Rangers vs. Sharks: A Sharknado of Goals
It's good to win a game like that. But you're supposed to win games like that against the worst team in the league.
- Six goals? In this economy? Hell, I would have been happy with just six shots on goal in any given period, but six goals? Is that even allowed?
- Wait, it gets better. The Rangers fired 33 shots on goal in that game: 14 in the first, eight in the second, and 11 in the third. I was honestly uncertain if they were allowed to do that.
- That was a dominant win, in a game the Rangers absolutely needed to win—especially after the catastrophe that was the previous night's game against the Anaheim Ducks. So, good.
- You absolutely should not be standings watching, but for those of you sickos who are: yes, the Ranger are back in playoff position after collecting that win and those two points. They're at 77 points, two clear of both the Montreal Canadiens and the Columbus Blue Jackets, although both of those teams still have two games-in-hand on the Rangers. According to MoneyPuck, that win bumped the Rangers playoff odds to a whopping 36.5 percent chance. That's a little better than a one-in-three chance of the elevator crashing to the ground floor, which really says a lot about ::checks notes:: how awful the East is this year.
- But... these are the San Jose Sharks we're talking about. At 20-43-9 for a total of 49 points, they were presently the worst team in the National Hockey League. That Anaheim team who just defeated the Rangers in OT and who won't sniff the playoffs has 72 points, just by way of comparison. If you're the Rangers, you absolutely must win these games against objectively bad teams. And, remember, this team certainly hasn't been above putting up stinkers against basement dwellers. They lost to the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators earlier this season when those teams held the distinction of being the league's worst when they met.
- The time on ice distribution for that game was ... not nearly as insanely stupid as previous games have been. For the first time in recent memory, no forward played fewer than 10 minutes. Brett Berard clocked in the lowest with 10:33. Nicholas Aube-Kubel was next with 11:24. Then it was Brennan Othmann with 11:42.
