Rangers Could Be First Again Despite Division Competition

Since the New York Rangers finished last regular season atop the NHL’s Metropolitan Division, let’s take a look at some of this year’s inter-divisional competition. The Blueshirts are obviously dominant amongst the geographically closest six teams. The one exception is the seventh Metro team down the U.S. East Coast, their rival, the Carolina Hurricanes. Depending on how the other teams look going through the preseason and into this regular season, we may be able to finish at the top of the Metropolitan Division this year again and slam-dunk a playoff spot. Let’s analyze some of the Met performers from last regular season and how they look right now to see what to expect. Standings do not tell the whole story, and we must consider individual team factors that become evident when the Rangers face these individual teams.

Metropolitan Division Competition Last Season & This Preseason

New Jersey Devils Rivalry & Metropolitan Division Competition

Firstly, the most recent matchup between the Rangers and the New Jersey Devils, their fierce rival across the Hudson River, saw a 4-3 win on April 3, 2024. The Devils offence came on strong with a goal from left-winger Ondrej Palat, then Devils defenceman Brendan Smith, and star centreman and team captain Nico Hischier. Hischier was one of three Devils forwards who tied for second place for goals last regular season, with Jesper Bratt, Hischier, and Jack Hughes all scoring 27 in 2023-24.

Rangers star goaltender Igor Shesterkin‘s performance was below average for him in that game, since he allowed three goals on 20 shots against and notched an .850 save percentage. But the Rangers offence came on strong. A goal came from the rising star left-winger Alexis Lafreniere, Rangers star Artemi Panarin, and wingers Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko.

However, Shesty’s earlier performance during their February 22, 2024 matchup at the Prudential Center was much, much better (5-1 Rangers win). He only allowed one goal off a whopping 40 shots against, notching a remarkable .975 save percentage. Shesty was denied a shutout late in the third period by Jack Hughes off a feed from Tyler Toffoli.

Takeaway: Shesterkins excellent goaltending plus the Rangers defence can ward off the Devils potent offence.

Devils players to watch: Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes

New York Islanders Rivalry & Metropolitan Division Competition

We saw the very recent 6-4 preseason win the Rangers pulled off against their Big Apple rival, the New York Islanders. Despite Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick allowing two goals each, the Blueshirts offence came alive with goals from Zachary Jones, Chris Kreider, and Adam Edstrom. Plus, of course, since he returned to the ice after a knee-on-knee hit from Isles defenceman Scott Mayfield (whew), the promising young centre Filip Chytil came back on the ice and scored the first of five unanswered goals in the third period to aid the Rangers comeback.

The Rangers first matchup against the Isles last regular season took place outdoors, in front of 79,690 fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The game took place on February 18, 2024, and saw a 6-5 overtime win for the Rangers. This is a good matchup to compare goalies, as it was an 11-goal game. Isles star goalie Ilya Sorokin was a runner-up for the 2022-23 Vezina Trophy for best NHL goaltender. Sorokin allowed six goals off 37 shots against for an .865 save percentage, falling well below his .909 season save percentage in 2023-24.

Plus, we saw a goal from centres Brock Nelson (34 goals in 82 games last year) and Bo Horvat (33 goals in 81 games last year), the top two goal-scorers on the Isles last season.

Takeaway: The Islanders are indeed formidable competition both offensively and goaltending-wise.

Islanders players to watch: Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Matthew Barzal, Ilya Sorokin

Carolina Hurricanes Rivalry & Metropolitan Division Competition

The only Metropolitan team that finished close to the Blueshirts after the 2023-24 regular season was the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes came in second place in the division (52-23-7). Some significant recent news on the Canes end is the re-signing of 22-year-old centreman and sniper Seth Jarvis. Jarvy broke out last season, scoring 67 points (33 goals and 34 assists) in 81 games. Jarvy’s impressive 18.5 shooting percentage puts him in the league’s 96th percentile. He will be a free agent in 2032, which seems like ages away right now.

The second-most recent matchup the Rangers had with any of these teams was their Game Six of the 2024 Eastern Second Round against the Canes on May 16, 2024, a 5-3 win. We saw a hat trick from our left-winger Chris Kreider, scoring three unanswered goals in a row in the third period.

Shesty, in goal the whole game, had a .917 save percentage with three goals allowed on a whopping 36 shot attempts. This is a reflection of Carolina’s strong offence. You had their top three goal-scorers last regular season each scoring a goal in that game: centres Martin Necas, and, guess who? Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho.

Takeaway: Carolina’s offence is very strong, and the Blueshirts goaltending and defence should be ready for it.

Hurricanes players to watch: Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas, Andrei Svechnikov

Washington Capitals

The Caps finished fourth in the Metropolitan Division last year, 23 points behind the Blueshirts with 91 (40 wins, 31 losses, and 11 overtime losses). Despite their difference in the standings, Washington was able to dominate New York heavily in their first of four matchups last regular season. On December 9, 2023, the Caps beat the Rangers 4-0 at Capital One Arena in front of 18,573 fans in Washington.

But two days after Christmas, the matchup returned home in front of a capacity crowd at The Garden, and this time the Blueshirts won 5-1. The victory came off, in part, from two goals from young defenceman K’Andre Miller. There was also a power play goal from the man himself, Artemi Panarin. This was already his 19th goal of that season. Alexis Lafreniere also scored in the third period to further clench an already-clenched victory.

In January, the Rangers had back-to-back tight games against the Caps. The first was a 3-2 loss to Washington at Capital One Arena, with two Rangers goals from star defenceman Adam Fox. The Caps Nic Dowd and T.J. Oshie contributed to Washington’s scoring in that game. The very next day (January 14, 2024), the Blueshirts went home to Manhattan and beat the Caps 2-1 in front of a crowd of 18,006 at The Garden. New York stars Panarin and Lafreniere scored those two goals.

T.J. Oshie Injury

Again, T.J. Oshie scored Washington’s goal on January 14. Sadly, the 37-year-old right-winger Oshie is expected to start this season on long-term injured reserve due to “sometimes debilitating” back pain.

Takeaway: The Rangers should keep their guard up even against a team they dominated by far in previous seasons.

Capitals players to watch: Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome

Pittsburgh Penguins

The last Pens and Blueshirts matchup, on April 1, 2024, reflected the fierce Metropolitan Division competition New York has. The Pens won 5-2, despite only making 20 shots on goal compared to the Rangers 30. This was a big game for Sid the Kid, since his three points got him his 19th season averaging at least one point a game. This tied with The Great One Wayne Gretzky for most in league history.

But let’s not forget about Bryan Rust, the now 32-year-old right-winger being short only to Sid in Penguins goals last season (28 in just 62 games). Both Rust and Crosby scored twice in that most recent matchup, their first two being back to back with each other. Crosby also assisted on Rust’s opening goal.

Takeaway: The Penguins ageing roster does not mean they are any less competitive.

Penguins players to watch: Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin

Philadelphia Flyers

Next, we have another big Rangers rival. Although the Rangers won the first three of their four matchups last season, let’s talk about things that went wrong in the 4-1 loss to Philly on April 11, 2024. Number one was an excellent performance by Flyers netminder Samuel Ersson, who notched a .960 save percentage off 25 shots against. The Ranger who did score had a couple advantages, being the Blueshirts top goal-scorer last year by a considerable margin and also scoring on the power play – Artemi Panarin.

Takeaway: A great goalie can make the difference between winning and losing a game.

Flyers players to watch: Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Samuel Ersson, Joel Farabee

Columbus Blue Jackets

Finally, you have the team the Rangers unfortunately had about twice the wins of in the 2023-24 season (55 vs. 27 wins). That being said, the Jackets beat the Rangers in two of their four matchups last regular season. The first one on October 14, 2023, was a 5-3 win for the Jackets. This included a hat trick from Jackets centre and shot-sniper Boone Jenner, also the first three of four Columbus goals in a row.