Six games remaining and the Rangers control their destiny. It begins Thursday in Carolina against the Hurricanes. By Sunday night April 10, we all will know where New York stands. By the end of tonight's game, the Rangers may have clinched a playoff berth, leaving seeding and matchup as the two questions.
The Rangers are one point ahead of Pittsburgh and lead in ROW 40-39. They have a four point edge over the Isles, who have one game in hand and face the Rangers on April 7. If the Rangers go 5-0-1, Pittsburgh could tie them by going 6-0 but the majority if not all of those wins would have to come in regulation or overtime to pass the Rangers for second place in the Metro. Obviously, where New York wins their games matter as well, but the one game edge in ROW gives the Rangers a slight advantage as of now.
A win tonight in regulation or overtime, even though the magic number is three, clinches a playoff berth. That's because Detroit and Boston face each other April 7 and since one has to lose, neither one can reach 41 ROW. A ROW from the Rangers against Carolina gives the team 41 and locks up a berth, leaving the remaining five games to determine seeding and works out any links. New York clinched a playoff berth in 2013 in Carolina on a Ryan Callahan goal. How amazingly of a story line would it be if Eric Staal gets the game-winner in regulation or overtime tonight?
The lines tonight should be the same as the past two games. Oscar Lindberg will likely be scratched again though I do expect him to play in the next few games, possibly as early as Saturday against Buffalo. Look for Staal and Hayes to swap spots, as the did Sunday, when the third line was the team's best trio.
Kreider-Brass-Nash Miller-Stepan-Zucc Hayes-EStaal-Fast Glass-Moore-Stalberg
Defensively, the duos should be the same as we have seen recently. Dylan McIlrath is just about ready and may be fully ready to retrain from his knee injury, but will likely be scratched again. Tomorrow will be 24 days and tonight is 10 games since the injury, meaning he could have been placed on LTIR, allowing NY to call up Brady Skjei or Raphael Diaz. I know I have been a broken record here but the team's management or lack thereof when it comes to using LTIR is staggering. Dan Boyle has played 22 straight games and can use a rest, which would have been accomplished by placing McIlrath on LTIR and calling up Skjei or Diaz. Staal or Girardi could swap lines.
McDonagh-Klein Yandle-Staal Boyle-Girardi
In goal will be Henrik Lundqvist. With six games left, Hank is expected to play five of the six, sitting one of the back-to-backs versus Columbus or Tampa for Antti Raanta. If New York locks up the two-seed before the final game, it's possible Lundqvist gets that contest off for Raanta, but that won't be determined for at least another week.
Playoff Picture :
Starting with 10 games to go, scoreboard watching became the sport inside of the sport. As of the end of games March 30, the Rangers, who have six games left after their overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday, sit second in the division, 43-24-9 with 95 points. When I do a recap or game preview blog, I will include this at the bottom of the blog. However, on non-game/recap days, I will run this daily since this is a huge topic of conversation and a large component of our focus.
Wednesday, the Flyers got a late goal in the third to tie the game and then beat Washington in the shootout. The game had no direct impact on the Rangers, as their magic number to clinch a playoff berth remains at three. In addition, each team's remaining games could have an impact on standings placement down the road when in the post-season, depending on who wins first and second round matchups. Thursday: Direct - Isles-Blue Jackets and Predators-Penguins. Indirect (overall standings) - Devils-Panthers and Canadiens-Lightning.
Division:
Washington locked up the division and top seed in the conference with their win over Ottawa on March 22.
Pittsburgh- rallies from 3-0 down, goes up 4-3 in second, Buff ties in third but Pitt win 5-4 in S/O on Tuesday. 9-1-0 in last 10, second in the division, one point behind the Rangers and trail 40-39 in ROW. (played 39 games at home, 37 on road, two left at home, four on road)
NYI- rally from 1-0 down, win 2-1 in shootout over the Hurricanes on Tuesday. 4-5-1 in last 10, but have won two in a row, one game in hand and four points behind the Rangers, in fourth place in Metro. First Wild Card. (played 36 games at home, 39 on road, five left at home, two on road)
Philly- defeated Washington 2-1 in a shootout Wednesday. 6-2-2 their last 10, no games in hand on the Rangers, six points behind NY. Ahead of with Detroit by two points for eighth place in conference and are the Second Wild Card while also having one game in hand on the Red Wings. (played 38 games at home, 38 on road, three left at home, three on road)
NJ and Carolina are each seven points back of Philly but the Flyers have one game in hand as the Devils and Canes both have played 77 games. NJ is 6-3-1 and Car 3-2-5 in their last 10 games. In addition, Carolina trails Boston by seven points and has five games left, so they will have a difficulty beating the Bruins out. Since they are mathematically still alive and playing to stay in the race, Thursday's game against the Rangers still means something to the team. Plus, with Staal coming home, emotions will be high.
Conference (teams with a reasonable shot at the playoffs. Right now, three team race for division with Detroit looming).
Tampa Bay has 93 points with six games left. They are 5-4-1 in their last 10, having played 39 games at home and 37 on the road. Two games left at home and four on the road.
Florida has 93 points with six games left after losing 5-2 to Toronto on Tuesday. That loss means that the Panthers fell out of first in Atlantic, as the Panthers and Lightning have each played 76 games but Tampa is up 41-35 in ROW. Florida 6-4-0 in last 10, having played 38 games at home and 38 on the road. Three games left at home and three on the road.
Boston loses 2-1 to NJ on Tuesday and are now 3-6-1 in last 10. They trail TB and Fla by five points and each of those teams have a game in hand on the Bruins. Detroit is one point behind Boston with each team playing 77 games. The Bruins have played 38 games at home and 39 on the road. Three games left at home and two on the road.
Detroit - lost 4-3 to Montreal on Tuesday. 5-5-0 in last 10. Four points behind Isles, who have two games in hand. The Flyers win put them two points ahead of Philly and they also have one game in hand. Three points behind Boston but with a game in hand. (played 39 games at home, 38 on road, two left at home, three on road)
Summary: After a disappointing road trip, a solid win at home against the Panthers followed by one over Boston, a victory in Montreal and overtime loss to Pittsburgh. There is still work to be done, as the team needs to stop playing a shell and laying back on their heels in the third period. The Rangers the past several seasons have been excellent down the stretch, to lock in a spot, they may need to do the same thus year. Upcoming schedule is no cake walk. Remaining games overall are four at home and two on the road. The Rangers are going to get no help from others, so they will need to keep winning in order to make the post-season and maintain a top-three seed in division.
In order:
3/21- Fla - win 4-2 3/23 - Bos - win 5-2 3/26 - @Mtl - win 5-2 3/27 - Pit - lost 3-2 in overtime 3/31 - @Car 4/2 - Buf 4/4 - @CBJ 4/5 - TB 4/7 - NYI 4/9 - Det