The January schedule, here come the Islanders!

January will be a make or break month for the New York Rangers.  They play only ten games, but by the end of the month, they will have to know if  they will be sellers at the trade deadline.

The New York Rangers play only ten games in January, the fewest games  of any full month of the season.   The reason is the mandated bye week and the All-Star Game in St. Louis on January 25.  The NHL has finally gotten the bye week concept right with all teams getting the week off before or after the All-Star Game so all bye weeks are between January 18 and 31.

The Rangers’ bye week follows the All-Star Game so they will not play a game between a January 21st match versus the Islanders and a home game against Detroit on the 31st.

That means nine games in the first 21 days of January and three of them will be against the arch-rival New York Islanders.

SIx of the ten games will be at Madison Square Garden and after the team starts the month with two games on a Western Canada road trip that kicks off 2020, six of eight will be at home.   Five of the games will be against Metropolitan Division rivals with one game against an Atlantic Division team.

As mentioned the Rangers play three of their four games against the Islanders in a span of nine days.  Their final meeting will be in late February.  Two games at the Garden sandwich a visit to the Nassau Coliseum.

Who they play

It’s a tough schedule with only three of the ten games against teams that are not likely to be in the playoff picture.   Kaapo Kakko has a rematch with Jack Hughes on January 9 at Madison Square Garden as the Devils come to town. Later in the month, the Blueshirts also take on the Blue Jackets and they close out the month with  a game against the worst team in the league, the Red Wings.

The four games against Western Division teams are all against playoff contenders. Games to note include the January 4 match against J.T. Miller and the Vancouver Canucks and the Rangers visit to the Stanley Cup Champions in St. Louis on January 11.   They also play Calgary and Colorado, teams that are legitimate Cup contenders.

But no matter what, the marquee match-ups will be the three games against the Islanders. The Isles could play a big part in torpedoing the Rangers postseason hopes.  However, if the Blueshirts can put on a good showing, they could improve their playoff position.  As of the end of the 2019, 11 points separate the two teams.

January hasn’t been kind to the Rangers.  The last time they finished the month with a winning record was 2015-16.   Last season they began 2019 with five straight losses and ended up winning five of 12 games in January.

As light a schedule the Rangers have in January, they’ll pay the price in February when they play 15 games in 28 days.

The trade deadline is 3pm on Monday, February 24.