Because the dust settles on one other trade deadline, the Rangers can pivot to the playoff push, starting with a Saturday home date against the Blues after 4 days of rest.
The goal was so as to add scoring punch, but with the Hurricanes having outbid Recent York for Jake Guentzel, the query became, what can be price having Drury dig deep into his pockets?
Subsequently, the reply was nothing as some roster reinforcement was added as an alternative.
So unless some eleventh hour development is made with among the youth within the Rangers’ bottom-six forward group, that is the lineup that may either sink or swim this spring.
It’s a product that has showcased dominance with its special teams all season, including a 25.1 percent success rate on the ability play.
That and heroic goaltending have been the bread and butter on Broadway, as Igor Shesterkin has reclaimed his confidence with a 2.00 goals against average because the start of February.
A standard criticism of the Rangers is their inconsistencies at five-on-five play, which has seen some trending improvement.
The Rangers’ exhausting 4-2 loss to the five-on-five-bullying Panthers on Monday had some flashes of resilience at even strength — especially in the primary period.
To not praise morale victories, but going the space with Florida is about as near a playoff-like atmosphere as you’re going to get.
The identical can’t be said for the Blues, who’re certainly one of the weakest five-on-five challenges.
St. Louis has been scraping for offense all season with Robert Thomas having been the one good headline, leading the club with 69 points.
Betting on the NHL?
The Rangers carry 4 players with 50-plus points — all of whom should profit from the 32.1 shots the Blues allow together with a minus-18 goal differential and the sixth-most high-danger scoring probabilities against.
Recent York is plus-19 at MSG this season together with a 21-8-0 record.
The Blueshirts’ dress rehearsal for the playoff begins Saturday against a St. Louis team that’s idly coasting through the rest of its season.
The play: Rangers -1.5 goals (+125, FanDuel).