Mon. picks: Rangers' skid won't stop in Nashville
Welcome to the NHL Daily Picks where hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters make their picks for all of the day’s games.
New York Rangers vs. Nashville Predators, 8 p.m. ET
On November 23 the New York Rangers were 15-3-2, had a five-point lead in the Metropolitan Division, and along with the Montreal Canadiens were by far the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have been in a free fall in the standings ever since, with the Rangers winning just four of their past 15 games to fall to second place in the Metropolitan, a staggering 10 points behind the Washington Capitals while having played two additional games.
They are now at the point where they are just one point from falling to third place in the Metropolitan and five points from potentially being out of a playoff spot entirely. That is still a pretty nice cushion, but it does show just how far this team has slipped in a little more than a month. In November it looked like the Rangers were going to make another run at the Presidents’ Trophy. Now, they can’t seem to do anything right.
Even when the Rangers were winning there was some concern that their success was a mirage that wasn’t likely to last because of the way they were getting dominated on the shot chart every night, and that trend has continued over the past 15 games where the Rangers have just four wins. The fact they’re getting so badly outshot — a reflection of the poor play from their defense — indicates that their recent record might not simply be a run of bad luck.
On Monday, they return to the ice for the first time since Tuesday when they open a three-game road trip in Nashville.
While the Rangers have been slumping for the better part of a month, the Predators haven’t been much better with just six wins over their past 18 and are holding on to the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. It’s a disappointing position to be in given how good they were a year ago and the fact they still have one of the best defensive units in the entire league. They are one of the top puck possession teams in the NHL, controlling more than 55 percent of the total shot attempts during 5-on-5 play. That is the level you usually see Stanley Cup teams at.
So why the struggles so far in the standings? Their penalty kill, currently one of the worst units in the NHL, deserves a significant portion of the blame, as well as the fact they’re still lacking a big-time scoring option up front. You really get a sense for how much their defense has to carry this team when you see that their top two scorers are both defensemen (Roman Josi and Shea Weber).
Even with their struggles when it comes to killing penalties and actually putting the puck in the net, this is still going to be a major struggle for a Rangers team that is not only losing a lot of hockey games lately, but also isn’t playing very well. Pick: Nashville Predators 3, New York Rangers 2
The rest of Monday’s picks
Washington Capitals 4, Buffalo Sabres 2
Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Montreal Canadiens 1
Detroit Red Wings 2, Minnesota Wild 0
Los Angeles Kings 3, Vancouver Canucks 1
San Jose Sharks 3, Colorado Avalanche 2
Henrik Lundqvist has to face a ton of shots for the New York Rangers. (USATSI)
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