The Rangers whittled their magic number for clinching a playoff berth down to two, but we were left wanting more following their 3-2 shootout loss to the Avalanche on Thursday. Good teams, or teams that view themselves as Cup contenders, find a way to win or close out these games, regardless of who is out injured. New York definitely missed Ryan McDonagh, but that's not an excuse. They basically stole a point, which is a positive, but two points would, could and should have been accomplished.
Game Highlights:
I liked what coach Alain Vigneault did, shortening up the length of the shifts. With a team playing their fourth straight on the road in the altitude of Colorado, this was a way to try and keep them fresh into the third period. You saw New York get a bit gassed late, but it would have been a lot worse had they stuck with the normal length of time for a shift.
The Rangers got off to a strong start, notching a John Moore goal 2:10 into the game, created by a great screen in front of Semyon Varlamov by Derick Brassard. Colorado started to carry play about midway through the first period, a pattern that continued for most of the rest of the game. There were pockets of pressure by NY, including the beautiful top-shelf shot on a 2-on-1 in transition by Derek Stepan, but not enough of it throughout the game. The most consistent attack came in the overtime, where after an invisible third, when they were outshot 16-3, failing to notch one for a 14+ minute stretch, they created solid chances on Varlamov, who was good when he needed to be.
The two goals against came due to breakdowns. The first came when the Rangers had four players trapped deep, leading to a nice breakout pass by Ryan O'Reilly, created the 2-on-1 with John Mitchell and Andre Benoit. To me, John Moore committed too early, giving Mitchell a wide-open passing angle and a great, top-shelf backhand in close from Benoit beat Lundqvist. On the second, Dan Girardi, who was one of the four that got caught in deep on the first goal, made a horrific play. The Rangers won a own-zone faceoff, which in itself was a miracle, given how bad they were on draws all night, and Girardi had a clear path to clear the puck. Either life it out of the zone or bank it hard off the glass. He did neither, as he attempted to softly hit it off the glass and get it past the d-man. I realize you don't want to ice the puck, but with 55 or so seconds left and a timeout remaining, the first and only goal should be get the puck out of the zone, then deal with the icing if it occurs. Erik Johnson, who had a great game, using his speed to create opportunities, held the puck in, Paul Stastny had a shot blocked, the Rangers failed to corral the puck and Tyson Barrie, who had the only shootout goal, beat Lundqvist to tie it.
Going 2-1-1 on the road trip is still a solid trip. We all would love for them to win every game and there was a realistic shot of that, as the losses to Calgary and Colorado could have easily been victories, but five points out of eight is acceptable. Now the Blueshirts come home for three straight before finishing the season on April 12 in Montreal.
Andrew Gross listed the playoff clinching scenarios, which are largely impacted by the Regulation and Overtime Win (ROW) category. Even if Washington loses, NY still needs a point to clinch, which could come Saturday, as the magic number is 92. Even though Toronto won last night, due to ROW, and similar applies to the Devils, the Rangers magic number over each is one. In addition, the Rangers are four points up over the Flyers, who have one win in their last six and two games in hand on NY. Columbus, who beat Philly 2-0 yesterday, are two points behind the Flyers and six behind NY with six to go, so the magic number to clinch second right nowis eight, as NY has the tiebreaker on both the Flyers and Blue Jackets. Philly maxes out at 99 points while Columbus can max out at 97 points. So if the Rangers get eight points in their last four games, either by wins or losses by Philly, they will finish second in the division.
I won't eb able to get a blog up Saturday before the game against the Senators, but I expect the lines to be the same. John Moore should be once again paired with Girardi, but Marc Staal likely will move up to play with Girardi, as he did against Colorado. Henrik Lundqvist will be between the pipes as NY looks to clinch a playoff berth.
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, 42-29-4 with 88 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, Columbus beat a reeling Philly squad 2-0, while Toronto beat Boston 4-3 in overtime to keep their playoff hopes alive. Carolina stayed on life support with a 4-1 win over Dallas and Tampa fell 4-1 to Calgary, hurting their seed in the Atlantic Division. Tonight, Washington plays NJ, Montreal faces Ottawa, the Blackhawks face the Blue Jackets and Buffalo faces Detroit. Given where the teams sits, wins by NJ, Montreal, Chicago and Buffalo would be optimal. Saturday, Philly is in Boston, Washington takes on the Islanders, Winnipeg plays Toronto, Detroit is in Montreal and Dallas faces Tampa in addition to the Rangers-Senators contest.
Division:
Philly - lost 2-0 to Columbus on 4/3. 5-3-2 last 10, two games in hand on and four points behind the Rangers in third place in division. (played 39 games at home, 37 on road, two left at home, four on road, those are @Bos, Buff, @Fla, @TB, @Pitt, Canes)
Columbus - beat Philly 2-0 on 4/3, 5-4-1 in last 10, two games in hand, fourth in the division and six points behind the Rangers. Second Wild Card. (played 38 games at home, 38 on road, three left at home, three on road, Chicago, Isles, Phoenix, @Dal, @TB, @Fla)
Washington - lost 5-0 to Dallas on /1, 4-3-3 last 10, one game in hand, fifth in division and nine points behind NY. Two points behind second wild card but Columbus has one game in hand. (played 39 games at home, 37 on road, two left at home, four on road, Dallas, @NJ, @Isles, @St.L, @Canes, Chi, TB)
New Jersey - won 6-3 over Florida on 3/31, 4-4-2 last 10, one game in hand, nine points behind NY. Three points behind second wild card but Columbus has one game in hand. (played 37 games at home, 39 on road, four left at home, two on road, Caps, @Canes, Flames, @Ott, isles, Bos) (will drop off with next loss or two)
Carolina - beat Dallas 4-1 on 4/3, 5-3-2 last 10, one game in hand, 12 points behind NY, six behind last wild card spot. (played 39 games at home, 38 on road, two left at home, three on road, NJ, @NYR, Was, @Det, @Phi) (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, lost 3-1 to Tampa on 4/1, ending a streak of five straight wins, 8-2-0 last 10, no games in hand and three points up on Rangers. (played 38 games at home, 39 on road, three left at home, two on road, @Ott, Det, @Chi, Isles, Rangers)
Tampa Bay - third in Atlantic, lost 4-1 to Calgary on 4/3, 6-3-2 last 10, one game in hand and two points up on Rangers. (played 37 games at home, 40 on road, four left at home, one on road, Dallas, Tor, Flyers, Columbus, @Caps)
Detroit - fourth place in Atlantic, beat Boston 3-2 on 4/2, their third win in a row, 6-3-1 in last 10, have played one more game than Toronto, one game in hand and four points behind the Rangers. First Wild Card. (played 39 games at home, 37 on road, two left at home, four on road, Buff, @Mont, @Buff, @Pitt, Canes, @St.L)
Toronto - fifth place in Atlantic, won 4-3 in overtime over Boston on 4/3, their second straight win, 2-8-0 last 10, same number of games and seven points behind the Rangers. One point behind Columbus for second wild card, but Blue Jackets have two games in hand (played 40 games at home, 38 on road, one left at home, three on road, Jets, @TB, @Fla, @Ott)
Ottawa - sixth place in Atlantic, lost 201 to the Islanders on 4/2, ending a three-game win streak, 4-5-1 last 10, one game in hand, 12 points behind the Rangers and five behind last Wild Card spot. (played 38 games at home, 38 on road, three left at home, three on road). (likely to drop off with another loss or two, Mtl, @NYR, @NYI, NJ, Tor, @Pit)
Kristyn Repke, digital media coordinator for the Blue Jackets, put together a breakdown of schedule strength, opponents, etc for the six teams in East battling for four playoff spots as of Monday morning: http://t.co/fnl2eutCbs
Summary: Two huge wins over Columbus and New Jersey, followed by a gut-check win over Phoenix, solid team effort in victory over Philly, bad loss to Calgary, convincing rebound win over Edmonton, solid victory over Vancouver and disappointing shootout loss to Colorado. 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. Rangers have four games left, three at home, the Senators, Hurricanes and Sabres at the Garden on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, before the Apr. 12 finale in Montreal. The Rangers are going to get no help from others, so they will need to keep winning in order to make the post-seasons.
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 - lost 4-3 3/30 - @Edm - won 5-0 4/1 - @Van - won 3-1 4/3 - @Col - lost 3-2, S/O 4/5 - Ott 4/8 - Car 4/10 - Ott 4/12 - @MTL
Also, as a reminder, I will be out starting next Thursday as need surgery to repair a hernia and then have the first two days Passover on April 15 and 16. I am still looking to see if anyone would like to write a blog while I am out. Please PM me and let me know so I can make sure we have robust and new coverage while I am out.