47-21-12

The week started as well as we could want. A solid 6-3 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Rangers took control right away taking a 3-0 lead and managed to keep the lead for the entire game. Tampa hasn’t been playing well lately and that doesn’t bode well for the playoffs which are only a week away. A great pickup of points for many Rangers players, but the same outcome wasn’t on the table for St. Louis.

The Rangers were clearly exhausted from playing Tampa, overnight travel to St. Louis, and then lining up for the face-off 24 hours after Tampa. Sloppy plays from start to finish with turnovers being a massive problem. The Rangers managed to fight back enough to force the game to OT but another botched defensive coverage play meant the Rangers only stole 1 point.

A bounce back 4-0 finish against Columbus was great to watch, if not expected. Columbus is terrible so anything that wasn’t a solid win would have been bad. Heads up play, great defense, and very few penalties. Kane played which made the first full roster in a very long time. Everyone is playing well, so I feel the team is in a good place. Kane still looks like he isn’t 100% comfortable yet but I do get the feeling that he will hit his stride for the playoffs. I’m not sure if it’s nerves or whatever but he’s not making big waves. He did play well last night and got an assist so there’s not much to complain about.

The Rangers are comfortably in 3rd place so the final games against Buffalo and Toronto are meaningless in terms of rank. The odds of them playing against Carolina instead of New Jersey is up to the Devils, but the odds are the 1st round will be against New Jersey. There are many close wildcard races, the most eyebrow-raising being Pittsburgh trying to claw over the Islanders or Florida. It’s impossible to predict as it’s going to come down to which team loses one game and Pittsburgh does not. It’s only a 1 point edge! Tremendous pressure, I’m glad the Rangers aren’t in that position.