This makes it one regulation win in their last eleven as the Rangers were unable to overcome the Pittsburgh Penguins as they completed their back-to-back set taking three points out of a possible four. It’s been a recent run of concerning results for the Rangers with the iconic franchise stuttering in this one and finding it difficult to get ahead of the game and dominate like we all know this roster can.
Chris Kreider was named one of the stars of the game for his performance tonight. While he was one of the few bright spots of a Rangers roster that otherwise seemed to be stagnant tonight. Perhaps it was the travel for this back-to-back, but the Penguins played the Flyers last night too. It’s not like they were all cooped up in bed. Kreider’s goal helped the Rangers take a point tonight, but it was not to be.
This leaves the Rangers in uncomfortable proximity to the wild card places. 6 points ahead of Pittsburgh, and 8 points ahead of the Islanders, admittedly having played two fewer games than the Big Apple rivals. It’s now a 10-point gap between the Devils and Hurricanes above them in the standings. It’s getting close to the Rangers being able to forget about the teams above them and just trying to survive in third in the division.
It’s going to get tougher than this moving forward for the Rangers. Washington will be the Blueshirts’ next opponent and on a National Broadcast, everything is up in the air. Games will only get tougher as we see the NHL close out the regular season and approach the playoffs. If the Rangers cannot get their act together, they may find themselves in trouble when it comes to the final weeks of the season and the Blueshirts are not yet assured of their 3rd place in the Metro.