The New York Rangers have been one of the more fascinating teams to watch so far this season and not for any good reason. The team has struggled since the start of November and their downward spiral continued in their last game, a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden. Nothing seems to be working for this team right now and it is impacting the entire roster from top to bottom. If things don’t change soon, something is going to have to give and one aspect that won’t be making their lives any easier is their schedule for the rest of December.
They will be playing 12 more games in the next 26 days to end 2024 and it is going to be a mixed bag of opponents for them. Of the 12 teams they will be facing, six of them are currently in a playoff position. This isn’t going to be an easy stretch for the Rangers and if they continue to play the way they are for the rest of this month, their hopes of making the playoffs could go up in flames by the time 2025 rolls around.
These Next 4 Games Are Crucial
The next four games for the Rangers are going to be some of the most important of the season because these games could help the team get back on track. Their next four opponents are teams not currently in playoff position and are some of the bottom teams in the NHL. The next three games are at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken and Chicago Blackhawks. They then take a quick road trip up north to play the Buffalo Sabres. This is a crucial stretch of the season because they are going up against teams that they should be beating and maybe these are the kinds of games that can get players like Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck back on track.
While these are opponents the Rangers should be able to beat, they can’t take any of these teams lightly. The Penguins have won four in a row and are only one point behind them in the Metropolitan Division. The Sabres came into MSG earlier in the season and laid a beating on the Rangers by a final score of 6-1. No game is ever truly easy in the NHL and for a team that has been struggling as badly as they have been, these are the kinds of games in which they can get that confidence back or it can get into their heads even more and cost them these games.
Important Matchups Against Western Conference Opponents
After their trip to Buffalo, the next four games will be against teams from the Western Conference. The first will be at home against the Los Angeles Kings, the first team they play that is currently in a playoff position. Then, they head out west for a three-game road trip to take on the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. They are currently 4-4-1 against the Western Conference so these are going to be a true test to see how they match up against teams they only play twice a year. Out of these four teams, they have only faced the Blues so far this season and that game was a disaster, a 5-2 loss on home ice.
Related: Rangers Continue Trying to Solve Same Problems While Ignoring Core Issues
The Kings have been playing well lately, winning their last three games and currently sit second in the Pacific Division. The Blues have been playing better since their coaching change and have won five of their last ten. The Predators have been a disaster so far this season, sitting second to last in the Western Conference despite having so much talent and adding so much over the offseason. That game could be considered a “trap” game in which the Rangers should be winning, but end up losing because the Predators still have dangerous players on their team. The Stars are once again a very good team, winning their last three and seven out of ten games. It is going to be important to see how the Rangers match up against these kinds of teams because they are all different and each have their own ways that they can beat you.
Final 4 Games Will Be the Toughest Stretch of Games This Season
The Rangers are not going to have it easy to end 2024. Their final four games of the month are against Eastern Conference rivals and teams that have beaten them so far this season and in the playoffs. It starts with a back-to-back when they face the Carolina Hurricanes at home and then they cross the Hudson River to face off against the Devils. Then, to truly end the month, they take a trip down south to take on the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Devils, Panthers and Hurricanes have already beaten them this season and none of those games were very competitive and they kicked the Rangers all over the ice. These games will be another chance to get revenge on these teams and show that you can’t be kicked around that easily.
If the Rangers continue to struggle as they head towards these games, it will likely end up being a major disaster to end the year. These are going to be fast-paced, physical and high-intensity games. All of these teams know that there is a good chance they could meet in the playoffs and they want to prove to each other why they are the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers need to show up in these games and show some life because if they don’t, they should end the season right there and then. After all, there will be no going back for this current iteration of the team.
The Rangers still hold the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference as of this writing so while they are in a playoff position, it still isn’t where the team should be. If they can come out of this month with a positive record and a more confident team going forward, then it might just be the turning point of the season. If they end up losing a majority of these games and continue to no show when the game is on the line, then maybe this team was just never good enough to begin with and changes are going to have to be made.
