March Madness overshadowed Opening day, and the pro’s as well, but I’m here to catch you upon it.
KNICKS: 25-25
They blew an 18 point lead in a 102-101 loss to the league-worst TimberWolves in Minnesota, and fell at home to the Dallas Mavericks 99-86, with Luka Donic, putting ups game-high 26 points, sinking the Knicks back under.500, for a day, before a 125-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Motown kept the team seventh in the Eastern Conference.
NETS: 34-16
A 111-89 demolition the Hornets, was followed up with a 115-107 loss to the Bulls in Chicago. On the bright side, James Harden will be available with Kyrie Irving on Monday against the Knicks, with Kevin Durant at long last due back sometime in the next week.
Brooklyn is still first place in the Eastern Conference.
RANGERS 17-15-5:
The Rangers had a close call on Thursday in Buffalo allowing a ago with 3.6 seconds left in regulation, before winning it in overtime, courtesy of Mika Zibanejad. However, on Saturday night, the Blueshirts weren’t so lucky, allowing the game-tying goal with 3:26 left, ultimately losing in the shootout to the woeful Buffalo Sabers 3-2. Also on Saturday, the Rangers debuted their much-hyped teenage prospect in Vital Krastov, which may tell you all you need to know about where this organization is headed, with the April 12 trade-deadline looming. Currently, the Rangers sit sixth place in their division (To not many’s surprise), four points out of the fourth place Bruins, who also have three games in hand. That loss to the Sabres, coupled with the Bruins upset win over the Penguins, pushes the Rangers to four games back, with just 19 games remaining, and just a combined six remaining with the lowly Sabres(2), and Devils(4).
The Flyers also are in the mix at 17-14-5, and fifth in the East. With that, let’s breakdown the schedule for these three teams.
BRUINS(19-10-5):
3 VS FLYERS(5-0)
4 VS CAPITALS(2-2)
3 VS ISLANDERS(0-5)
6 VS BUFFALO(2-0)
2 VS RANGERS (4-2)
1 VS DEVILS(3-4)
2 VS PENS(4-2)
Schedule favors Boston here, especially with six against Buffalo left on their schedule, and likely just needs to play at a just above .500 pace to get in, unless the Rangers, and Flyers pull off a miracle.
FLYERS:
3 VS BRUINS(0-5)
2 VS ISLANDERS(3-3)
4 VS CAPITALS(1-3)
3 VS PENQUINS (3-2)
5 VS DEVILS (2-1)
2 VS RANGERS (3-3)
1 VS BUFFALO (5-2)
Philly will lily need to go 14-6, over their final 20 games to get into the postseason, and can’t afford losses to teams like the Sabers, and Devils.
RANGERS:
2 VS BRUINS(2-4)
2 VS PENS(1-5)
2 VS SABRES(4-2)
2 VS CAPS(4-2)
2 VS FLYERS(3-3)
4 VS DEVILS(2-2)
5 VS ISLES(1-2)
The Rangers will need to pull a rabbit out of their hat ad somehow find consistency, which has been a trouble all season long. Here’s the most realistic way, they can go 15-4, to make the playoffs, assuming Boston goes 11-11 the rest of the way…
2-0 vs Flyers
2-0vs Bruins’
1-1 vs Pens
1-1 vs Caps
2-0 vs Buffalo
4-0 vs Devils
3-2 vs Islanders
Thats’ what they need, can they do it? We will see! But personally, I’m looking at the development of guys like Kakko, Lafreniere, and Kratsov, as this rebuild process continues. Overall, the Rangers have met expectations this season. A middle of the pack team.
ISLANDERS: 24-10-4
Mathew Barzal continues to propel this Islanders team recording a hat trick, in an 8-4 win over the Capitals, and scoring the winner, in a 3-2 shootout win against the Flyers. NY is currently a game out of the first place Capitals(25-9-4), with 18 games to go.
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