Rangers' road dominance bodes well for potential playoff seeding
They may reside at the "World's Most Famous Arena," but the New York Rangers prefer life on the road.
The Blueshirts made the trek to Minnesota on Saturday to close out the second portion of their weekend back-to-back, and eked out an important 3-2 win over the Wild.
This shouldn't come as a surprise, though, as the Rangers have been the NHL's best road team all season long, leading the league in wins away from home.
Thanks to a foolish playoff system and a ridiculously competitive Metropolitan Division, the Rangers are slated to begin the playoffs as a wild-card seed. As it currently stacks up, New York would begin the postseason on the road in Montreal - a draw that sounds particularly unfavorable, until you look at the numbers.
| Location | Record | GF | GA | PP | PK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | 19-15-3 (41 pts) | 116 | 108 | 15.24% | 76.60% |
| Away | 26-9-0 (52 pts) | 112 | 78 | 21.90% | 83.30% |
The splits are inexplicably staggering, but in the long run, New York's trend of getting it done away from The Garden could pay dividends come Spring time, although they'd like find some consistency before then.
"We try to figure out why we are so good on the road and why it changes at home," forward Rick Nash told Jessi Pierce of NHL.com prior to the win in Minnesota. "It seems like we play straight lines on the road, get pucks deep, and at home we try to make the cute plays and not get as many shots on net. We are trying to bring that road game home."
However, perfecting the home game will have to wait, as four of the Rangers' next five games come on the road - something they probably aren't too upset about.