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.