The Rangers have a lighter week than last, playing two home games and one on the “road”: road being in quotation marks as Newark is historically heavily Ranger-land. With a brief reprise from a hectic week, the Rangers don’t have to think about a back-to-back until the new year.
This week features an array of opponents from different divisions: one Pacific (ANA), one Metropolitan rival (NJD), and one Atlantic (TOR). As always, let’s take a look at the Metro and the Rangers playoff standings (as of Sunday afternoon):
Metro Standings 12/17/17
WC Standings 12/17/17
Obvious good news: the Rangers are in the playoffs. Obvious not-so-good news: there are still roughly three and a half months left of regular season hockey to play. Let’s take a peek at the matchups this week:
Tuesday, December 19 vs. Anaheim Ducks (14-11-8), 7:00pm
If we learned anything last week from the Kings, it’s that west coast teams: they’re just like us! They too get tired and jet lagged and don’t love to travel across the country to play. Case in point: the Ducks lost 3-2 on Saturday to the Capitals, allowing two goals in the third period before dropping the game in overtime. They’ll face the Devils tonight before coming to MSG tomorrow.
Some reasons for the Rangers to be optimistic about this matchup:
- Corey Perry, noted goal-scoring pest, is on the IR,
- The Ducks have the worst CF% in the league, checking in at 45.76%, and
- Their defense is really just not that good at all.
One thing to be wary of: the Ducks boast a high PDO, with save percentage north of 93% and shooting 8.6%. This isn’t sustainable, but may not crash and burn before tomorrow night’s matchup.
Thursday, December 21 at New Jersey Devils (18-9-5), 7:00pm
This will be the nail biter of the week for so many reasons. First off, it’s the Devils. Secondly, they have a better record than the Rangers. Third, this game actually counts.
I hate being *that gal* in December, but every single game, especially within the division, counts so much more than in other years. The Rangers are a flawed team that needs to make sure it benefits from an extraordinarily tight Division.
The Devils are shooting at over 9%, which is not sustainable. What likely is sustainable, however, is their .925% team save percentage. Cory Schneider is (unfortunately) really good, which means the Rangers need to do their best to get a big body in front of the net (PAGING CHRIS KREIDER) and hack, hack, hack.
The Rangers thus far in the season are 1-1 against the Devils.
Saturday, December 23 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (20-13-1), 7:00pm
Mike Babcock’s third season at the helm with the Leafs is showing constant improvement, as he has since he began in 2015. Though slowed down the past few games due to the absence of Auston Matthews (“upper body,” but likely concussion-like symptoms), the team still has decent possession stats. Averaging near 50% CF% and an xGF% near 52%, the team is dangerous, even without their strongest weapon.
Goalie Fredrik Andersen is having a great year for himself, potentially due to better defense in front of him. He is helping his team by saving 90.22% of the high danger chances he faces. The Leafs are averaging 53% of the high danger chances per game in their favor.
Despite all we know of the Leafs, with Babcock navigating the bench, it makes sense to play as smart and efficiently as possible. The Leafs are not the same team without Matthews, but we cannot say a week away from the contest whether or not he will play.
Predictions:
It has come to my attention that I’m not too good at these, so take it with a grain of salt:
NYR 4 – ANA 1
NYR 3 – NJD 2 (OT)
NYR 1 – TOR 3
As always, please share your predictions in the comments.
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