-0

Again, that is if the Rangers go 0-13-0 in their last 13 games and we know that  is not going to happen.

The other concern for the Rangers are the teams directly above New York in the standings.  Chicago, Buffalo, Edmonton, Florida, Colorado and Minnesota are all within reach of the Rangers and if any of them go on an extended losing streak, the Blueshirts could drop as far as 13th from the bottom.

At any rate, scoreboard watching will grow in importance as the season goes on.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams                    GP      W-L-OTL    PT    ROW
1. Ottawa               70     23-41-6       52     23
2. Detroit                70     24-36-10    58     21
3. Los Angeles      69     25-36-8       58     23
4. New Jersey        70     25-36-9      59     24
5. Anaheim            71      28-34-9      65     25
6.  Vancouver        69     28-32-9       65     25
7. Rangers             69    28-28-13     69    22
8. Chicago              69     30-30-9       69     28
9.  Edmonton        69     31-31-7       69    28
10.  Buffalo           69    30-30-9        69     26
11. Florida             69     30-27-12    72     27
12.  Colorado        70     30-28-12    72     29
13.  Minnesota     70     33-29-8      74     32
14. Philadelphia   69    34-27-8       76     32
15. Montreal         70    37-26-7       81     35

Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 81 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line:  75 points

Who to root for

Knowing all of this and that the Rangers will do their best to win tonight, there are two games that need monitoring, both featuring teams with the same number of points as the Rangers.

Blackhawks @ Maple Leafs – The Leafs are losing ground in their race to finish second in the Atlantic Division.  They don’t want to face Boston without home ice advantage, so this is a big game for them.  The Blackhawks are playing much better, winners of three in a row and 6-4 in their last ten games.  Chicago is one of four teams in the NHL with three 30 goal scorers (Calgary, Colorado & Tampa are the others) in Kane, DeBrincat and Toews.  It’s a tall order, but root for Chicago.

Devils @ Oilers – The Oilers are fresh off their OT win over the Rangers and have only lost two games in their last ten.  An Edmonton win will help the Rangers immensely.  The Devils were pathetic in a 9-4 loss to Calgary last night.

NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 12: Rangers players congratulate New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (30) after winning the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers NHL game on November 12, 2018, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 12: Rangers players congratulate New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (30) after winning the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers NHL game on November 12, 2018, at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by John Crouch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Notes on tonight’s game

  • About the Rangers
    • The expectation is that Henrik Lundqvist will be in net for the Rangers.
    • Will Tony DeAngelo escape the Quinn bin?  No word about the starting lineup or any changes.
    • Although it seems like the Rangers have played a lot of overtime games recently, their streak of five in eight games is not unusual.  They went to OT in six of nine games this season in December.  In October 2014, they also had five OT games in eight and they duplicated the six of nine in March, 2008.
    • The Rangers are one of four teams (Buffalo, Detroit, Florida)  that have gone to overtime 20 times this season. The Panthers leads with 22 overtime games.  The Rangers do have the worst record (7-13) in overtime games of the four teams.
    • Folks are starting to notice Chris Kreider’s disappearing act. He has only two assists in his last seven games. Considering that this would be the year he gets a contact extension, this could affect his future with the team.
  • About the Canucks
    • Will Quinn Hughes play?  He has joined the team and is expected to play the maximum number of games without burning a year of his ELC contract.  He was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft and just finished his sophomore year at the University of Michigan.  And of course, he is the older brother of wunderkind Jack Hughes.  The word is that he hurt his ankle in his last game with Michigan and will be held out until he is 100 percent.
    • This will be the third straight year that a highly regarded college player has joind the Canucks at the end of the season.  Last year it was Adam Gaudette and the year before it was Brock Boeser.
    • Jacob Markstrom will be in the net for the Canucks.  He has started 52 games for Vancouver with a 2.78 GAA and .912 save percentage. He is 3-2-1 lifetime against the Rangers.
    • The Canucks were in a playoff spot a month ago, but have won only four of their last 17 games to drop out of contention. It was their second big slump of the season.  After starting the season as one of the surprise teams in the NHL, they won only one in 13 games to fall back to earth.
    • Ryan Spooner was traded to Vancouver for Sam Gagner on February 16.  In six games with the Canucks he has three assists. He has a groin injury and may not see action tonight.
    • Brandon Sutter and Chris Tanev are on injured reserve. Ben Hutton has a foot injury and is questionable for tonight.
    • Vancouver will be celebrating diversity tonight with their annual “Hockey is for Everyone” night.  Good timing in light of the controversy surround the Toronto Maple Leafs and allegations of an anti-gay comment by Morgan Rielly. The NHL conducted a full investigation and determined that nothing of that nature was said by Rielly or any player.
    • Bo Horvat is one of the best faceoff men in the NHL.  He has taken more draws than any other player (1,717) and has won 53. percent.
    • Elias Pettersson is finishing up a fabulous rookie season. He leads all rookies in goals (26), assists (32),  points (58) and points per game (1.00).  He also leads the league’s rookies with eight power play goals and seven game winning goals.
  • Head to head
    • The Rangers won the only other game with the Canucks, 2-1 on November 19 at Madison Square Garden.  Henrik Lundqvist was in net and the Ranger goals were scored by Filip Chytil and Bretty Howden.
    • The Rangers have won eight of the last 11 games versus Vancouver (8-2-1).

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  • Game Info
    • The game begins at 10pm EST.  Television is on the MSG Network and radio will be on ESPN 98.7.
    • The Rangers head east after this game for a Thursday night match up with one of the best teams in the NHL, the Calgary Flames.
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