New York Rangers playoff picture gets much better after a big night for Zibanejad

The New York Rangers really needed to beat the Washington Capitals and Mika Zibanejad made sure they they did.  It was a big night for the Rangers’ star, but even bigger for the team in the race for the playoffs.

Despite losing three games in a row, the Rangers hardly lost any ground in their drive to make the playoffs.  Their chief competitors keep having bad nights and last night they kept the trend going, but it was this night that the Rangers won.   As a result, the Rangers are only two points out of the wild card and poised to get even closer with a matchup with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

In an interesting note, if you are a fan of parity, there are no less than six teams with exactly 74 points in the NHL tonight.  There are 12 teams between 74 and 79 points.

The playoff picture

The Carolina Hurricanes had the bad timing to play the hottest team in the NHL and the Philadelphia Flyers thoroughly dismantled them 4-1.  The Flyers never trailed and lived up to their record as one of the best teams at home this season.

To make matters worse, the Canes learned that Brett Pesce will be out for months and Sami Vatanen, who hasn’t played since being acquired from the Devils at the deadline, suffered another setback and is out indefinitely.

With the loss, the Rangers vaulted over the Hurricanes, though the Canes have two games in hand.

In the other big game for scoreboard watching, the Islanders continue to slump, losing a road game in Ottawa 4-3.   After taking a 2-1 lead, they allowed three straight goals by the Senators and despite scoring with two minutes left, they were unable to catch them.

It leaves the Islanders with 78 points, still perched in the last wild card spot, but only two points better than the Rangers. The new tiebreaker, regulation wins, is beginning to loom large.  The Blueshirts have 30 on the season, considerably more than all of the teams they are battling for a playoff spot.

For the standings, the hope was that the Bruins would beat the Panthers who came into the evening one point behind the Rangers.  They were able to get to  overtime before losing to Boston, 2-1.  It’s not the worst thing in the world as the Rangers would love for Florida to pass Toronto and knock them out of the playoffs since they may end up owning Toronto’s first round draft pick.  Florida is five points behind the Maple Leafs with 15 games left to play.  The Leafs salvaged a point in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Kings.

The standings

Atlantic Div.  GP    W-L-OTL      PTS     RW
Boston            16     43-13-12     98     37
Tampa             15      42-20-5       89    34
Toronto           14     35-24-9        79     27
Met Div.         GP      W-L-OTL     PTS    RW
Washington   15      40-20-7       87     30
Philadelphia   15    40-20-7        87     30
Pittsburgh      16    39-21-6        84     28
Wild Card       GP       W-L-OTL     PTS   RW
Columbus       14     32-21-15     79     24
Islanders        16      35-23-8       78     24
Contenders   GR      W-L-OTL      PTS   RW
Rangers         15     65-27-4        76     30
Carolina          17    35-25-5        75    25
Florida            15    33-26-8        74     28
Montreal         14     31-29-9      71     19
Buffalo            15     29-30-8       66     22
New Jersey     16     26-28-12     64    20
Ottawa            14     24-32-12     60    18
Detroit             14     15-48-5       35     12

Key games Friday

After a night chock full of meaningful games, along comes a night when none of the Rangers rivals are in action.  The closest are the Toronto Maple Leafs who are in third place in the Atlantic Division and will be in Anaheim facing the Ducks.

The lottery look

As far as the lottery goes, after a night like tonight in the roller coaster known as the Rangers’ season, there’s no need to even think about the lottery and the Blueshirts, but just in case, here is what happened.

There were three teams to root for in the lottery race and none of them won.  The Sabres lost to the Penguins, the Lightning beat Montreal and as mentioned above, the Panthers lost in overtime to the Bruins.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams                  GR     W-L-OTL       PT    RW
1. Detroit             14    15-48-5        35     12  (E)
2. Los Angeles   15     26-35-6        58     18
3. Ottawa            14     24-32-12     60    18
4. Anaheim         15     27-32-8        62    18
5. San Jose          15     29-34-4        62    22
6. New Jersey     16     26-28-12     64    20
7. Buffalo            15     29-30-8        66     22
8.  Chicago          15     31-28-8        70     22
9. Montreal         14     31-29-9       71     19
10. Arizona          14   33-27-8         74     26
11. Winnipeg      14    34-28-6        74     27
12.  Nashville      15    33-26-8        74     26
13. Florida           15    33-26-8        74     28
14. Minnesota    15    34-26-7        74     30
15. Vancouver     16    34-26-6       74     26
16. Carolina          17    35-25-5       75    25
17. Rangers        15    65-27-4        76     30
18. Calgary           14    35-26-7       77     24
19. Islanders        16     35-23-8      78     24
20. Columbus      14     32-21-15    79     24
21. Toronto          14     35-24-9       79     27
22. Edmonton      14    36-24-8       80     30
23. Vegas              14    37-23-8       82     29
24. Dallas              15     37-22-8      82     26
25. Pittsburgh      16    39-21-6       84     28
26. Philadelphia   15    40-20-7       87     30
27. Washington   15     40-20-7      87     30
28. Colorado         16     40-18-8      88     36
29. Tampa             15      42-20-5      89    34

Second East Wild Card Cut Line:  78 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line:  74 points
Playoff  teams in italics.
E= Eliminated from the playoffs

Here is who to root for in Friday’s games for lottery purposes.

Blues @ Devils – New Jersey is probably out of reach, but they’ve been better lately.  Root for the Devils.
Blackhawks @ Red Wings – Detroit will definitely finish last overall, but the Blackhawks could catch the Rangers so root for the Hawks to win big.
Golden Knights @ Jets – Winnipeg will be neck and neck with the Rangers the rest of the season.  Go Jets!
Coyotes @ Flames – Flip a coin on this one…at the least hope for overtime.
Avalanche @ Canucks – Root for Vancouver to beat the Avs who are in a fight for first place.
Maple Leafs @ Ducks – The Rangers could still get the Toronto first rounder, so root for the Ducks to win.