TAMPA, Florida – Rangers do not advance.
Ahead of their 62nd and 63rd games (out of 82) this weekend, against two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning and the Metropolitan Division-leading hurricanes, the Rangers have refused to look beyond the task. Even though they will spend a large part of the season in a playoff spot, the message is that nothing is guaranteed yet.
“We have to get to the playoffs first,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said after her morning skate at Amalie Arena on Saturday, before the game against Tampa Bay. “There are 21 games left and we have to play good hockey and we have to make sure we get in. That’s what a coach asks, to play good games like we played the last two, as many points as we can get and come and a playoff spot.
“We’re in a playoff spot now, but you are not in until you get in. If there is a small ‘x’ next to us, I will be happy.”
All but one of the remaining Rangers players (versus the Jets on April 19) will be up against Eastern Conference opponents. Points will be crucial until the end of the regular season on April 29, and that is not lost on the Rangers.
Utility Forward Barclay Goodrow said he expects every matchup to be intense. With so much on the line, the Rangers need to bring their best hockey stick, not only to maintain their playoff position, but also to set up a play-style shift for the postseason.
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“I think all you can control is the effort you put into it tonight,” Goodrow said. “If you start looking too far ahead and you let the players slip, next thing you know, you’re not where you want to be in the table or your players are not looking the way they should be.
“I mean, we’ve been doing this for a while now, I mean, we’ve been doing it pretty well, we’re watching the current game on hand and we have no worries about what’s coming up next week or next month or trading deadline or whatever. always is. ”
The Lightning have reached the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons, while the Hurricanes have transformed themselves into serious competitors in the last three seasons after going nine straight without a playoff spot. The back-to-back should serve as a tune-up for the Rangers, who have been incredibly close to their first playoff series since 2017. It should also reveal a lot about where the club is compared to two established Stanley Cup competitors.
Goodrow, one of the few Rangers with enough playoff experience after earning two rings with Lightning, noted that everything is amplified during the postseason. In addition to being faster and more intense, errors are magnified. He said it usually brings out the best in teams, and he expects the same to apply to the Rangers.
“It’s going to be a big test for us,” Goodrow said. “I think we are confident in ourselves when we play as we know we can play. We know we are hard to beat. So it will be a good test for us. There are two games for which we are really excited are, two games that I think we can improve a lot.
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