The Rangers are headed to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth straight season, but their road to home-ice advantage has been hindered by familiar faces.
New York enters Wednesday on the back of a two-game winning streak to give it a 45-26-9 record (99 points), clinging to the third spot in the Metropolitan Division with two games remaining.
The Rangers are chasing the second-place Penguins (102 points, two games remaining) for home-ice in the first round, and trying to fend off the Wild Card Islanders (97 points, three games).
Coming out of a 3-2 victory over the Lightning on Tuesday, the Blueshirts are staring down a clash with the Islanders on Thursday and Red Wings on Saturday to close out the slate. Thus far, their former players have been making their road to the postseason difficult.
Brandon Dubinsky
The Rangers are going to have to close out the season and possibly play some or all of their playoff games without captain and top defenseman Ryan McDonagh, thanks indirectly to their former forward Dubinsky. McDonagh left Monday's 4-2 victory over Columbus after he injured his right hand when blocking a shot by the Blue Jackets forward, rocking the Rangers blue line. The club announced Tuesday that he'll miss at least the rest of the regular season. Dubinsky played with the Rangers from 2006-11.
Brian Boyle
The Rangers blue line took another hit on Tuesday, this time directly thanks to a former player. Boyle, who played with the Rangers from 2010-14 and was part of the 2013-14 Eastern Conference championship team, rattled Dan Girardi with a boarding penalty. Girardi stayed down after the hit and didn't return to the game. Coach Alain Vigneault believed he'd be alright, according to the New York Daily News, but Girardi is a tough player, so seeing him down on the ice was concerning.
Carl Hagelin
This former Blueshirt speedster, who played in New York from 2011 until being traded away this past offseason, affected the team without even playing against them. A Pittsburgh loss to Ottawa on Tuesday coupled with a Rangers win would have put New York just one point behind the Penguins in the standings. Pittsburgh entered the third period trailing the Senators 3-2, but Hagelin found the back of the net for the game-tying and game-winning goals, his 13th and 14th tallies of the season. Sidney Crosby then added an empty-netter as the Penguins jumped to a three-point lead over the Rangers with two games left for both teams.
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