The New York Rangers are still first in the Metropolitan Division with 88 points as of this writing. Also as of this writing, they will be playing the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, March 12, in a game that could very well be an indicator of who will be in first in the Division when the season is over. The Hurricanes are four points behind the Rangers and if New York loses tonight, they will lose part of the slight edge they have over Carolina. It won’t get any easier after this game for the Rangers.
The team will have to play 10 games over the next 19 days to end March. Entering this week, they had to play five games in seven days, with two sets of back-to-backs against tough Division rivals. They beat the New Jersey Devils last night and have to face the Hurricanes tonight. Here, we are going to go over some of the toughest teams they have to play this month and preview what’s in store for the team as the regular season winds down.
Stanley Cup Contenders: Hurricanes, Panthers, Bruins and Avalanche
The Rangers are going to have to face all kinds of different opponents throughout the rest of March and some will be tougher than others. Four of the next 10 games will against teams that are favorites to win the Stanley Cup this season. As mentioned earlier, they have will face the Hurricanes, but they will also have to face the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins, and Colorado Avalanche. The Panthers are arguably the best team in the NHL and they got even better at the trade deadline by adding Vladimir Tarasenko from the Ottawa Senators and not having to give prime assets in return. The Panthers have already beaten the Rangers twice this season and will likely the toughest opponent for them if they meet in the playoffs. The Avalanche are always dangerous and are led by Nathan Mackinnon, who already has 111 points in 65 games played and leads the NHL. The Rangers did beat them earlier this year, 2-1 in overtime at Madison Square Garden (MSG.)
The one team the Rangers haven’t lost to out of these four teams is the Bruins. They beat them at MSG in November, 7-4, and then won in Boston in overtime 2-1. The Bruins have surprised many with how they good they still are even though they lost Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci this past offseason. They still have very good goaltending and defense and the offense is led by David Pastrnak, who has 94 points in 67 games. The Hurricanes are the first big test for the Rangers and they will have to face them on the second night of a back-to-back. Jake Guentzel, who the Hurricanes acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline, will likely make his debut in this game, so the Rangers need to play at their best in order to shut him and the rest of the team down.
Teams Fighting In the Wildcard Race: Islanders, Lighting and Flyers
The race for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference is coming down to the wire. As of this writing, the two spots are currently occupied by the Tampa Bay Lightning with 74 points and the Detroit Red Wings with 72 points. The New York Islanders are tied with the Red Wings in points, but they have fewer regulation and overtime wins, so the tiebreaker would go to Detroit. However, they are also just two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan. The Rangers will be facing the Lightning and Islanders in this upcoming four-game-in-six-day-stretch and will face the Flyers in exactly two weeks at MSG.
Related: Rangers Roundtable: Trade Deadline Reaction
These three teams are going to be playing hard for the rest of the season as they are going to need all the points they can get if they want to stay in the playoff hunt. The Rangers have beaten the Lightning twice, the Flyers twice, and the Islanders once this season. They have played the Lightning extremely well in the regular season lately, as they have a 7-0-1 record against them since the 2021-22 season. The Flyers have been tough against the Rangers this season and the games they played have been close and physical. The Islanders blew a four-goal lead at the Stadium Series and will want some revenge. These are going to be tough games and the and Rangers can’t take these teams lightly or otherwise they will lose.
A Goaltending Duel with the Winnipeg Jets
Another tough matchup for the Rangers will be when they have to take on the Winnipeg Jets at MSG. The Jets were already one of the top teams in the Central Division, but they went out and added Sean Monahan (in early February) and Tyler Toffoli at the trade deadline to their already-dangerous offensive group. They also have one of the best goaltenders in the league in Connor Hellebuyck. He will likely go head to head with Rangers’ goaltender Igor Shesterkin and has played well against the Rangers lately. In two of the last three games against the Rangers, he posted save percentages of .976 and .980 and went on to win those two games. The Rangers did beat the Jets earlier this season in overtime, but the teams have changed very much since that game in October. This is going to be another tough and close game and will be a good test for the Rangers to see if they can match up well against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
These last three weeks of March are not going to be easy for the Rangers. This stretch of 10 games in 19 days is going to be a tough challenge, but if they can win a majority of these games, it will give them tons of confidence heading into the final month of the regular season and going into the playoffs. The Rangers are one of the top teams in the league for a reason and they need to prove why as they enter this challenging stretch.