The Rangers retained control of their own destiny, rallying to defeat the Islanders 3-2 in a shootout Saturday. New York has a three-point lead with one-game remaining. If Carolina defeats Chicago tomorrow, as we expect, any kind of win Monday night vs. Ottawa would lock up the division, conference and President's Trophy, irrespective if Carolina and/or Dallas win their final game of the season.
A few thoughts:
1) Just win baby - two losses in a row this week made Saturday's game important. Instead of having the ability to just cruise, the Rangers needed a win. It wasn't easy and didn't come without challenges, but the win enabled New York to set new franchise records for regular-season victories (54) and comebacks (28). Now, even against a team that has given the team fits, a win and any Game 7 in any rounds of the playoffs will be at home.
2) Lines/Filip Chytil: Jonny Brodzinski was the healthy scratch with Matt Rempe back in the lineup. Rempe saw just 5:57 in ice time, partially due to New York being short handed five-times and needing to rally in the third period. I could see Rempe dressing again Monday, though I wouldn't be shocked if Brodzinski dresses.
Filip Chytil, expected to miss the remainder of the regular season due to post-concussion recovery, practiced in a regular jersey Friday. When Chytil's gear was added to the locker room, I thought it was mainly to help him mentally by having him around the team. But seeing him practice Friday raises hopes that he could be back for the playoffs. That's putting the cart well before the horse, since Chytil's health is first and foremost and there is no guarantee he will be able to withstand regular practice, let alone game action.
Let's extrapolate and say Chyil gets cleared, where does he fit? The second, really first line, is set, so Chytil is not skating there. For years, suggestions have been made to move Chytil to wing. That could be the solution here, the question is which line. Chytil could slot on the top line next to Mika Zibanajad and Chris Kreider, which would bump Jack Roslovic. Jimmy Vesey could get another look on the top line, which would then allow Chytil to slot on the third line, either at center or wing since Alex Wennberg can play either center or wing.
Another possibility is moving Wennberg to the top line, where he would be the right wing. Chytil then would center the third line with Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko on the wing. All of this is pure speculation, and the good news is Chytil will have nearly a week of practice to show he is healthy and ready for game action. The main concern though is the playoffs are much more physical, which is why playing it carefully with Chytil is paramount.
3) Even-strength scoring - New York's first goal came shorthanded from Braden Schneider. As the game wore on and the Rangers were not drawing penalties or having ones called, a 5x5 goal would be needed. That tally finally came from Artemi Panarin off a faceoff win by Vincent Trocheck and snapped wrister past Mat Barzal, over Ilya Sorokin' glove and under the crossbar.
As Vince Mercogliano noted, that tally marked the Blueshirts' 20th goal that came directly off a faceoff win, according to Clear Sight Analytics, which has been a major area of improvement for this year's team. They only had nine of those last season, but have seen their faceoff win rate jump from 49.1% in 2022-23 (tied for 19th in the NHL) to 52.3% in 2023-24 (seventh in the NHL).
The goal knotted the score at 2-2 and snapped the Rangers' 5v5 scoring drought that lasted 179:47. As Mercogliano noted, even though New York only scored one even-strength goal, they looked more threatening than they had in previous games. They finished with 43 shots on 92 attempts while generating 20 high-danger scoring chances. The ice was especially tilted in their favor with the Kreider-Zibanejad-Roslovic line on, with that trio out-shooting the Isles by an 11-1 margin. Zib was especially hot in the first period, which was good to see after seeing his play the last few games.
4) Defense - K'Andre Miller was paired with Schneider and Jacob Trouba with Erik Gustafsson. The Rangers out-shot the Isles, 12-7, with Miller and Schneider on the ice together and the duo should remain together against the Senators. If there was one negative, Miller had a horrible icing that ended up resulting in Brock Nelson's second of the game late in the second period.
As Merocogliano added, the Gustafsson-Trouba graded out as fairly even. They struggled a bit early on, but steadied as the game went on. They weren't on ice for any goals against and finished with an 8-8 shot share. They were notably used the least of the three pairs, with Trouba logging the lowest even-strength ice time (15:01) of the six defensemen. Despite the even play, I still would play Zac Jones with Trouba and sit Gustafsson.
5) Igor Shesterkin was brilliant in the win. Every time a big save was needed, Igor was up to the task. A few examples of this were: Adam Pelech penalty shot in the third, stoned, and Mat Barzal in overtime, windmill glove save. With one game remaining, my hope was that New York would have clinched the division etc. by now and Jonathan Quick would get the start, giving Shesterkin, who stopped Barzal on an penalty shot 1:25 into Tuesday’s game, additional rest. Based on the current situation, Igor will be between the pipes Monday in front of what should be a rocking MSG crowd.
6) Special teams - The Rangers penalty kill was a major reason for the win. New York finished 5-for-5 on the PK while limiting the Isles to two shots on goal in 9:48 of total power-play time. Granted, the Isles badly missed Noah Dobson and the Rangers benefitted from an overturned goal due to a barely offsides Kyle Palmieri, but the performance was impressive anyway. The Blueshirts also generated three shots of their own, plus Schneider's goal and three high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. With nearly one-sixth of the game spent shorthanded, including the double-minor to Kakko, the third in the league in terms of success rate on the PK, was a huge component in the win.
7) Playoff opponent - basically, who the heck knows, With Game 82 remaining, nothing is set. New York could finish first or second in the division. The same in the conference for down the road. The Islanders would appear to be a lock for third in the Metro, but earlier in the week, Pittsburgh appeared a lock for the playoffs, and now with two games remaining, including a Game 82 match up at the Islanders, all bets are off.
Washington, Detroit, Philly and Pittsburgh are in a battle for the second wild card spot. The Rangers may not know until Wednesday night who they will face in the first round. That's for down the road. For now, just win Monday and lock in first in the division, first in the conference and first in the league.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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