I think all New York Rangers fans can agree that this was a disastrous road trip. The only good to come out of it was an improvement in the lottery standings which was the best that could have been hoped for anyway.
While the New York Rangers loss to the Wild was not as convincing as the spanking they endured in Calgary, it was far from a good game for New York. Mika Zibanejad broke his scoring slump and Pavel Buchnevich continues his revival, but all in all, it was another demoralizing loss with the future Rangers not showing much.
The Rangers continue to show some disturbing trends. They are being manhandled in their own zone and making stupid decisions (Filip Chytil???) with the puck. You have to feel sorry for Henrik Lundqvist as he was subjected to a barrage of odd man rushes and wide open deflections. It wasn’t pretty, but this is what you can expect for the last ten games of the season. How they play back home at the Garden against a lousy Detroit team should tell us a lot about the character of this squad.
The Lottery Look
The NHL is just weird. The worst team it in the league, the Ottawa Senators, embarrassed the Maple Leafs 6-2. The Detroit Red Wings, third worst team in the NHL, beat the Islanders 2-1. None of the teams that are directly below the Rangers were in action on Saturday, but there were a few games that were important for the Blueshirts to keep their place in the lottery standings.
Chicago continued their winning ways, beating Montreal 2-0 on the road. The Hawks now have four points on the Rangers and own the ROW tiebreaker. A few more points for Chicago and the Rangers will be safely ahead of them in the lottery standings.
The Oilers beat the Coyotes 3-2 in overtime and now have two points more than the Rangers and a game in hand. If they keep winning it will guarantee a lottery finish of seventh or eighth at worst for New York.
The Buffalo Sabres are in full tanking mode, losing their seventh in a row, 4-2 to Carolina. They have the same 69 points as the Rangers and are one of the only threats to finish better than New York in the lottery race.
The Panther beat the Kings 4-3 and have 76 points. I think it is safe to say that the Rangers won’t catch them.
The standings (Worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PT ROW
1. Ottawa 72 25-41-6 56 25
2. Los Angeles 71 25-38-8 58 23
3. Detroit 72 25-37-10 60 22
4. New Jersey 72 27-36-9 63 25
5. Anaheim 73 29-35-9 67 26
6. Vancouver 71 29-32-10 68 26
7. Rangers 72 28-31-13 69 22
8. Buffalo 71 30-32-9 69 26
9. Edmonton 71 32-32-7 71 29
10. Colorado 71 30-29-12 72 29
11. Chicago 71 32-30-9 73 30
12. Florida 71 32-27-12 76 29
13. Minnesota 72 34-20-8 76 33
14. Philadelphia 71 34-29-8 76 32
15. Montreal 72 37-28-7 81 35
Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 84 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 78 points
Who to root for
Seven games in the NHL and five of them are crucial to the Rangers’ lottery position. Again, if the cards fall right, by the end of the day they are in a position to drop to sixth place in the lottery standings and in a virtual tie for fifth.
Canucks @ Stars – If Vancouver wins, they pass the Rangers in the standings. They blew a 2-0 lead to the Devils in their last game and the Stars are in a playoff fight, so it will be a tough one.
Panthers @ Ducks – Florida is comfortably ahead of the Rangers. Anaheim is two points worse. If the Ducks win they will tie the Rangers with 69 points. While they win the ROW tiebreaker, the Ducks will have played two more games than the Blueshirts. Root hard for Anaheim to win.
Oilers @ Golden Knights – If Edmonton can upset Vegas, they will open up a four point gap with the Rangers. That would be very, very good as the season winds down. Go Edmonton!
Devils @ Avalanche – Colorado is only three points better than New York. Root for them to win. Hey, they are already getting Ottawa’s first round pick….why do they need a good lottery position?
Blues @ Sabres – Buffalo’s inability to win a game is getting really annoying. They have the same number of points as the Rangers and a game in hand. They’ve lost seven in a row so they are due for a win. Eichel is back from his suspension…what’s their excuse?
The next game for the Rangers is Tuesday night against Detroit. It will be an interesting test for what has to be a very demoralized Rangers team.