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.