Last year the New York Rangers were knocking on the door of the Stanley Cup finals. Despite falling behind 3-1 to the Panthers, the Rangers staged a dramatic final-period comeback, before finally two more goals and losing 5-3 to the eventual champions. That epic battle for the conference finals put the Rangers on everyone’s radar for this year.
Fast-forward to the present day, and nearly a year later, the Rangers have nearly spectacularly fumbled the puck. While they did look good initially, the team has since struggled to display consistent form, especially as the regular season winds down. Now, last year’s conference finalists have found rivals the Montreal Canadiens in the diver seat of their destiny. So is there no way out?
Well, despite not being able to put together a proper winning streak, the Rangers have kept themselves alive in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Now, after winning six of their last 10 games, “#NYR control their destiny over everyone except Montreal,” as per NYRHockey on X. That’s because despite their best efforts the New York Rangers are still two points behind Montreal.
“Rangers will need to pick up 2 point on Montreal over the next 7 games to make the playoffs,” explained NYRHockey. However, that came with an asterisk. “Montreal has a very light schedule ahead,” warned the X user. What’s more? NYRHockey on X isn’t the only one who can see the tough road ahead of the team starting the 2024-25 season as one for Stanley Cup favorites.
#NYR control their destiny over everyone except Montreal.
Rangers will need to pick up 2 point on Montreal over the next 7 games to make the playoffs.
Montreal has a very light schedule ahead
— NYRHockey (@BroadwayHatsNYR) April 4, 2025
Tankathon.com calculated that the Rangers had the second-toughest schedule remaining in the entire league at the start of April. Meanwhile, The Athletic noted that the New York Rangers have a dismal 9-25-5 record against that team already in the NHL playoffs. So the only way they make it across the finish line is to win games, and there lies the problem.
Can the New York Rangers finally beat the rut?
The New York Rangers have failed to string together wins despite their best efforts from the very beginning of the season. However, now they have no other way than to adjust. Unless the Blue shirts can string together a good winning streak, last year’s conference final would look like a distant memory. The Athletic revealed just how tough the Rangers have it,
“Aside from the Flyers, every New York opponent has a record above .500, including six games against teams in postseason position,” explained the report. To make things even more desperate, none of those games are against the Montreal Canadiens. So the New York Rangers don’t even have the opportunity to snatch two valuable points directly from the Canadiens.
But guess what? They do have an appointment with the team that knocked them out of the Stanley Cup race last year. Yes! They are none other than the defending champions, the Florida Panthers. However, despite these challenges, the NYR hasn’t given up. The hockey team managed to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in OT despite the odds being against them.
New York Rangers star Marcus Johansson, who scored a goal and two assists, explained the team’s mindset as they try to dig themselves out of this hole. “All points are good… You know, we need as many as we can get,” Johansson told reporters after the game. Coach Peter Laviolette also chimed in. “We needed a win, and guys found a way to do that, so it was good to get a ‘W’,” said the coach. Beating the Wild also put NYR on a three-game win streak after a long time. Now only time will tell if they can keep this up. Their playoff depends on it.
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