New York Rangers playoff picture: A lost night

It was night for the New York Rangers to make up some important ground in their hunt for a wild card spot. Instead, they couldn’t take advantage and lost to a team they had to beat.

The one common theme throughout this improbable playoff run has been the poor play of the New York Rangers’ playoff rivals.

Since February 10, the Islanders have gone 2-7-3, the Hurricanes are 4-5-2 and the Blue Jackets are 2-5-6.  The Rangers need to pass only two of these teams to make the playoffs and all three are doing their best to make it possible.

Since February 10, the Blueshirts started off with an 8-1-0 record drawing them to within two points of a wild card berth.  Now, they’ve lost four of five and luckily, have been treading water instead of falling far behind.

Ditto for Saturday.  While losing a sloppy, mistake-ridden game to the last place New Jersey Devils, they lost only minimal ground.  The Islanders gained a point and the Hurricanes took back the two points they lost on Thursday. The Blue Jackets continue to lose.

Perhaps the Rangers should have looked at the standings a little closer.  They would have realized that the Devils have gone 8-4-2 since February 10.  Right now, they are playing better than any of the teams fighting for a playoff spot.

The playoff picture

In the most important game of the day, the Hurricanes beat the Islanders in the worst possible way, by going to overtime.  Sounding like a broken record, this was the 20th time the Isles have gone to OT compared to the Rangers with ten. That’s ten additional points they gained by losing in extra time.  ’nuff said.

That game leaves the Islanders three points (79)  ahead of the Blueshirts and the Hurricanes leapfrogged over the Rangers with 77 points to the Rangers’ 76. An important factor is the Islanders have a game in hand and the Hurricanes have two.

The Blue Jackets continued their losing ways, dropping a late 4-1 decision to the Oilers.  The loss moved the Blue Jackets into the last wild card spot behind the Islanders.  They both have 79 points, but Columbus has only 13 games left.

The Panthers beat Montreal, 4-1 and are now tied with the Rangers with 76 points in the same number of games.  The Rangers own the tiebreaker.  Perhaps more important is they drew within three points of the Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division and have a game in hand.

In other games, the Flyers and Caps won again so are virtually tied for first place. The Penguins lost and are pretty much a lock for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

The standings

Atlantic Div.  GP    W-L-OTL      PTS     RW
Boston            13     43-14-12     98     37
Tampa             14      43-20-5       91    35
Toronto           13     35-25-9        79     27
Met Div.         GP      W-L-OTL     PTS    RW
Washington   14     41-20-7      89     31
Philadelphia   14    41-20-7       89     31
Pittsburgh      15    39-22-6       84     28
Wild Card       GP       W-L-OTL     PTS   RW
Islanders         15      35-23-9      79     24
Columbus        13     32-22-15    79     24
Contenders   GR      W-L-OTL      PTS   RW
Carolina          16     36-25-5        77    25
Rangers          14    36-28-4        76     30
Florida             14    34-26-8        76     29
Montreal         13     31-30-9       71     19
New Jersey     14     28-28-12     68    22
Buffalo            14     29-31-8        66     22
Ottawa            13     25-32-12     62    18
Detroit             13     16-48-5       37     13

Key games Sunday

Two incredibly important games are on the schedule for Sunday and the question will be, can the playoff contenders still continue to lose?

Hurricanes @ Penguins – This is an afternoon game so we will know early if the Hurricanes can move into a playoff spot by beating the Pens.  This one of those games in hand owned by Carolina so a loss to Pittsburgh on the road is vital.  Consider this a must win for the Penguins for the Rangers’ benefit.

Blue Jackets @ Canucks – Columbus is on a western Canada road trip so this will be a late decision. It’s a simple situation.  The Blue Jackets need to continue to lose. The Canucks are precariously perched in the wild card, tied in points with three teams.  It’s a must win for slumping Vancouver so root for the Canucks.

The lottery look

Once again, Ranger fans have cause to start looking at the lottery picture as the playoff picture looks just a bit grimmer this morning.  If the season finished today, the Rangers would have the 15th worst record in the NHL. However, they would be 14th in the lottery standings.

Nashville came through with a clutch 1-0 win over the Dallas Stars and are tied with the Rangers with 76 points.

The Kings upset the Wild, damaging their playoff hopes and leaving Minnesota two points worse than New York.

With the Panthers beating Montreal, it improved their odds in their hunt to pass Toronto (a good thing for lottery pick purposes), but kept Montreal five points worse than the Rangers.

With their loss to the Flyers, the Sabres have no way of finishing with more points than the Rangers so forget about them moving forward.

Teams                  GR     W-L-OTL       PT    RW
1. Detroit             13    16-48-5        37     13  (E)
2. Los Angeles   14     27-35-6        60     19
3. Ottawa            13     25-32-12     62    18
4. San Jose          14     29-34-5        63    22
5. Anaheim         14     28-32-8        64    19
6. Buffalo            14     29-31-8        66     22
7. New Jersey     14     28-28-12     68    22
8.  Chicago          14     31-29-8        70     22
9. Montreal         13     31-30-9       71     19
10. Arizona          13   33-28-8         74     26
11. Minnesota    14    34-27-7        74     30
12. Winnipeg      13    35-28-6        76     28
13.  Nashville      14    34-26-8        76     27
14. Florida           14    34-26-8        76     29
15. Rangers         14    36-28-4        76     30
16. Vancouver     15    35-26-6       76     27
17. Carolina        16     36-25-5        77    25
18. Calgary           15    36-26-7       79     25
19. Islanders        15     35-23-9      79     24
20. Columbus      13     32-22-15    79     24
21. Toronto          13     35-25-9       79     27
22. Edmonton      13    37-24-8       82     31
23. Vegas              13    37-24-8       82     29
24. Dallas              14     37-23-8      82     26
25. Pittsburgh      15    39-22-6       84     28
26. Colorado         15     40-19-8      88     36
27. Philadelphia   14    41-20-7       89     31
28. Washington   14     41-20-7      89     31
29. Tampa             14      43-20-5      91    35

Second East Wild Card Cut Line:  79 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line:  76 points
Playoff  teams in italics.
E= Eliminated from the playoffs

For lottery purposes, the teams you want to win the rest of the way are Arizona, Calgary, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Here are the big games for Sunday’s lottery look.

Golden Knights @ Flames – Root for Calgary.
Blues @ Blackhawks – The Hawks are six points worse than the Blueshirts, so root for them to win.
Wild @ Ducks – No issue here…go Minnesota!
Blue Jackets @ Canucks – The Rangers need the Canucks to win for the playoff push and the lottery.