Rangers return from break seeking answers in division, playoff races
It took the New York Rangers just five weeks to go from the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winner and an apparent lock to a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs to being on the outside looking in as they return from the annual NHL Christmas break.
The team that on Nov. 20 was 12-4-1 after its first 17 games, had the third-highest points percentage in the Eastern Conference and was contending for first place in the Metropolitan Division is tied for last place in the Metro as it prepares to resume play following the break with a visit to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. That’s what going 4-13-0 in the past 17 games after a good start will do. The Rangers (16-17-1) and New York Islanders (13-15-7) each have 33 points; the Isles are last because they’ve played one more game.
What’s most distressing is how the Rangers arrived at this point.
Five of the 13 losses have been by three or more goals, including a 5-0 humiliation by the New Jersey Devils in Newark on Monday. That game and a 5-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 14 were complete embarrassments. In a different way, so were recent 2-1 and 2-0 losses to the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators, respectively – each of those two opponents was last in the NHL standings before defeating the Rangers.
On far too many nights, the Rangers get up and go has gotten up and left — if it ever even came to the arena. The fans often seem to care more than the players they came to cheer.
Center Vincent Trocheck, one of the few Rangers who’s shown any spark in the past couple of weeks, wasn’t happy (to put it mildly) after the skunking by the Devils and let his teammates know it.
“Every game it feels like it has to happen that night,” he said. “Just seems like we get down early or we get down at any point in the game and we just fold. That can’t happen.
“We’ve got to show more heart. We should be embarrassed.”
Coach Peter Laviolette’s response was equally damning.
“I agree with that,” he said. “The purpose in which we play the game has got to be better.”
But time is running out, because even more dismaying is the scenario the Rangers face when they resume their season.
The Washington Capitals, Devils and Carolina Hurricanes are comfortably ensconced in the top three spots in the Metro. The third-place Hurricanes have 43 points, 10 more than the Rangers, so earning one of the Metro’s three automatic playoff berths will be difficult, if not impossible. The Lightning (40 points) and surging Ottawa Senators (38 after a 6-1-0 spurt) own the East’s two wild cards, though the Rangers are just five points back of the Senators.
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Meanwhile, the Rangers are 12th and sinking not-so-slowly in the East. They’ve already traded their captain (defenseman Jacob Trouba) and the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft (forward Kaapo Kakko) this month for bottom-pair defensemen and lower-round 2025 draft picks. The goaltending has been solid, but it’s gotten to the point that unless Igor Shesterkin or Jonathan Quick stands on his head, the Rangers can’t win.
First-line center Mika Zibanejad has been awful at both ends of the ice and is virtually untradeable because of his contract. Linemate Chris Kreider has been so ineffective he was scratched for the game in New Jersey. Alexis Lafreniere’s fast start got him a big contract; he has one assist in his past eight games.
They’ve scored just 11 goals (one into an empty net) in their past eight games; not surprisingly, six of those games were losses. The defense, even before K’Andre Miller was injured, has been shaky, the forwards aren’t scoring or checking, the power play is 3-for-31 in December and the penalty-killers, who had been solid, have given up four goals on nine opposition power plays in the past two games.
So, do the Rangers have any chance of making the playoffs? Let’s break it down.
Metropolitan Division
The Caps, Hurricanes and Devils have basically waved goodbye to the rest of the division. Each has a points percentage of .632 or better, and the Rangers are 0-5-0 against the threesome, with a game at Washington coming up Jan. 4.
The Pittsburgh Penguins (16-15-5; 37 points) climbed into fourth by plugging a few of their defensive leaks and riding a hot streak by Sidney Crosby, who’s had two four-point games in their past three contests. Crosby is also the kind of leader the Rangers lack, someone who leaves it all on the ice and demands that his teammates do the same.
The Philadelphia Flyers (15-16-4; 34 points) and Columbus Blue Jackets (14-15-6; 34 points) are also ahead of the Rangers, though neither has shown any consistency. The Flyers have allowed 130 goals, more than anyone except the Penguins and San Jose Sharks (133). Columbus, which also struggles defensively (127 goals allowed) is dangerous at home (10-4-3) but not on the road (4-11-3).
As for the Islanders – they’re a bigger mess than the Rangers, as was evident in their 7-1 home loss on Monday to a Buffalo Sabres team that had lost 13 in a row.
Wild card
The Lightning (19-11-2; 40 points) own the first wild card. That’s likely to change once they make up the games in hand they have on everyone else; their 32 games played are the fewest in the League. Tampa Bay trails the Boston Bruins (19-13-4; 42 points) for third place in the Atlantic Division but has played four fewer games. The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs are all but assured of finishing in the top three in the Atlantic.
Ottawa (18-14-2; 38 points) had its six-game winning streak end with a 3-1 loss in Edmonton on Sunday; potentially more damaging is that No. 1 goalie Linus Ullmark left the game after one period with an upper-body injury – just when it looked like he’d finally filled Ottawa’s perennial problems in goal. The Senators also play their next five games on the road since the World Junior Championship took over Canadian Tire Centre.
None of the other three Atlantic Division teams look like they’re a threat to make the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens have perked up after Patrik Laine’s recent return from a knee injury but are headed for their fourth straight early summer. The Detroit Red Wings changed coaches Thursday after starting 13-17-4 but are staring at a ninth straight non-playoff season. They’re still better than the Sabres, whose 0-10-3 collapse before the win on Long Island has all but assured them of missing the playoffs for an NHL-record 14th consecutive season.
In conclusion
Let’s write off the top three spots in the division. It’s hard to see Washington, Carolina or New Jersey falling so badly that the Rangers could catch them.
That leaves the two wild cards. One of those will almost assuredly go to either the Bruins or Lightning – whichever one doesn’t finish in the top three in the Atlantic. Earning the other one is possible – but it won’t be easy.
No team has qualified for a wild card in the East in the past 10 full seasons with fewer than the 91 points Washington earned last season. Just to reach that number, the Rangers need 58 points in their remaining 48 games – something along the lines of 27-17-4 or 25-15-8. They would also need several other teams, most notably the Senators and Penguins, to hit the skids.
For the moment, the Rangers have to worry about themselves rather than anyone else. Veteran defenseman Ryan Lindgren said after the debacle against the Devils that things must change – immediately.
“We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror here and come back really hungry, because this is just not winning hockey we’re playing right now,” he said. “It’s miserable for us, it’s miserable for the fans. It’s time to figure it out.”
Rangers fans are hoping that time hasn’t already passed them by.
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