New York Rangers: West coast road trip could be season defining

Today marks the start of the first big road trip for the New York Rangers, and it could prove to be season defining.

Playoff spots aren’t necessarily won in December but they can be lost and the New York Rangers face a huge week on the west coast when it comes to their postseason aspirations.

And it starts today in Sin City as the Blueshirts go looking for revenge against the Vegas Golden Knights after being outplayed and outclassed in a 4-1 loss last week.

After today the Rangers will spend the rest of the week making their way through California, facing match-ups against the LA Kings, the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks before returning home.

There are some winnable games within that slate, namely against the Kings and the Ducks who are both at the start of their rebuilding process, but the Rangers can’t afford to lay a deuce on this trip.

If this team, if this franchise really believe that they have the weapons and the tools to be able to secure a return to the postseason this year, then this coming week will play a pivotal role in telling us whether those thoughts are indeed correct.

As we are well aware of this season, too, this team doesn’t do things by half, they jump from one end of the spectrum to the other in extreme fashion.

So, this week is either going to be spectacular and really send a jolt of energy through the Rangers’ playoff bid, or it is going to transpire into a complete and utter trainwreck.

Again, all won’t be lost this season even if the Rangers do put up a stinker on the road, but their task won’t be made any easier.

Plus, as already mentioned, there are some winnable games on this four-game swing. Granted, the Golden Knights are a very good team and are starting to heat up, as are the Sharks who have recovered from a sluggish start.

But, as the old saying goes, in order to be the best you have to beat the best and the Rangers have done an okay job of taking down some of the more elite teams in the NHL this year, but they will need to take care of business against the Kings and the Ducks.

There could be another consequence to struggling on the road this week too, and that is the fact that we’re edging ever closer to the trade deadline on Feb. 24.

The Rangers have of course been sellers over the past couple of years and they have assets they could move this season, most namely Chris Kreider.

So, if the Blueshirts can emerge from this week with a winning record and go on a bit of a run in a lead up to the holidays, then maybe the front office will be more inclined to add a piece at the Deadline rather than subtract.

However, if the Rangers endure a house of horrors on this road trip and can’t add that elusive ingredient that is consistency to their game, then it is more likely that Kreider and maybe the likes of Alexandar Georgiev and Tony DeAngelo will be more expendable come Feb. 24.

These are all ifs and buts at the moment and there is a hell of a lot of hockey still to be played, but there is no doubt that how the New York Rangers do their business on the ice this week will tell us a lot about what to expect during the second-half of the year.

Let’s hope we are all going through a bout of California Dreamin’ come this time next week.