The Rangers return to practice Wednesday after two days off. One member of the team will be absent, as New York gave Eric Staal permission to return home to Carolina with the team set to face the Hurricanes on Thursday. This is Eric's first chance to spend time with his wife and three children following his trade from Carolina to New York just before the trade deadline. In addition, Staal gets a few days to prepare for what should be an emotional game as he faces the team that drafted him in 2003 and where he spent the first 12+ years of his career, several of which as the Captain of the Canes.
With Staal not practicing, Oscar Lindberg, scratched the past eight games, should line up in his spot on the third line Wednesday. Despite the 3-2 overtime loss to Pittsburgh, don't expect any changes in the lineup, meaning Lindberg likely will be in the press box again. The only caveat is if AV decides to shuffle the lines, though I expect the top-two and fourth lines to remain the same. The first two trios, following a great game Saturday and subpar one Sunday, need more time to try and mesh. Despite it being crunch time with six games remaining, New York is still in good enough shape in the division and the conference that AV should allow those groupings to remain intact and see if they can recapture Saturday's effort.
The blueline could see a slight tweak. Dylan McIlrath should be ready or close to it following his recovery from a knee injury. Late last week, AV said he thought McIlrath would be ready within 5-6 days. Based on that timeframe, McIlrath could go today, or at the latest, Saturday against Buffalo. At worst, we are looking at Monday vs. Columbus or Tuesday against the Isles, but it would be good to get McIlrath back in before too long and give Dan Boyle, who has played 22 straight games and in need of a rest, a day off.
One quick word on Duncan Keith. In the immortal words of Hamilton: "you must be outta your goddamn mind." What the heck we're you thinking? Fortunately, it looks like Charlie Coyle isn't badly injured because the incident surely could have been a lot, lot worse. As noted, with a prior history, it will be interesting to see how the Department of Public Safety in the NHL, which for the most past has left a lot to be desired, handles this. Since it was called on the ice, with a major penalty and ejection the result. It should be five games at a minimum, matching his prior suspension and hopefully there is an in-person hearing. If by phone, the max will be five games, which sends a pretty bad message to the league. I have seen some say Chicago would be fine with Keith getting five games to rest him for the playoffs, which is a pretty sad commentary in and out itself. DOPS - send the right message for once.
Playoff Picture :
Starting with 10 games to go, scoreboard watching became the sport inside of the sport. As of the end of games March 29, 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.
Tuesday, the Isles and Penguins each won in a shootout while the Hurricanes lost. In addition, the Panthers, Bruins and Red Wings lost, impacting their division. The only impact of Detroit's and Carolina's loss is that the Rangers' magic number to clinch a playoff berth was reduced from five to 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. Wednesday: Direct - none. Indirect (overall standings) - Capitals-Flyers.
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 Winnipeg 3-2 on Monday. 6-2-2 their last 10, one game in hand on the Rangers, eight points behind NY. Tied with Detroit for eighth place in conference but are the Second Wild Card as they have two games in hand on the Red Wings. (played 36 games at home, 38 on road, five left at home, three on road)
NJ and Carolina are each five points back of Philly but the Flyers have two games 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. Tied with Philly but Flyers have two game in hand and are therefore in playoff spot. 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