The New York Rangers are still not in action this Friday, as they continue to rest after besting the Minnesota Wild in overtime. However, they will still watch the rest of the league for help elsewhere as the Rangers look to pull away from the chasing pack in the Eastern Conference. Two teams following the Blueshirts will play tonight, and they will both face teams capable of defeating them as they look to remain in the wild-card conversation.
We start with the Detroit Red Wings, which sit four points behind the New York Rangers with a game in hand. The Rangers need their Original Six rival to fall to the Carolina Hurricanes, who have recently punched their ticket to the playoffs. If the Hurricanes defeat the Wings, the gap between the Rangers and Wings will be large enough at this point in the season that we could accept the Wings are out of the conversation.
Across the concrete jungle from Madison Square Garden, the New York Islanders will host the Wild, which the Rangers just defeated. Before entering play, the Islanders were a perfect point per game in the season, 74 points from 74 games. They are five points behind the Rangers with this game to play. A regulation defeat to the Wild would knock the Islanders out of contention, allowing the Rangers to focus on those above rather than below.
It's a relatively slim night of action in the NHL tonight, so we will see if the Rangers can get a few bounces. However, the Blueshirts will be watching eagerly. A few results favoring the Blueshirts could clarify the murky race in the East. These are not critical games for the Rangers, so if they do not go the way the Blueshirts want, it is not the end of the world, but it could relieve some of the pressure on the Rangers.