New York Rangers creeping up towards the wild card

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 22: Igor Shesterkin #31 and Jesper Fast #17 of the New York Rangers celebrate their 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden on February 22, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

It was a good night for the New York Rangers, but they didn’t get much help from their playoff rivals. They gained ground on some while keeping pace with others

The New York Rangers did what they needed to do, beating San Jose 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. The Blueshirts weren’t at their best, but they still were able to pull out a victory behind their spectacular rookie netminder, Igor Shesterkin.

It’s a good thing they won as they didn’t get much help from their playoff rivals. It was a bizarre night with upsets galore, but when the last game was over, the Rangers had gained two points on the Panthers as well as two points on the Islanders who were idle and one point on the Blue Jackets.

The playoff picture

Upsets made the Metropolitan Division race event tighter with the Sabres beating the Penguins 5-2 and the Devils upending the Capitals 3-2 despite allowing Alex Ovechkin’s 700th career goal.

Combined with the Flyers 4-2 win over the Jets, Philadelphia is now within three points of first place in the Division. Even the Rangers are close, within ten points of first place and they now lead the Metropolitan Division in regulation wins with 29.

As far as the teams vying for a wild card slot, it was a wild night. Columbus lost in a shootout to Nashville and are outside the playoff picture with 74 points. The Rangers closed within four points of the Blue Jackets.

Carolina rebounded from their Friday night loss to New York to beat Toronto on the road. In that game, the Hurricanes lost both of the goalies to injury and had to recruit the arena backup goalie to play almost two full periods. 42 year old Zamboni driver David Eyres allowed two goals, but kept the Maple Leafs off the scoreboard in the third period and the Canes won 6-3. It was probably the most embarrassing loss of a disastrous season for the Maple Leafs. The Rangers are within two points of Toronto with two games in hand. Carolina moved back into the final wild card spot, remaining four points ahead of New York.

Florida lost a late decision to Vegas 5-3 and are now tied in points with the Rangers at 70. They had a golden opportunity to overtake Toronto in the standings, but couldn’t win on the road.

The standings

Atlantic Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Boston 63 39-12-12 90 34
Tampa 62 40-17-5 85 32
Toronto 63 32-23-8 72 24
Met Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Pittsburgh 60 37-17-6 80 26
Washington 61 37-18-6 80 28
Philadelphia 62 35-20-7 77 25
Wild Card GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Islanders 60 34-20-6 74 23
Carolina 61 35-22-4 74 25
Contenders GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Columbus 63 30-19-14 74 23
Florida 62 32-24-6 70 27
Rangers 61 33-24-4 70 29
Montreal 64 29-27-8 66 18
Buffalo 61 28-25-8 64 21
New Jersey 61 24-27-10 58 18
Ottawa 62 21-30-11 53 16
Detroit 63 15-44-4 34 12

Key games Sunday

There are eight games on the schedule the day before the trade deadline. Surprisingly, only one of the games is of playoff concern for the Rangers. Only five Eastern Conference teams are in action among the 16 clubs that are playing.

Sharks @ Islanders – Ranger fans have to hope that the Sharks play as well on Long Island as they did at Madison Square Garden. The Isles broke a four game losing streak by beating the Red Wings Friday. They are still in a horrible scoring slump and are one of the teams still desperate to acquire some scoring punch at the deadline. The Rangers are only four points behind the Isles, but the Islanders have played one less game. Root for the Sharks.

Jets @ Sabres – Buffalo keeps hanging around, fresh off their upset of the Penguins. While they are six points behind the Rangers, a Sabres loss would be a good thing. Root for the Jets.

Penguins @ Capitals – The Blueshirts are trailing both of these teams by ten points, but you never know. If the Rangers make the wild card, it’s most likely that they will play the first place team from the Atlantic or Metropolitan Divisions so it is worth watching how this game turns out. As far as a first round opponent goes, pick your poison.

The lottery look

As we determined yesterday, we are not going to talk about the draft lottery standings, but will include them just in case they become relevant.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams GR W-L-OTL PT RW
1. Detroit 63 15-44-4 34 12
2. Los Angeles 62 22-34-6 50 16
3. Ottawa 62 21-30-11 53 16
4. Anaheim 61 24-30-7 56 17
5. San Jose 61 26-31-4 56 20
6. New Jersey 61 24-27-10 58 18
7. Chicago 61 27-26-8 62 19
8. Buffalo 61 28-25-8 64 21
9. Montreal 64 29-27-8 66 18
10. Minnesota 60 29-24-7 65 25
11. Calgary 62 31-25-6 68 21
12. Nashville 61 30-23-8 68 24
13. Winnipeg 63 32-26-5 69 25
14. Arizona 65 31-26-8 70 24
15. Florida 62 32-24-6 70 27
16. Rangers 61 33-24-4 70 29
17. Toronto 63 32-23-8 72 24
18. Edmonton 61 32-22-7 72 27
19. Vancouver 61 33-22-6 72 26
20. Columbus 63 30-19-14 74 23
21. Vegas 63 33-22-8 74 26
22. Carolina 61 35-22-4 74 25
23. Islanders 60 34-20-6 74 23
24. Dallas 60 35-20-6 75 24
25. Philadelphia 62 35-20-7 77 25
26. Colorado 61 36-18-7 79 32

Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 74 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 69 points
Playoff teams in italics.

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