Update: The Rangers announced that Chris Kreider will be sidelined indefinitely following surgery on his hand today. What's unknown are exactly what the surgery was for - is it a break or a fracture - and to which part of the hand it was for - palm? Until more word on either is given, it will be impossible to determine how long he will be out. I guess the good news is that it wasn't reported as surgery to his upper body.
The Rangers channel their inner Horace Greeley and head west, young man, starting a four-game road trip on the left-ish coast with a contest against the Flames. New York is riding a five-game win streak, finally showing the ability win at home along with what has been a season-long pattern of better play away from MSG. The Rangers are 23-13-0 in their road whites and just 18-16-4 in the home blues, but the over-.500 mark at MSG is a recent occurrence. Right now, the opponent honestly matters little, since if the Rangers do play their game, the internal and now external view is that they can beat almost anyone.
Calgary will not be an easy opponent. The Flames are 5-5 in their last 10, bolstered by the recent return of Jiri Hudler. In addition, Michael Cammalleri, who seemingly has been on the trading block ever since he arrived in Calgary and was rumored to be on his way out at the deadline, didn't get traded and has played very well lately. Lastly, Marc Giordano has somewhat quietly had a very productive season, posting 43 points and a plus-11 rating on a team that is a minus-29 in goal differential.
New York is 7-3 in their last 10, mixing their wins up, as they have ranged from dramatic comebacks to contests in which they to be in complete control. As I will note below, this is no time to rest on their laurels and believe all is clinched. A playoff spot is still not locked down and obviously associated with that is playoff positioning still underdetermined. Get a lead, don't give the Flames hope they are in the game, earn the win and move on. That basically is the goal nightly now until a playoff berth and ultimately positioning is decided. Tonight's contest is a bit different as the Rangers are not facing a conference or division rival, nor is it a team they have any sort of real history with. Sunday against Edmonton has some of that history based on deals between the teams in years past along with the Glen Sather connection while the Vancouver game Tuesday needs to further hype given the clear connection there. Thursday against Colorado will be a good demarcation game for New York to see how they match up versus an upper-tier Western Conference team.
RANGERS
10 JT Miller - 21 Derek Stepan - 61 Rick Nash 36 Mats Zuccarello - 16 Derick Brassard - 26 Martin St. Louis 62 Carl Hagelin - 19 Brad Richards - 67 - Benoit Pouliot 22 Brian Boyle - 28 Dominic Moore - 15 Derek Dorsett
27 Ryan McDonagh - 5 Dan Girardi 18 Marc Staal - 6 Anton Strà¥lman 4 Raphael Diaz - 8 Kevin Klein
30 Henrik Lundqvist [33 Cam Talbot]
Likely Scratches: Dan Carcillo (may be in lineup, healthy), Ryan Haggerty (healthy), Justin Falk (healthy), Chris Kreider (broken hand), John Moore (concussion).
FLAMES: (from Colin Dambrauskas' blog)
Glencross - Stajan - Hudler Cammalleri - Backlund - Byron Agostino - Monahan - Colborne Westgarth - Bouma - McGrattan
Brodie - Giordano Russell - Butler Smid - Wotherspoon
Ramo
The Playoff Race:
Starting with 12 games to go, scoreboard watching became the sport inside of the sport. As of March 27, the Rangers sit second in the division, 41-29-4 with 86 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.
Thursday, Montreal defeated Detroit 5-4, which hurt the Red Wings playoff chances, while the Lightning defeated the Islanders 3-2 after a 13-round shootout. I know everyone is focusing on Ryan Callahan scoring two and Martin St. Louis still struggling. Unless it costs them a playoff spot or knocks them out of the postseason, to me, the comparisons mean little now because the trade is done and not reversible. Tonight, Tor plays Philly and Pittsburgh faces the Blue Jackets, so as off as this sounds, I am a Maple Leaf and Penguins fan tonight.
Division:
Philly- lost 3-1 to LA on 3/26, their second straight defeat. 6-3-1 last 10, two games in hand on the Rangers, three points behind NY, in third place. (played 36 games at home, 36 on road, five left at home, five on road)
Columbus - won 4-2 over Detroit on 3/25 , 5-4-1 in last 10, two games in hand, fourth in the division and six points behind the Rangers. First Wild Card. (played 36 games at home, 36 on road, five left at home, five on road)
Washington - lost 5-4 in a shootout to LA on 3/25, 5-4-1 last 10, one game in hand, fifth in division and six points behind NY. (played 37 games at home, 36 on road, four left at home, five on road)
New Jersey - won 3-2 over Toronto on 3/23, 5-5-0 last 10, two games in hand, 11 points behind NY. (played 35 games at home, 37 on road, six left at home, four on road) (will drop off with next loss or two)
Carolina - 3-2 win over Winnipeg on 3-22, 5-5-0 last 10, two games in hand, 15 points behind NY. (played 36 games at home, 35 on road, five left at home, six on road) (likely to drop off list with next loss)
Conference (teams within 10 either way, as Boston has a lock of Atlantic division, with second, third and wild cards up for grabs)
Montreal - second in Atlantic, won 5-4 over Detroit on 3/27, four straight wins, 7-3-0 last 10, one more game played and five points up on Rangers. (played 38 games at home, 37 on road, three left at home, four on road)
Tampa Bay - third in Atlantic, won 3-2 in a shootout over the Isles on 3/27, 6-0-4 last 10, one game in hand and three points up on Rangers. (played 35 games at home, 38 on road, six left at home, three on road)
Detroit - tied for fourth place in Atlantic, but one game in hand on Toronto. Lost 5-4 to Montreal on 3/27 and two straight, 4-5-1 last 10, one game in hand and six points behind the Rangers. Second Wild Card. (played 36 games at home, 35 on road, five left at home, six on road)
Toronto - tied for fourth place in Atlantic but actually behind Detroit due to games played, lost 5-3 to St. Louis on 3/25 and six in a row, 3-7-0 last 10, no games in hand and six points behind the Rangers. (played 37 games at home, 37 on road, four left at home, four on road)
Ottawa - sixth place in Atlantic, won 4-3 in shootout over TB, 2-6-2 last 10, two games in hand, 14 points behind the Rangers and nine behind last Wild Card spot. (played 34 games at home, 37 on road, seven left at home, four on road). (likely to drop off with another loss or two)
Summary: Two huge wins over Columbus and New Jersey, followed by a gut-check win over Phoenix and solid team effort in victory over Philly 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 is a possible make-or-break, four-game West Coast road trip from 3/28 to 4/3. Remaining games overall are five on the road and three at home in general and coming out of the last four of the season. The Rangers are going to get no help from others, so they will need to keep winning in order to make the post-season.
In order:
3/21- @ CMB - win 3-1 3/22 - @NJ - win 2-0 3/24 - Phx - win 4-3, OT 3/26 - Phi - win 3-1 3/28 - @Cgy 3/30 - @Edm 4/1 - @Van 4/3 - @Col 4/5 - Ott 4/8 - Car 4/10 - Buf 4/12 - @Mtl
To me, the big keys this road trip, besides getting wins are having a productive Martin St. Louis and reviving a power play that is 1-for-21 the past seven games. In addition, as Pat Leonard pointed out, only Derek Stepan (ENG) and Ryan McDonagh have scored on the man advantage in 35 opportunities over 12 games. The past few years, the moribund PP cost the Rangers in the year; this year, the key is to figure the current issues out before hitting the post-season to try and make it a strength and not a weakness.