Rangers must balance first-place chase vs. health for playoffs
Rangers defenseman Adam Fox is congratulated by teammates after his goal against the Stars during the first period against Dallas. Credit: AP/Brandon Wade
The Rangers have seven games left in the regular season and first place in the Metropolitan Division is there for the taking. They trail Carolina, which lost to Detroit on Thursday, by only two points for first and still have one game left against the Hurricanes.
Winning the division guarantees home-ice advantage for the first two playoff rounds.
But coach Gerard Gallant has made it clear that the greater priority for the Rangers is to make sure the players are in the best condition possible for the start of the playoffs. That means playing well, of course, which would entail winning some games down the stretch. Second place in the division — and home-ice advantage in the first round — hasn’t been clinched yet.
Being ready also means being as close to fully healthy and rested as possible. And that means Gallant likely will give selected players some nights off or reduced ice time over the next two-and-a-half weeks.
The coach began that process Wednesday in Philadelphia when he made 20-year-old forward Alexis Lafreniere (no points in his last eight games) a healthy scratch in the Rangers’ 4-0 win over the Flyers.
Afterward, Gallant made it clear that he didn’t leave Lafreniere out of the lineup because he was unhappy with his play, but rather because he thought the youngster needed a night off.
“He looks a little bit tired lately,’’ Gallant said.
Lafreniere has played 72 games this season after playing 56 in his rookie year.
Gallant also said “there’s a good chance’’ other players will get nights off leading to the start of the playoffs.
Adam Fox, the reigning Norris Trophy winner who leads the Rangers in average ice time this season (24:01 per game), could probably use a rest, as could his defense partner, Ryan Lindgren. Those two seem to have been playing through nagging issues of late, and Gallant twice dressed seven defensemen on a four-game road trip last month in order to lighten the load on them.
Fox, the Jericho native, hasn’t seemed to be the same player he was before he suffered an upper-body injury Jan. 27 in Columbus. At the time, he led all NHL defensemen in scoring with 47 points (seven goals, 40 assists) in 44 games. But since he returned from injured reserve, he has 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 28 games.
Four players who have logged heavy minutes — Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller — have played every game this season. Sitting them a game would deprive them of the chance to play the entire 82-game schedule.
Kreider, who has 50 goals, is within striking distance of breaking the franchise record for goals in a season (Jaromir Jagr had 54 in 2005-06). Zibanejad is one point away from setting a new personal high for points in a season and three goals away from getting to the 30-goal plateau for the third time.
Trouba has 10 goals, which matches his career-best for a season, so his next goal would set a standard for him. Artemi Panarin probably could use a rest, but he has 89 points, six shy of his career-high of 95. And getting to 100 isn’t necessarily out of reach.
And if the Rangers go deep in the playoffs, goalie Igor Shesterkin is going to be playing a lot. How many of the final seven regular-season games does he need to play?
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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