New York Rangers Daily: Navigating mediocre East race; Top goalie off free agent market
There’s no arguing the New York Rangers played a solid game, earning a 3-2 overtime victory against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center. But stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, this “race” for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference feels like one dominated by mediocrity.
Certainly that label fits the Rangers (32-28-6), who haven’t won three games in a row in four months (Nov. 14-19), just ended a four-game skid (0-2-2) and had a woeful 4-15-0 stretch earlier in the season.
But they’re not the only ones.
How about the Columbus Blue Jackets? They were shut out at home by the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0 Thursday, their second straight loss after walloping the Rangers 7-3 at MSG this past Sunday. They’ve lost four of five, and now are tied with the Rangers in points for the second wild card. They had a chance to pull away a bit after that win Sunday, but proved incapable.
Then there are the Detroit Red Wings. They just lost six games in a row, though finally won a game the other night. The Red Wings are two points behind the Rangers and Blue Jackets. But imagine if they’d just been a mediocre 3-3-0 instead of 0-6-0 recently? They’d possibly be in the first wild card if one of those three wins was against the Ottawa Senators, and they might have a bigger cushion on the Blue Jackets if they won one or two of the games they recently lost to Columbus.
Then there are the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, teams with different expectations coming into this season, but similar wildly inconsistent play.
Right now, the only team that’s trying to pull away and make a run are the Senators. They’ve won five in a row, including regulation victories against the Rangers, Bruins and Red Wings. That’s how you get it done and earn a playoff spot.
Consider the Rangers fortunate to be in this lot of mediocrity, it’s saved their season and given them a chance down the stretch to extend their playoff streak to four seasons.
Seeing how the competition measures up, it should give the Rangers confidence that they can get this done over the final 16 games.
Subscribe to the RINK RAP podcast on the Forever Blueshirts YouTube page
New York Rangers news
Here are our three Rangers takeaways from the thrilling overtime win in Minnesota, including the Hometown Boys did quite well in front of family and friends.
Braden Schneider leads our list of winners and losers from the Rangers big road win.
Here are the latest Rangers injury updates on Adam Fox and Arthur Kaliyev.
Dane Walsh’s pregame story about the Rangers need to improve their even-strength play must’ve been taken to heart. The Rangers outscored the Wild 3-0 at even strength Thursday.
A fun read about how Henrik Lundqvist was chirped by former Rangers teammate Ryan Strome on a TNT broadcast Wednesday.
An update on former Rangers forward Jack Roslovic, who landed a Rolex from Mikko Rantanen and recently scored his 20th goal of the season and 100th of his NHL career.
NHL news and rumors
Pierre LeBrun had some intriguing nuggets in his latest column for The Athletic, including a possible shift to an 84-game NHL schedule beginning in 2026-27, a possibility the League could start its season in late September and whether or not the 2026 NHL All-Star Game at UBS Arena could be canceled since there’s already a long break into the schedule for the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.
Lebrun also reported that the Islanders are closing in on a contract extension for pending UFA forward Kyle Palmieri.
Less than 24 hours after shutting out the Columbus Blue Jackets, Adin Hill signed a six-year, $37.5 million contract to remain with the Vegas Golden Knights. The goalie could’ve been an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
By the way, Jack Eichel picked up an assist in that game, his 79th point establishing a new Vegas franchise record for most points in season.
Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary was suspended two games by the NHL for elbowing Vancouver Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson (the other one) in the head.
A mixed bag for the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of their game Friday against the Detroit Red Wings. Forward Andrei Svechnikov is not expected to play because of an undisclosed injury. But defenseman Dmitry Orlov is trending to return after he missed three games with an upper-body injury.
What’s happened to Tristan Jarry? Since he was recalled from the minors, Jarry’s won three straight starts, including making 33 saves in a 5-3 win against the St. Louis Blues.
Sam Bennett scored two power-play goals and the Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2.
Sergei Bobrovsky of the Panthers picked up career win No. 424, moving past NHL goalie legend Tony Esposito for 10th place on the League’s all-time wins list.
Beleaguered defenseman Simon Nemec scored the game-winner as the New Jersey Devils rallied for a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
The Ottawa Senators strengthened their hold on the first wild card in the Eastern Conference, doubling up the Boston Bruins 6-3 for their fifth straight win.
Quinton Byfield scored for the fifth straight game and Darcy Kuemper shut out his former team when the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Washington Capitals 3-0.
Watch this save of the year candidate from Senators goalie Linus Ullmark.
More About:New York Rangers News