Takeaways from the 2019-20 schedule

October: A chance for a good start

The Rangers should get off to a good start with a favorable schedule in October.  They play only ten games with seven at home and only three on the road with one of those across the river in Newark.

The month includes their longest home stand of the season, five games from October 20 to 29. In the month they play six teams that missed the playoffs last season and four that made it. They have only one set of back-to-back games, in Newark and Washington DC.

The strangest thing about the October schedule is after they play their first two games against Winnipeg and in Ottawa they are then off for six straight days.  In fact, they play only one game in 11 days from October 6-16.  It will give David Quinn and the coaching staff an extended training camp opportunity after they have played the first two games of the season.

The month does end on a tough note with games at Madison Square Garden against Boston and Tampa.

November: The schedule gets tough

As easy October was, November is difficult.   The Rangers play 15 games in November, tied with February for the most games in one month.   They have seven home games and eight road games.   They play seven teams that made the playoffs last season and eight games against non-playoff squads.

There will be three sets of back-to-back games.  The first is a home and away set against Detroit and Carolina.  The other two have both games on the road, the first featuring a Canada trip to Ottawa and Montreal and the second on the Thanksgiving weekend against Boston and New Jersey.

That Boston game is a matinee on Black Friday and is the NHL Thanksgiving Showdown game.

The heaviest stretch of the schedule will be from November 2 through November 16 when the team plays eight games in 15 days.  That include the first of two trips to Florida to play the Lightning and the Panthers.

November will be  real test with only three games against “soft” teams and the remaining 12 against teams expected to contend for a playoff spot.

December: It doesn’t get easier

December is much like November with 14 games scheduled including three sets of back-to-back games.  They play six games at home and eight on the road and will face playoff teams in eight of the 14 games.

From December 4-16 they play seven games in 12 days and that includes their longest road trip of the year.   That three game road trip is their annual trip to the West Coast as they play  Los Angeles, San Jose and Anaheim with Vegas thrown in as a bonus.

Those long California road trips are seen as an opportunity for team building and they’ve had some success in the past. Last season they were 2-1 on their West Coast trip.

The three sets of back-to-back games includes one in Columbus, then home vs. Montreal.  The second is Anaheim then on the road in Philadelphia and the third is home vs. Carolina and then on the road in Toronto.

The month concludes with their annual trip to Western Canada with the only December game in Edmonton and their visits to Calgary and Vancouver in January.  The Rangers have had a really strong record on their Western Canada trips.  Last season they went 0-2-1, only their second losing record in the last seven years.  In fact, over the last seven seasons, their combined record for these trips is 15-6-2.

With all of the young players on the team, the fact that they will have both of their long road trips early in the season should be a positive.

January: The lightest month

January is the lightest month of the season with only ten games on the schedule.  The Rangers do not play a game from January 22-30 due to their official bye week and the All-Star Game on January 26.

Of the ten games, six are at home and four are away, though seven of the ten are against teams that made the playoffs.

As mentioned previously, January is a good month for local rivalries with three games against the Islanders and one against the Devils.