NHL

Rangers in a great spot as they hit the road

So the Rangers go on the road, and that seems where they are happiest.

With just eight games remaining in the regular season, the Rangers head off to Calgary for Friday night’s start of the four-game road trip, and by the time they return, the playoffs could very well be a formality.

Of course, there is no jumping to conclusions in this Eastern Conference, where the Rangers hold a three-point advantage over the Flyers for second place in the Metropolitan Division — although the Flyers, whom they beat 3-1 on Wednesday night in Garden, still hold two games in hand. Yet the Blueshirts hold the best road record in the conference at 23-13-0, so by the time they return from this trip that winds from Calgary to Edmonton to Vancouver and finally to Denver, things could very well be a little more solid in terms of standing.

“We know we can beat them,” Marc Staal said after the Flyers game, his team getting Thursday off for travel. “It’s not like one of those teams where you get into their rink and almost like you don’t even know if you’re going to try to win. We’ve shown them we can go in there and win.

“It was big for us [Wednesday] to win a home game. We’ve been inconsistent at home and it’s a big game for us to [show] that we can.”

The win took the Rangers to the unenviable home record of 18-16-4, which has them better than only the Hurricanes and Islanders in the division. The first three teams they are facing on this road trip were a combined 89-105-26 before play on Thursday night, and only John Tortorella’s Canucks had a puncher’s chance of making the playoffs.

“The last few games, it seems like everything is ramped up a lot,” said fourth-line forward Derek Dorsett, who Wednesday scored his fourth goal of the season. “It’s that time of year where everyone is desperate for points and you’re just trying to solidify for the playoffs.”

It sure seems like at this point, the Rangers are rounding into form at the right time. They have gotten contributions from all four lines, but also from their defensemen. The ascendancy of Ryan McDonagh into the Norris Trophy conversation happened quickly when he made a wonderful play on Wednesday night, toe-dragging through the top of the offensive zone and ripping a wrist shot for a 2-0 lead.

“We know what the points mean every night,” McDonagh said. “We’re trying to focus on every day. We’ve found a lot of ways to win and that’s a good thing.”


There was no update of forward Chris Kreider, who injured his left hand and missed Wednesday’s game.

Coach Alain Vigneault said Kreider hurt the hand in last Friday’s 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets, and although he played in the next two games, Vigneault did not rule out the possibility of Kreider needing surgery.

Kreider was replaced in the lineup by J.T. Miller, an emergency call-up from AHL Hartford.