As of today, the Rangers have 83 points and are in the 5th seed. The 5th seed is the worst seed since the 7th seed. Anything 4th or over gives you home ice advantage in the first round, while the 6th seed gives you the opportunity to play a team you might be better than.
Last season, for instance, the Rangers came in 6th with 94 points and played the 3rd place Thrashers, who had 97 points. Tampa Bay, with 93 points, came in 7th and had the displeasure of a first round matchup against New Jersey, who had 107 points. The Islanders, 92 points, got the luck of playing Buffalo and their 113 points.
Ottawa is two points (and one game) ahead of the Rangers. Pittsburgh, 1st in the conference (today), has 87 points, as does Montreal. New Jersey, even in games with our heroes, have 3 points more.
If the Rangers end up one point behind Ottawa at season's end and don't get home ice advantage, or they get usurped by Boston and end 7th, they will have these games to blame...
October 18, 20, 23. The lost to Atlanta, who had an 0-6 record at the time, 5-3 on the road. The game wasn't even that close, but a few late goals made the score halfway respectable. Then, they lost 1-0 games against Boston (picking up a point) and Pittsburgh. Lundqvist gives up one goal in 2 games and the Rangers managed 1 point.
November 6 vs. Islanders, up 2-1 in the third, and they fall apart in the third period of their 4th game in 6 nights.
December 6 vs. the Maple Leafs, they lost 6-2 in an awful game against Toronto.
Nearly every game against the West, particularly the 5-0 loss to Phoenix, who was worse then than they are now, 3-2 to Dallas where the defense was atrocious, 4-2 to league-worst LA, 4-1 to Anaheim at MSG, 3-0 to Vancouver, and the loss to Calgary where Henrik let up a few softies as the comeback train was rolling. The Marion Wild game also was bad. The only games against the West they did well in were the game in Edmonton where Drury scored with a few seconds left to bring it to overtime, and the game a few weeks ago where they held off the Sharks at MSG.
The other two games they should be kicking themselves for - and no, not the 6-5 loss to the Canadiens where they were winning 5-0, because they got thoroughly outplayed that whole game and just got lucky scoring 5 goals - are the 3-1 loss to Boston in January at the Garden (which they will regret if Boston overtakes them) and the 3-1 loss to Carolina January 29 where the Canes scored quickly in the second to break a 1-1 tie.
A few years ago, there were many games where the Rangers would have the lead and not be able to finish, thus eliminating them from the playoffs in early March. However, this year, they have shown an ability to comeback from deficits and to hold on to leads. Let's hope the games I mentioned above don't come back to haunt them.
No comments:
Post a Comment