New York Rangers: Post trade deadline playoff picture

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 21: Marc Staal #18 of the New York Rangers checks Mathew Barzal #13 of the New York Islanders in the crease during the second period as Alexandar Georgiev #40 makes the save at Madison Square Garden on January 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The trade deadline is past so no more speculation for fans of the New York Rangers. This is the team that will go the rest of the way, playoffs or no playoffs. From now on, it’s all about winning and scoreboard watching.

As far as scoreboard watching goes it was a quiet night and it certainly didn’t end well for the New York Rangers. On a day when the team is idle, they don’t control their own destiny and tonight they watched as they dropped two additional points out of a wild card spot.

The playoff picture

There was only one game in the NHL on Monday and it featured a team that the Rangers must pass in order to make he playoffs. It was a match up between the Columbus Blue Jackets, a playoff rival that didn’t make any moves at the deadline and the Ottawa Senators who saw six players including four regulars, pack their bags and depart via trade.

Despite the lack of action for Columbus, they were able to snap an eight game losing streak by coming back from a third period one goal deficit and win in overtime. Columbus won on a goal by Emil Bemstrom with only 25 second left in the overtime.

With the win, they knocked the Hurricanes out of the wild card and are in a virtual tie for the first wild card with the same number of points as the Islanders.

If the Blue Jackets sneak into the playoffs it will be because of one reason, their uncanny ability to get points while losing. Six of their last nine losses came in extra time, giving them the six points that are the difference between them and the Rangers.

The positive for the Rangers is that they have three games in hand over the Blue Jackets so the six point difference may not be as large.

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
Washington 62 38-18-6 82 29
Pittsburgh 61 37-18-6 80 26
Philadelphia 62 35-20-7 77 25
Wild Card GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Islanders 61 35-20-6 76 24
Columbus 64 31-19-14 76 23
Contenders GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Carolina 61 35-22-4 74 25
Florida 62 32-24-6 70 27
Rangers 61 33-24-4 70 29
Montreal 64 29-27-8 66 18
Buffalo 62 29-25-8 66 22
New Jersey 61 24-27-10 58 18
Ottawa 63 21-30-12 54 16
Detroit 64 15-45-4 34 12

Key games Monday

It’s a jampacked scheduled with 13 games on the slate for Tuesday.

The biggest game is the Rangers’ own showdown with the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum It will J.G. Pageau’s debut with his new team and the Rangers will be without Igor Shesterkin and both Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider could miss the game.

Make no mistake, this is a huge game for the Rangers and will be a major gut check.

There are five other games all Ranger fans should be aware of.

Stars @ Hurricanes – The new look Hurricanes will make their debut with Vincent Trocheck, Sami Vatanen and ex-Ranger Brady Skjei playing for the first time. Dallas is comfortably in third place in the Central Division and are fighting for first place. Root for the Stars.

Blue Jackets @ Wild – Fresh off their overtime win on Monday night, it’s a another rebuilding team facing the Blue Jackets. Minnesota didn’t engage in the wholesale selloff that was expected and they are still only five points out of the wild card so they have a lot to play for. Go Minnesota!

Sharks @ Flyers – San Jose is the gift that keeps giving to Metropolitan Division teams having lost to all three New York area teams on this road trip. Hopefully they will be able to reverse that trend against the Flyers, who are seven points up on the Rangers. A Flyers loss combined with a Rangers win would be a huge swing. Root for the Sharks.

Maple Leafs @ Lightning – There is an added incentive for fans to wish a loss on the Maple Leafs. As part of the Brady Skjei trade, the Rangers will get the later of the two picks owned by the Hurricanes. Carolina owns the Toronto first pick, but it is conditional. If it is a top ten pick, the selection moves to 2021. The best case scenario is that both Carolina and Toronto miss the playoffs and that will give the Rangers two shots at a lottery pick. Go Tampa!

Panthers @ Coyotes – Since it’s likely that either Toronto or Florida will finish third in the Atlantic Division, it would be better for Florida due to the draft picks scenario described above. So, from now on, it’s all Florida versus Toronto. Root for the Panthers to win on the road.

The lottery look

Since the Rangers are going to make the playoffs, we really don’t have to include the lottery standings, but we will just to keep everyone in the loop.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams GR W-L-OTL PT RW
1. Detroit 64 15-45-4 34 12
2. Los Angeles 63 22-35-6 50 16
3. Ottawa 63 21-30-12 54 16
4. Anaheim 62 24-30-8 57 17
5. San Jose 62 26-32-4 56 20
6. New Jersey 61 24-27-10 58 18
7. Chicago 62 27-27-8 62 19
8. Minnesota 61 29-25-7 65 25
9. Buffalo 62 29-25-8 66 22
10. Montreal 64 29-27-8 66 18
12. Nashville 61 30-23-8 68 24
13. Winnipeg 64 32-27-5 69 25
14. Arizona 65 31-26-8 70 24
11. Calgary 63 32-25-6 70 22
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. Vancouver 61 33-22-6 72 26
19. Edmonton 62 33-22-7 74 28
20. Carolina 61 35-22-4 74 25
21. Columbus 64 31-19-14 76 23
22. Vegas 64 34-22-8 76 26
23. Islanders 61 35-20-6 76 24
24. Dallas 61 36-20-6 77 25
25. Philadelphia 62 35-20-7 77 25
26. Colorado 61 36-18-7 79 32

Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 76 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 69 points
Playoff teams in italics.

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