New York Rangers Daily: Wild Blueshirts; Canadiens working to keep Jake Evans
With 21 games remaining in the regular season, the New York Rangers are wild. Well, sort of.
A 4-0 win over the beleaguered New York Islanders on Monday at The Garden pulled the Rangers even in points (66) with the idle Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. However, the Rangers technically remain in ninth place since they’ve played one more game than the Red Wings, who host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
The Rangers are one point up on the Ottawa Senators, who’ve played one fewer game than New York and have a slight edge in points percentage as a result.
Listen, these things are going to fluctuate over the next several weeks, just as they have the past couple months. But one thing’s clear, the Rangers are right in the thick of this race. And truth be told, you must consider them to be favorites to land a playoff berth — whether one of the two wild cards or even third place in the Metropolitan Division.
That’s right. The Rangers are not out of the top three in the division. They’re six points behind the wobbly Devils, who just lost Jack Hughes to injury. Plus the Rangers have a game in hand. Hmmm.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Rangers have won two in a row, defeating two of the League’s weaker teams, the Nashville Predators and Islanders. But they did prove to be far superior, not allowing a goal over their past six periods of play. Plus, they’ve won four of five and seven of 10.
Big tests await, though. The first-place Washington Capitals come to MSG on Wednesday. Then there’s two crucial weekend games against the Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets, the first wild card in the East. Next week begins with a road contest against the League-leading Winnipeg Jets and includes a visit to the Blue Jackets to close out a three-game road swing.
Plenty of peaks and valleys ahead in this wild playoff race.
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New York Rangers news
Here are three key Rangers takeaways from their latest shutout victory, including Artemi Panarin’s significantly improved play.
We’ve also got the winners and losers breakdown form the Rangers 4-0 win Monday, including two more bench minor penalties that land in the loser’s column for Blueshirts.
In case you missed it, here are the winners and losers from New York’s 4-0 win Sunday against the woeful Nashville Predators, including a special 800th NHL game for Jonathan Quick.
The Rangers believe they’re “trending in the right direction” after a slow start following 4 Nations break.
“Fiery” Brett Berard made quite the impression in his return to the Rangers lineup Sunday against the Predators.
Here’s a look at the Rangers week ahead, that includes two crucial weekend games against the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets.
NHL news
Hold on a second, Jake Evans may not be traded ahead of the deadline Friday. Reports are that the pending UFA forward is making progress on a new contract with the Montreal Canadiens. This one may go down to the wire Friday.
The Athletic is reporting that John Gibson may consider lowering his 10-team no-trade list in order to facilitate a trade by the Anaheim Ducks ahead of the deadline.
With much uncertainty about their salary cap situation and the health of forward Evander Kane, the Edmonton Oilers are in a somewhat of a limbo before the deadline. Captain Connor McDavid said Monday he’s hopeful that the Oilers will be able to add “reinforcements” for depth purposes.
Daily Faceoff reports that the Dallas Stars are working on an eight-year extension with forward Wyatt Johnston.
Olli Maatta signed a three-year contract to remain with the Utah Hockey Club.
The Athletic reported that the Blue Jackets are close to finalizing a contract extension with rugged forward Mathieu Olivier.
The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled veteran goalie Tristan Jarry from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and demoted the overmatched Joel Blomqvist.
The Penguins also placed defenseman P.O. Joseph on IR with an undisclosed injury.
The Washington Capitals ended a three-game losing streak with an exciting 5-4 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators, who dropped one point behind the Rangers in the East standings.
That Capitals-Senators game featured a star-studded fight between Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson.
The Canadiens won their fifth straight game, defeating the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in overtime.
Watch Mike Matheson score the OT winner for the Canadiens.
Days after being traded by the Florida Panthers in the Seth Jones deal, Spencer Knight made 41 saves in his Chicago Blackhawks debut, a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings.
Jones had a strong debut for the Panthers in their 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The San Jose Sharks ended a 0-5-3 slide with a 3-2 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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