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Why being in the East Division is actually better for the Rangers

By Steve Paulus

The New York Rangers celebrate their 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Credit: POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Rangers celebrate their 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins Credit: POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Rangers celebrate a second period goal by Chris Kreider. Credit: POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Rangers celebrate a second period goal by Chris Kreider. Credit: POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports /

Why the East is different

It is useless to look at league-wide points totals when comparing teams this season.  There’s no way of knowing how a team like Washington would be doing if they were in the Central Division and got to play Detroit eight times this season.

Same thing goes for the Rangers.  Every game for every team in the East is between competitive teams and although there have been some blowouts, for the most part, the games have been tight.

One indication of how tight the competition is, is the number of games that have gone to overtime.  Here’s how the four divisions rank when it comes to overtime games through Friday night:

  1. East Division: 30%  (21 of 7 games)
  2. Central Division: 26% (20 of 77 games)
  3. West Division:  22%  (16 of 73 games)
  4. North Division:  16% (12 of 74 games)

That’s right, almost one third of the games in the East have gone to overtime, almost double the number in the West and almost three times the number in the North.

Where are they now?

Here are the standings in the East:

  1. Boston           18   11-5-2     24 points
  2. Washington  19   10-5-4     24 points
  3. Islanders        19   10-6-3    23 points
  4. Philadelphia  16     9-4-3     21 points
  5. Pittsburgh     18   10-7-1     21 points
  6. Rangers          18    7-8-3     17 points
  7. New Jersey     15    7-6-2     16 points
  8. Buffalo            17    6-8-3     15 points

With the win over the Boston Bruins Friday night, the Rangers pulled within four points of the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins who are tied for the fourth and last playoff spot with 21 points.  That is despite all of the Rangers’ offensive woes  that have resulted in their losing eight of 12 one goal games.   True to the East Division, they did take three of those losses to overtime so they gained a point.

What does it mean?

What this means is that any of the eight teams in the East are just a winning streak away from getting into a playoff position.  If the Rangers can beat Boston on Sunday and follow that with wins in their next three games (Buffalo and New Jersey), they could find themselves in the top four in the East.

It’s an opportunity for the Blueshirts as they play a slumping Boston team and the two teams below them in the standings.    While that is happening, the Bruins will be playing the Capitals while the Flyers and Penguins beat each other’s brains out.

Think about it. Just 12 days ago the Rangers were reeling from their fourth straight loss after a 6-2 spanking by the Devils. The Blueshirts were six points out of a playoff spot and fading fast, with a vocal fan base calling for David Quinn’s scalp.

Now, we are reveling in three wins out of four, a rematch Sunday against the team the Rangers just dismantled and then three in a row against the “worst” teams in the East.

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