A couple of days ago, the New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette talked big. On Saturday, he and his players backed it up by beating the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a game that ended with a shootout win.
When asked by a reporter on Wednesday, March 20,, Laviolette was asked whether finishing the season with the no. 1 seed in the NHL Eastern Conference would affect a potential playoff run or not.
“That’s a funny question you get asked all the time,” Laviolette responded. “But if you’re asking me if we want to win the game [Thursday, against the Bruins], we definitely do. And then if we go to the next day, if you’re asking me if we want to win that game [Saturday, against the Panthers], we definitely do. And if that leads to us being first overall, then that’s the way it played out.”
By beating the Panthers on Saturday, March 23, the Rangers (47-20-4, 98 points) claimed the top seed in the conference from the Boston Bruins (41-16-15, 97 points) and led them by one point in the standings going into Sunday.
If the regular season ended today, the Rangers would be awarded the President’s Trophy as the team with the most points earned before the playoffs.
The Rangers secured their first comeback win this year thanks to goals by Artemi Panarin (twice) and Adam Fox after falling behind 0-2 early in the second period. Vincent Trocheck didn’t score but provided three assists while netminder Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 shots as well as two attempts in the shootout to push the Rangers to their 47th win of the season.
The NHL President’s Trophy… A Blessing or A Curse?
If you’re wondering why winning as many games and earning as many points as possible–and lifting the President’s Trophy by extension–could mean trouble, that's because of the classic “President’s Curse” story that surrounds the award.
The Rangers, however, didn’t seem to be overly concerned about heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the best regular-season team in the NHL. Far from it. This week alone, New York defeated Boston 5-2 and then doubled down on their winning streak by beating Florida, making it back-to-back victories against two top-five teams in the league.
The word on the street is that entering the postseason with the best regular-season record means you can’t win the Stanley Cup. In fact, eight out of 37 teams to do it since the trophy was first introduced in 1986 went on to win the championship.
That being said, it’s also true that no President’s Trophy winner has won the Stanley Cup since the Chicago Blackhawks last did it in the 2012-13 season.
That’s correct; it’s been more than a decade since the last time it happened, and only once did that team advance past the second round of the playoffs. Who was that team, you ask? The New York Rangers in 2015 when they lost to eventual champions the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
New York’s Struggles Against Tampa Bay Are Real
Most probably, that potential matchup against the Lightning is what truly concerns the Rangers even though they will never publicly acknowledge it.
The future of the Rangers depends on their position in the Eastern Conference standings. Currently, New York would face the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs. Detroit Red Wings have the second wild card spot with a record of 36-29-6 and 78 points.
If New York loses the no. 1 seed in the East but still wins the Metropolitan Division (they have a 3-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes), they would most likely face the Lightning (38-25-7, 83 points) instead. They would confront a familiar opponent in the Lightning, who eliminated them from the playoffs in 2015 and also defeated them this season in a come-from-behind 6-3 victory on March 14. If New York finishes first in the Eastern Conference, they would probably face the Detroit Red Wings,
Washington Capitals
Philadelphia Flyers in the first round. Otherwise, they are likely to face Tampa., or Laviolette responded to a question about the impact of the victory and securing the no. 1 seed by saying, “We’ll probably take it slow. I like your big-picture idea, but you can keep that to yourself. Laviolette told reporters during his postgame press conference on March 23. “We’re just going to go slow,” Laviolette concluded.The Rangers claimed the no. 1 seed in the NHL Eastern Conference. Are they concerned about the “President’s Curse”?
A media member asked Laviolette how the victory and taking over the no. 1 seed set the Rangers up for the rest of the season. “I think we’ll probably just go slow,” Laviolette told reporters in his postgame press conference on March 23. “I like your big-picture idea, (but) you can keep that to yourself.
“We’re just going to go slow,” Laviolette finished.
