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Rangers face treacherous path after Winter Classic

2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic - New York Rangers v Buffalo Sabres

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 01: Michael Grabner #40 of the New York Rangers scores a first period goal against the Buffalo Sabres during the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field on January 1, 2018 in Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Ultimately, the 2018 Winter Classic only counts as one game from the New York Rangers’ and Buffalo Sabres’ respective 82-game seasons.

It’s something that was special for players and fans, yet it counts as it usually would: two points for the Rangers and one for the Sabres after New York won 3-2 in overtime thanks to J.T. Miller’s power-play goal.

(Soak in some of that atmosphere here, with no need for mittens.)

With all of that acknowledged, allow an observation: when we look back at the 2017-18 season, the win might just come in awfully handy for the Rangers, particularly in a skin-tight race for positioning in the East’s brutal Metropolitan Division.

Here’s how the Metro’s top four looks after the Rangers’ win; if you want a full view of the very competitive division, check out the standings.

1. Capitals: 24-13-3, 51 points in 40 games played
2. Devils: 22-10-6, 50 pts in 38 GP
3. Rangers: 21-13-5, 47 pts in 37 GP
4. Blue Jackets: 22-15-3, 47 pts in 40 GP

Pretty remarkable stuff from the Rangers, especially since the team’s season seemed to be swirling around the sink early in 2017-18, with the team as bad as 1-5-2 on Oct. 19.

There’s a lot to celebrate here with the Rangers, but this win means something because of how imbalanced this team’s schedule has been so far. Let’s put it this way: the Rangers should be glad that the 2018 Winter Classic was considered a “road game.”

So far this season, the Rangers have played 24 games at Madison Square Garden, going 15-6-3. They’ve only played 15 games on the road, counting the Winter Classic, generating a 6-7-2 record. They now only have 17 home games and 26 road games to go during the remainder of 2017-18, so that means nine more road than home contests.

The Rangers face a tough haul from late January to early February, in particular:

Sat, Jan 20 @ Colorado
Sun, Jan 21 @ Los Angeles
Tue, Jan 23 @ Anaheim
Thu, Jan 25 @ San Jose
Thu, Feb 1 vs Toronto
Sat, Feb 3 @ Nashville
Mon, Feb 5 @ Dallas
Wed, Feb 7 vs Boston
Fri, Feb 9 vs Calgary
Sun, Feb 11 @ Winnipeg
Tue, Feb 13 @ Minnesota
Thu, Feb 15 @ NY Islanders
Sat, Feb 17 @ Ottawa

As you can see, that’s a stretch where the Rangers play 10 of 13 games on the road. The best break there is that they only face one back-to-back stretch during that span, when they begin a four-game road trip.

There are two other away-heavy runs following that: five of six games on the road (Feb. 28 - March 10) and then they close the season with a four-game road trip. The interesting wrinkle regarding that season-ending span is that all four games come against Metropolitan Division teams.

Sat, Mar 31 @ Carolina
Tue, Apr 3 @ New Jersey
Thu, Apr 5 @ NY Islanders
Sat, Apr 7 @ Philadelphia

Interesting stuff. Could we run into another situation where a shootout decides a playoff spot during the last game of the season?

With this current 6-7-2 road record in mind, a lot of games away from MSG stands as a concern. That said, the Rangers have a recent history of being a strong road team under Alain Vigneault, including a 27-12-2 record in 2016-17 (which was better than their 21-16-4 mark at home that season).
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None of these concerns bury the Rangers by any means, particularly during a season when they’ve already “cheated death” once.

Still, with things so tight in the Metro races, that schedule stands as foreboding, especially since their peers have experienced more home-road balance. For all we know, every standings point could really end up counting ... so hey, maybe this Winter Classic win might mean quite a bit.


James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.