The New York Rangers will look to break out of their funk when they continue their California road trip on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Despite only one win in five outings, the Rangers (34-32-6, 74 points) sit just outside the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card position in what has become a five-team turtle derby.
New York opened their sojourn with a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, a game in which they held a 1-0 lead at the midway point.
“There have been some games where we haven’t been good at all, and I think we did a lot of good things (against the Kings), but it’s getting tiring,” forward Mika Zibanejad said. “I feel that over the last few weeks, we’ve been playing some good hockey but we still find a way to lose.”
The Rangers, the regular-season champions of 2023-24, have remained in the race while the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings have been stumbling, but they have not been able to find the form to consistently win.
Moral victories, such as a down-to-the-wire loss to a team as hot as the Kings, is worth zero and demoralizing.
“We need wins if we’re going to do anything,” defenseman Braden Schneider told the New York Post. “We can talk about a good effort or a good game, but it’s the end of the year and we need two points to have it mean anything.”
Sam Carrick has returned after missing the last game due to birth of a son, but fellow forward Matt Rempe may miss the rest of the regular season due to an upper-body injury suffered in Los Angeles.
The Ducks (31-32-8, 70 points) head into the third clash in a five-game homestand looking to build on a 6-2 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins on Wednesday.
It is only a matter of time before Anaheim, which has won two of three games, is officially eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention, but the Ducks are heading down the stretch with improved play.
The Boston game followed the template, starting with a dominant first period in which the Ducks outshot the visitors by a 15-5 margin and followed by a three-goal second period.
“Just a good game overall,” said forward Alex Killorn, who collected a pair of assists. “A ton of shots, a ton of opportunities. Just really liked the way we played. Our (defense) was getting up the ice, we had a ton of possessions and we got rewarded.”
“We challenged (our players) to come out and initiate the pace of the game,” coach Greg Cronin said. “We wanted to try and create a difficult environment right from the beginning, and I thought we were able to do that for the better part of the game.”
Although it has been a rough few seasons for the Ducks, they can see positive steps with their young players improving. For example, Leo Carlsson, the second overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, has collected 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 13 games this month. Carlsson has netted 18 goals and 35 points in 65 games in his second NHL season, including a game-opening short-handed marker against the Bruins.
“He’s got good instincts, got length, is quick, good hand-eye co-ordination,” coach Cronin said. “Our penalty killing hasn’t been great this year, so I’m trying to use these last 12 games to give other people an opportunity.”
–Field Level Media
