Don’t look now, the NY Rangers have a shot at winning the Metro Division

It’s amazing what a month can do. At this time last month, the Rangers were just beginning their current 13-2-2 streak, winning four in a row after hitting rock bottom against Chicago. As of December 14, exactly one month ago, the Rangers are 9-2-2. It’s not just the record, or just the helmet throw, or just statistical regression (finally), it’s all of the above. It’s also who the Rangers are beating. The NY Rangers are beating good teams, and now have a shot at winning the Metro Division.

In the 13-2-2 stretch, the Rangers have beaten, in order, St. Louis, Vegas, Colorado, New Jersey, Toronto, Philly, Chicago, the Islanders, Florida, Carolina, Montreal, Minnesota, and Dallas. All of these teams except Philly and Chicago were in the playoff hunt at the time. As of this writing, only Florida has fallen out of the race. Even St. Louis is still in it.

For those keeping count, that’s 11 of 13 wins against teams in the playoff race. It’s not just the helmet throw or finally having pucks bounce their way (regression), it’s who they are beating. And perhaps more importantly, how they are beating them.

The Rangers have found ways to win in different ways. Whether it’s the dramatic comeback against Dallas, or picking up Igor Shesterkin‘s rare off day against Minnesota, or utterly dominating the current division leading Carolina Hurricanes, the Rangers have found different ways to win.

And now, with this run hopefully balancing out their terrible November, the Rangers sit pretty in third place in the Metro, two points behind the Devils and four behind Carolina. Both teams have a game in hand on the Rangers, but both have seen significant cracks in their armor. Carolina is having trouble producing consistent goals, and the Devils have no goaltending. Both are still very good teams, but both are very beatable teams.

The upcoming schedule is favorable for the Rangers as well. They have back to backs against Montreal and Columbus, where they should get four points. Going .500 against Boston, Florida, Toronto, and Vegas would be a win as well, taking them into their bye week and the All Star break.

It will be challenging without Chris Kreider, but the Rangers looked fine against Dallas in their first game without him. They also won a pair of games with 11 or fewer forwards, so having 12 forwards might actually be an upgrade. But this team has found ways to win before, and they should (will) continue to do so. The Rangers have a real shot at the Metro Division, something that was unthinkable just one month ago.