New York Rangers playoff picture gets a lot worse

The New York Rangers playoff situation has gotten much worse and Sunday the results were all bad. It may be time to start paying attention to the draft lottery.

The Carolina Hurricanes have picked a fine time to start winning games and if they keep it up, the New York Rangers’ playoff hopes are in big trouble. Out of the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Islanders and Hurricanes, two teams will make the post season.  Until now, all four have been stumbling along, but that might be changing and not for the Blueshirts.

According to Hockeyreference.com’s Playoff Probability Report  now has the Rangers with a 23.9% shot at making the playoffs.  Saturday, it was 33.7%.   A ten percent drop is what happens when the Rangers lose, the Hurricanes win twice, the Blue Jackets win and the Islanders get an overtime point.

The playoff picture

The biggest game of the day was between the Hurricanes and the Penguins in Pittsburgh and the hope was for a predictable home win for the Pens.  The unpredictable happened and the Canes blew out the slumping Penguins who have now lost eight of their last ten.

Pittsburgh had a 2-1 lead after on period and Carolina scored five straight goals for the 6-2 win.  The victory gives the Hurricanes 79 points and knocks the Islanders out of the wild card due to regulation wins tiebreaker.

You have to hand it to the Columbus Blue Jackets.  They keep winning despite a series of devastating injuries.  The latest victory was clutch 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. It gives the Jackets 81 points, a five point spread over the Rangers.  At this point, Columbus can start thinking about catching Pittsburgh, now only three points ahead of them in third place.

The Rangers do have two games in  hand on Columbus, the only good thing to report about the standings.

The standings

Atlantic Div.  GP    W-L-OTL      PTS     RW
Boston            13     43-14-12     98     37
Tampa             13      43-20-6      92    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      14    39-23-6       84     28
Wild Card       GP       W-L-OTL     PTS   RW
Columbus      12     33-22-15      81     25
Carolina          15     37-25-5        79    26
Contenders   GR      W-L-OTL      PTS   RW
Islanders         15      35-23-9      79     24
Rangers          14    36-28-4        76     30
Florida             14    34-26-8        76     29
Montreal         12     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             12    17-48-5        39     13

Key games Monday

There is a respite from scoreboard watching on Monday with only one game of moderate interest.  It’s a night for the Western Conference playoff wannabes with the action picking up for real on Tuesday.

Panthers @ Blues –  This is a tough one. The Panthers are tied with the Rangers with 76 points and are threatening to get into the wild card race. At the same time, a win will get them within one point of the Maple Leafs and if the Maple Leafs miss the playoffs, their draft pick becomes a lottery pick and the Blueshirts have a shot of getting that pick as a result of the Brady Skjei deal. So, if the Panthers can knock the Leafs out, great.  If they overtake the Rangers in the wild card race, not so great.  Flip a coin.

The lottery look

As bad as the results were for the Rangers when it came to their playoff rivals, it was just as bad or worse when it came to lottery positioning.

Calgary, Chicago and Vancouver all lost, not helpful to the Rangers in their lottery hopes.  Minnesota did win, but it took overtime.  The win pushed them ahead of the Rangers in the points race, but they are in the playoffs as a result and thus, it doesn’t really matter.

The Rangers remain in 14th place in the lottery sweepstakes, though they have the same number of points as Winnipeg, Nashville and Florida.  If the Blueshirts’ woes continue, it’s possible the Rangers could slip to eight or ninth in the lottery race.

Teams                  GR     W-L-OTL       PT    RW
1. Detroit             12    17-48-5        39     13  (E)
2. Los Angeles   14     27-35-6        60     19
3. Ottawa            13     25-32-12     62    18
4. San Jose          13     29-35-5        63    22
5. Anaheim         13     28-32-9        65    19
6. Buffalo            14     29-31-8        66     22
7. New Jersey     14     28-28-12     68    22
8.  Chicago          13     31-30-8        70     22
9. Montreal         12     31-30-9       71     19
10. Arizona          13   33-28-8         74     26
11. Winnipeg      13    35-28-6        76     28
12.  Nashville      14    34-26-8        76     27
13. Florida           14    34-26-8        76     29
14. Rangers         14    36-28-4        76     30
15. Vancouver     14    35-27-6       76     27
16. Minnesota    13    35-27-7        77     30
17. Islanders        15     35-23-9      79     24
18. Carolina          15     37-25-5      79    26
19. Calgary           12    36-27-7       79     25
20. Columbus      12     33-22-15    81     25
21. Toronto          13     35-25-9       79     27
22. Edmonton      13    37-24-8       82     31
23. Vegas              12    38-24-8       84     30
24. Dallas              14     37-23-8      82     26
25. Pittsburgh      14    39-23-6       84     28
26. Philadelphia   14    41-20-7       89     31
27. Washington   14     41-20-7      89     31
28. Colorado         164    41-19-8      90     37
29. Tampa             13      43-20-6      92    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

Here are the key lottery match-ups for Monday.

Coyotes @ Jets – The Coyotes have two fewer points than the Rangers while the Jets have the same number. For this game, root for the Yotes to win in overtime.

Golden Knights @ Oilers –  Vegas is eight points up on the  and Edmonton is six up and both teams are in the playoffs so the result of this game doesn’t really matter, but they could slip into lottery contention.  The Oilers are closer to the Rangers and could possibly drop out of the playoffs so root for Vegas.