No moral victories for Rangers when ‘points are at a premium’

The New York Rangers have been playing their best hockey as of late with an 8-2-3 record in January. But they’re going to have to stop giving points away if they want to make up ground and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I think we’re playing pretty good, but right now it’s about collecting the points,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said in a postgame press conference following a frustrating 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
After a nightmarish 4-15-0 close to 2024, the Rangers worked their way back into the playoff conversation, thanks in part to grabbing a point in 10 consecutive contests (7-0-3) before the loss Sunday.
New York spent much of the matinee matchup playing from behind, erasing a two-goal deficit on two separate occasions. After Artemi Panarin tied the game 4-4 at 15:02 of the third period and Cale Makar went to the penalty box at 17:36, it looked as if the Rangers were destined to come all the way back and secure two points in the process.
But Colorado killed the penalty — and Makar stormed out of the box, stole the puck and set up Artturi Lehkonen’s game-winning goal with 14.7 seconds left in regulation. The Rangers could have walked away with at least a hard-fought point. Instead they were left with nothing.
“That’s what makes it even worse,” defenseman Adam Fox said afterward. “Even if you get one point, points are at a premium with how the standings are.”
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And exactly just how are the standings looking?
The Rangers enter Monday 11th in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets who are tied for the second wild card, and four back of the Boston Bruins for the top wild card. The Montreal Canadiens edged a point ahead of them in the East, and the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders picked up ground behind the Rangers this past weekend.
That’s why the blown point or two against the Avalanche is a major missed opportunity. In fact, each of their past four losses have been major blown opportunities for the Rangers. Before losing to Colorado, the Rangers let three third-period leads slip away in overtime defeats against the Dallas Stars, Avalanche and Canadiens.
“It’s obviously a very good feeling to make that comeback, but it’s very disappointing not to finish it, get at least a point,” Panarin said through an interpreter.
There were positives again Sunday, despite the defeat. This was far from a no-show effort, nor were they completed dominated, like games in November and December. They outshot the Avalanche 37-21, blocked 20 shots and had an xGF of better than 65 percent, per Natural Stat Trick.
Plus, the Rangers pulled themselves out of an early 2-0 hole and a 4-2 disadvantage in the second period.
“There’s a lot of positives we can build off,” forward Reilly Smith said. “Everyone showed up to play today.”
True, but there are no moral victories here. As Laviolette said, it’s about the points.
That’ll be the case again Tuesday, when the Rangers close out a successful month of January with a Metropolitan Division matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Garden.
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