You may not be able to miss the playoffs in the first quarter of a season, but you can boost your odds of making it with a good start. There is a common theme to the New York Rangers’ schedule to start the 2023-24 season. It involves a lot of white sweaters and a lot of travel, as they will be on the road often.
Any team will tell you that an excellent road trip to start the season allows the group to bond more than a homestand. Playing your first chunk of games at home may be nice, but the players have their routines and home lives to return to after the job is done.
On the road, you are with your teammates the entire time. Meals are usually had together, allowing a roster to come together exponentially faster. Although the Rangers roster is predominantly the same, new faces are being added to the mix that will benefit from the extended time around their new teammates.
The core still has unfinished business and a sour taste in their mouths from last season, so starting on the road will allow them to collect those emotions and pivot them toward a robust and united start to the new year. But after a certain stretch, home ice is needed, and losing can spiral quickly when heading home seems so far away.
That is what the Rangers will be tasked with this upcoming season, as they head on the road early and often. Let’s take a look at the early portion of the schedule.
Rangers Start With 7 of 9 Games on the Road
The Rangers kick off their regular season on Oct. 12 in Buffalo to take on the Sabres. That game starts a stretch that will see them play seven of their first nine games on the road. The Blueshirts travel to Columbus afterward before returning home for the first time.
In fact, two home games against the Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators on Oct. 16 and 19 are the lone games at Madison Square Garen in October. Oddly enough, the Rangers head out on a five-game West Coast road trip that spans ten days.
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They will make stops in Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. Seven of the first nine games are on the road, and seven are against Western Conference opponents. It is a very odd way to start a new season, but these are the cards the Rangers have been dealt.
In recent years, none of the buildings they are headed into have been friendly to the Rangers. Besides Seattle, which they are 1-0-1 in and has only been in existence for two years, the Blueshirts are 4-6-3 over the past five seasons in the four Canadian venues.
Road trips to Western Canada rarely favor the Rangers, a trend they hope to end when they head there just four games into the new season. Road games in Canada are always tough, and adding a stop at the front end of the journey in Seattle is no pushover. Climate Pledge Arena has been a difficult venue since it opened in 2021, and the Kraken are on the heels of the franchise’s first playoff run.
It’s a long and challenging road trip that early in a new campaign, but the Rangers and new head coach Peter Laviolette will have to find a way to navigate it.
November Brings More Challenges for the Rangers
Twelve of the Rangers’ first 18 games will be on the road to start 2023-24. Despite having a slight reprieve in November, during which four of the first five games of the month will be at home, they head out on another road trip. This four-game trip will be more manageable, with the New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers slated as the opponents.
Although this road trip will be significantly lighter on the miles traveled, facing three division rivals and a very good Central Division opponent in the Stars is no easy task. Facing the Devils on Nov. 18 is a game that is circled on most calendars. The rematch of last year’s seven-game series, which saw the Devils get the better of the Rangers, will be a litmus test for both sides.
Kicking off that road trip with a grueling game before flying to Dallas is yet another obstacle the Rangers must overcome early in 2023-24. But looking at the first quarter of the season for the Rangers, there are challenges aplenty. Not only do they have to be road warriors, but they will have to battle against some really good teams in the process.
Fifteen of the Rangers’ first 21 games feature an opponent who was at .500 or better during the 2022-23 season. It’s a tall task to start the season with 77 percent of the games being on the road, but it’s another thing to face top-quality teams while doing it.
Laviolette must have his team ready by the end of training camp for the grind this early season will bring. Playing well on the road was a staple of the Rangers’ game under Gerard Gallant, and for this year’s edition of the Blueshirts to get off to a good start, road success will have to remain a staple.
The early portion of the Rangers’ schedule is certainly a challenge, but it will show the team’s fortitude early on and bolster the cohesion of the roster for the long haul.
