Rangers must avoid going south by playing well out West
Eric Staal #12 of the New York Rangers controls the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Mar. 13, 2016 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Carrying the baggage of back-to-back losses and the stark reality of a race for playoff positioning, the Rangers are here in Southern California again, where two previous trips in recent seasons provided a study in contrasts.
In October 2013, when the team opened on the road because of the Madison Square Garden renovations in coach Alain Vigneault’s first season, the Blueshirts began on a sour note, going 1-2, including a 9-2 trouncing in San Jose and a 6-0 whitewash by the Ducks.
In January 2015, en route to winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the Rangers went 3-0, beating the Ducks, 4-1, the Kings, 4-3, and the Sharks, 3-1, the first time in franchise history that they vanquished those three teams on the road in the same season.
Of course, the Rangers were red hot at the time, finishing the trip having won 13 of 14 games. That’s not the case now, with a 5-4-1 mark in the last 10 games.
“Any time you get the opportunity to be together as a group and play against some good teams out West, it’s going to be good for us,” said center Eric Staal, who has a goal and an assist in seven games since arriving in a trade with Carolina. “We have to pick ourselves up and have a big week out West.”
With 85 points and 13 games remaining, the Rangers would have to collapse to skid completely out of a postseason berth, but it won’t be easy to restore some equilibrium, having played two good periods out of six against the Red Wings and Penguins last weekend.
“I think we can play faster and quicker, there is no doubt, from defense to offense,” Vigneault said. “They’ve got to get the puck in the hands of the forwards, and we are not executing as quick as I think this group can.”
This season, the Rangers took five of a possible six points at home against the three California teams, who hold the top slots in the Pacific Division and also are vying for position. They blanked the Sharks at the Garden, 4-0, on Oct. 19 in Antti Raanta’s first start as a Ranger. Raanta also played in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Kings on Feb. 12. In between, on Dec. 22, Henrik Lundqvist was in net when the Rangers beat the Ducks, 3-2, in overtime on Mats Zuccarello’s power-play goal.
It would not surprise anyone if a rested Lundqvist, who played Sunday afternoon, plays the first two games, on Wednesday night against Anaheim and Thursday night against the Kings, and Raanta finishes the trip on Saturday afternoon in San Jose, where the Sharks are 13-15-3 at home.
Notes & quotes: In the games against the California teams this season, Zuccarello has three goals, and Derick Brassard and Viktor Stalberg two apiece . . . A spare defenseman was not recalled from Hartford on Monday but could be added before the back-to-back games . . . Forward Tanner Glass missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury. His status is unclear for Wednesday, but the Rangers have 12 healthy forwards . . . After the trip, the Rangers play seven of the final 10 regular-season games at home.
More Rangers
