New York Rangers shocking slump has dropped them back into pack of wild-card contenders
The New York Rangers’ 2-8-0 nosedive has dropped them from challenging for first place in the Metropolitan Division to battling for a wild card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, where nine teams are bunched within five points for the final spot.
The Rangers (14-12-1, 29 points) head to Buffalo for their game against the Sabres on Wednesday on the outside looking in at the playoffs for the first time this season. They begin the night one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers (13-12-4, 30 points), who own the second wild card after they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Tuesday — although New York does have two games in hand. The Tampa Bay Lightning (14-10-2, 30 points) own the first wild card, having played three fewer games than the Flyers (and fewer than any team in the East).
But the Rangers don’t have to look far to see a whole crowd of teams breathing down their neck in the wild-card race.
The list begins with the New York Islanders, who also have 29 points but have played three more games. The Pittsburgh Penguins have 28 points, Columbus is next at 27, the Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators each have 26 and the Montreal Canadiens bring up the rear with 25. The Islanders (3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings) and Penguins (6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche) each lost at home on Tuesday. Ottawa hosts Anaheim (and former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba) in the only other NHL game Wednesday.
Luckily for the Rangers, none of the teams battling for the last playoff spot has won more than half of its past 10 games.
By comparison, in the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks, who are tied for last place, are 13 points behind the Vancouver Canucks, who own the second wild card – so the way the Rangers have struggled, they should be glad they’re not in the West.
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Their struggles are a surprise. New York won the Presidents’ Trophy last season by going 55-23-4, then started the new season by going 5-0-1 in its first six games. The Rangers were 12-4-1 after winning the first two games of a four-game Western trip in mid-November and looked to all the world like they would be in a season-long battle with the Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils for the top spot in the division.
Instead, beginning with a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Nov. 21, a game that saw them outshot 49-29, the Rangers have been the worst team in the NHL. Their 5-on-5 play has been abysmal and their special teams have been nothing special. Their big guns largely haven’t been firing and the defense has been shoddy. Goaltenders Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick have been excellent or things would be even worse.
The Rangers shook things up Friday by trading Trouba, their captain, to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, a few hours before defeating the Penguins 4-2 in their most solid game in three weeks. Things looked good when they grabbed a 3-1 lead against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday afternoon, only to see the visitors score five straight goals on the way to a 7-5 win.
But if that game was bad, Monday night’s desultory effort in a 2-1 home loss to the Chicago Blackhawks was far worse. Chicago began the night last in the overall standings, but the Hawks outworked, outhustled and outplayed the Rangers all night long to end a five-game losing streak.
“I believe the second and third period, the effort dipped from where it was in the first period and the execution was worse,” coach Peter Laviolette said after the latest loss. “The execution was off all night. Could be fatigue, could be mental, could be anything, regardless, it’s unacceptable. We have to be better than that, but we are not going to win hockey games if we can’t execute.”
The Rangers will face a team that has lots of its own issues when they face the Sabres.
Buffalo is desperate to avoid missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 14th straight season, which would extend their own NHL record. The Sabres are 0-4-3 in their past seven games and kicked away a 5-3 third-period lead at home against Detroit on Monday, ultimately losing 6-5 in a shootout. The win ended Detroit’s five-game losing streak as the Red Wings try to end an eight-season playoff drought.
“We’re not playing well,” Sabres forward Jason Zucker said after the loss. “We’ve got to, again, look in the mirror and understand where we’re at and at what point in the season we’re at here. We have a few games before Christmas. We’ve got to have a little bit more urgency.”
Beginning with the Rangers on Wednesday night, there are a lot of teams in the East who could use some of that urgency.
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