55-23-4

With the most regulation wins in the league, marking the most wins in franchise history, the Rangers win the President’s Trophy (4th time) with 114 points. This also means first in the Metropolitan division, which they held for almost the entire season.

The final week was a little dicey, losing to the Islanders 4-2 and the Flyers 4-1 (horrible game). That left the door open for Carolina to take over first place but the wins against the Islanders in a wild comeback 3-2 shootout win and a 4-0 shutout of Ottawa clinched the best end of the regular season possible.

The advantage in finishing first is that the series starts in New York for every round the Rangers get to. Also, the Rangers play the second wild card spot in the first round; which is always a statistical advantage. The Washington Capitals managed to win the 5 team scramble and the ice is titled against them. The most glaring stat is that the goal differential for the Caps is -37. The Rangers are +53. With a record of 40-31-11, the Caps beat out Detroit because of the tiebreaker rule. Both teams have 91 points (Detroit 41-32-9) but the Caps had more regulation wins, 32-27.

On paper, the Rangers should run over the Capitals. Washington isn’t the team they used to be, as their record shows. Ovechkin managed to turn his season around after a very slow start and goalie Charlie Lindgren (older brother of our Ryan!) worked some magic to get them this far. But this is the playoffs and anything can happen. The level of competition is raised exponentially. Plus. this is a rivalry match-up, these teams have duked it out in the Playoffs many times. It won’t be a cakewalk, but the Rangers have just about every advantage in their favor.

I think the way the season ended is important. Mentally, I think the Rangers are in the strongest condition they’ve been in a long time (plus 6 days off before the first game). They faced adversity and have been rewarded for it. They not only held off Carolina for the division, but they stayed ahead of Vancouver and Boston for first place in the league for weeks. In fact, those 2 teams stumbled so much that Dallas, Carolina, and Florida caught up with them. Six weeks ago Vegas was up there too and they bounced off a few walls to rack up many losses. I don’t think they’re the monster they were last season.

It’s going to be intense! Some fantastic teams are going to get bounced in round 1. We’ll check out the bracket when the scheduling is finalized.