Fansided

New York Rangers playoff picture: A grim day

By Steve Paulus |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 01: Michael Raffl #12 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his short-handed goal at 17:53 of the first period against Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers and is joined by Derek Grant #38 at Madison Square Garden on March 01, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 01: Michael Raffl #12 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his short-handed goal at 17:53 of the first period against Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers and is joined by Derek Grant #38 at Madison Square Garden on March 01, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Jakub Voracek #93 of the Philadelphia Flyers is hit by Ryan Lindgren #55 of the New York Rangers
Jakub Voracek #93 of the Philadelphia Flyers is hit by Ryan Lindgren #55 of the New York Rangers /

This was not the New York Rangers’  best day in the playoff race.  They lost valuable ground to one of their chief wild card rivals.

The biggest game of the day was their own and the result was a disheartening effort against the Flyers.   Philadelphia jumped out to a 5-1 lead as the New York Rangers gave up three power play goals and a shorthanded tally and despite a late rally, fell 5-3.

To make matters worse, their playoff rivals didn’t cooperate. Ranger fans can disparage the Columbus Blue Jackets and talk about their boatload of injuries, but they have been one of the best comeback stories in the NHL this season.

The playoff picture

Only two games on the docket worth paying attention to and in the big one between Columbus and Vancouver, nothing but bad news.  To make matters worse, we were teased when the Canucks took a 3-1 lead into the third period.  The Canucks still had the two goal lead nine minutes into the third period, but the Blue Jackets then scored four straight goals for the 5-3 win.

With the win, the Jackets now have 78 points with 15 games left and are four points ahead of the Rangers who have two games in hand. They have the same number of points as the Islanders in three additional games and are two points behind the Penguins.

In the other game of interest, the Panthers were shut out at home by the Calgary Flames. The Panthers had been challenging Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division, but have lost five of their last sixth and have dropped five points behind the Maple Leafs.   They are one point behind the Rangers and are contending for a wild card spot, but that also means that they are a lottery draft pick rival.

The standings

One note about the standings.  Before today we displayed the number of games played.  We are now going to show the number of games remaining in both the playoffs and lottery standings.

Atlantic Div.  GP    W-L-OTL      PTS     RW
Boston            16      41-13-12     94     36
Tampa             17      41-19-5       87      33
Toronto           16     35-23-8        78     27
Met Div.         GP      W-L-OTL     PTS    RW
Washington   17      40-19-6       86     30
Philadelphia   17      38-20-7      83     28
Pittsburgh      18      37-21-6       80     26
Wild Card       GP       W-L-OTL     PTS   RW
Islanders        18     35-21-8        78     24
Columbus      15     32-21-14      78     24
Contenders   GR      W-L-OTL      PTS   RW
Carolina          18    35-24-5        75    25
Rangers          17     35-26-4       74     30
Florida            16      33-26-7       73     28
Montreal         15     30-28-9       69     18
Buffalo            17     29-28-8       66     22
New Jersey     17     26-27-12     64    20
Ottawa            16     23-31-12     58    17
Detroit             15     15-47-5       35     12

Key games Monday

Easy answer, there are none.  The Rangers and their fans are free of any playoff concerns as there are only two games in the NHL today and neither features an Eastern Conference playoff rival.

The lottery look

While the Rangers are still in the running for a lottery pick, we’ll keep providing the updated lottery look.  The Blueshirts have the 16th worst record in the NHL, but are 14th from the bottom for entry draft purposes.   In that slot, they would have a  five percent chance of getting a top three pick.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams                  GP     W-L-OTL       PT    RW
1. Detroit             15     15-47-5       35     12  (E)
2. Los Angeles   16     25-35-6       56     18
3. Ottawa            16     23-31-12     58    17
4. San Jose          17     28-33-4        60    21
5. Anaheim         17      26-31-8       60    18
6. New Jersey     17     26-27-12     64    20
7.  Chicago          17     29-28-8       66     20
8. Buffalo            17     29-28-8       66     22
9. Montreal         67     30-28-9       69     18
10. Minnesota    17    32-26-7        70     28
11. Arizona          15   32-27-8         72     25
12. Winnipeg      15    33-28-6        72     26
13.  Nashville      18    32-24-8        72     25
14. Florida            16      33-26-7     73     28
15. Vancouver     17    34-25-6       74     26
16.  Rangers        17     35-26-4       74     30
17. Calgary           15    34-26-7       75     24
18. Carolina          18    35-24-5        75    25
19. Edmonton      17    34-23-8       76     29
20. Columbus      15    32-21-14     78     24
21. Toronto          16     35-23-8       78     27
22. Islanders        18     35-21-8       78     24
23. Vegas              15    36-23-8        80     28
24. Pittsburgh      18    37-21-6        80     26
25. Dallas              17     37-21-7       81     26
26. Philadelphia   17   38-20-7        83     28
27. Colorado         18     39-18-7       85     35

Second East Wild Card Cut Line:  76 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line:  72 points
Playoff  teams in italics.
E= Eliminated from the playoffs

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