One step away from the Rangers.
They are one step away from winning the Presidents Trophy for the fourth time in franchise history, the first since the 2014-15 season.
They are one step away from securing home ice advantage for the entire postseason.
The fate of both is in their hands.
After picking up a franchise-best 54th win of the season with a 3-2 penalty shootout win over the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, the Rangers now have an NHL-high 112 points and will return home on Monday. The final game of the season will be held at against the senators.
“We still have one game left,” head coach Peter Laviolette said after Saturday’s game. “We’re going to work hard to play that game properly and do the right things. Once that’s done, the regular season starts and we’ll work on the playoffs.”
The Rangers’ solid defense on both sides began to loosen, and they lost two straight and three out of six games since Saturday.
However, another come-from-behind victory, a franchise-best 28th win of the season, steadied the ship and brought the two teams one step closer.
If they can’t bounce back, the Stars’ 3-1 win over the Kraken, combined with the Rangers’ loss in regulation, would cause them to fall to the second-best record in the league, giving up the top spot to Dallas. It would have meant that its own destiny.
Instead, the Stars have 111 points and don’t play until Tuesday. That means you can see them going into the final game if they have a chance to replace Rangers.
Even if they lose on Monday, the game will be sealed if the Rangers go to overtime and pick up a point.
This will give them 113 points, the highest point the Stars can reach, and if the Rangers exceed the required number of wins, they will win in the tiebreaker.
“The only thing we can do is [right now] I’m going to play in regular season games,” Laviolette said of potentially looking to the postseason. “We still have one regular season game left. We want to make sure we get two points and do our best to get the win. And if we can do that well enough, we’ll play for the Stanley Cup.” You will get a chance.”
For the Rangers, who have made Madison Square Garden their fortress this season, having home ice will be a huge boon.
Entering Monday, their 29 home wins are the second-most in the league, with only the Avalanche (30) having a better record.
But, unsurprisingly, winning the Presidents Trophy has brought enough bad luck in recent years.
None of the previous eight winning teams even made it past the second round, and it’s been 10 years since the best regular season team won the Stanley Cup.
In fact, only two Presidents Trophy winners have won the Stanley Cup in the past 20 years.
Last year, the Bruins set an NHL record with 135 points in a regular season.
But that didn’t matter as they were eliminated in the first round by the Panthers.
The Rangers have never experienced playoff disappointment after a great regular season, especially last year’s heart-breaking first-round loss to the rival Devils.
Asked if this year’s team is better equipped for the playoffs than last year’s team, coached by Gerard Gallant, Laviolette preferred to take things one step at a time.
Let’s start with the 82nd game.
If that happens, they’ll have to worry about the postseason.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Laviolette said. “The playoffs are what we’re here for. We’ve got to get through the next game, make sure we do a good job in that game. And we’re going to attack. [the playoffs]”
