A few more wins to close the season would do the Rangers wonders

Anthony Scultore Updated: Apr 6, 2017

Starting tomorrow the Rangers will play their final 3 games of the regular season and 2-3 more wins could give them a nice little lift heading into the playoffs against Montreal.

How Cup Teams Have Fared Down the Stretch

Teams that play well down the stretch (from March 1st to the end of the season or about 20 games), usually do well in the playoffs. We all know that being hot at the right time matters, just ask last year’s champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This also holds for every Cup winner in the last 5 years and even the finalists. All but Boston in 2012-13 made it the Finals being at least 4 games over .500 down the stretch. Last year, the Penguins were 11 over. Let’s take a look at the records in the chart below, along with how the Rangers have done.

A Few More Wins Would Help

The Blueshirts are 7-5-4 since the calendar flipped to March. Winning the final 3 games of the regular season would give them a healthy 10-5-4 record heading into the playoffs. Should the Rangers lose even two of those contests than their record will eerily reflect last year’s where they were bounced in the first round.

Putting aside the lockout shortened season, when the Rangers do well heading into the playoffs, they seem to be able to carry that momentum deep into the playoffs. So it would behoove the Rangers to focus on getting their game going before the post season begins.