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LAS VEGAS — With more than half of the first 82-game season in two years already in the books, the NHL’s All-Star weekend is a welcome break for many of the players participating.
For those in the Metropolitan Division, however, it’s impossible to ignore the looming playoff race that is bound to be neck-and-neck given the current state of the standings. At the moment, the top three teams in the division — the Hurricanes (31-9-2), Rangers (30-13-4) and Penguins (27-11-8) — are separated by just two points.
“It feels like no one else is dropping games, everyone just keeps on winning,” said Chris Kreider, who was one of three Rangers named as an All-Star, but is the only one participating in the weekend festivities. “At the same time, we’ve only seen the Canes once. Haven’t seen Pittsburgh, seen Washington once. Ultimately we have some really big games down the stretch.
“And that’s fun. Those are the games that you want to play in, test yourself and ultimately learn the things you need to work on.”
The Hurricanes are currently in first place with 64 points and five games in hand on the Rangers, who are tied with the Capitals for the most games played in the division. The Rangers are breathing down Carolina’s neck with 64 points and just one fewer win.
Sitting in third after picking up three points from overtime losses over their past four games before the All-Star break, the Penguins have 62 points through 46 games.
The Rangers have 17 division games remaining over their final 35 regular-season games, including three more meetings with the mighty Hurricanes. Their first division opponents coming out of their two-week hiatus from game action will be the Capitals on Feb. 24 and the Penguins two days later.
Kreider noted that the Rangers were expecting an even longer break for the Beijing Olympics, but the NHL pulled its players out of the Games in late December amid COVID-19 protocol concerns. But to have a break at all, the 30-year-old winger said, is beneficial.
“I think it’s a good time to reset for our entire group,” Kreider said. “We’ve played the most road games in the NHL right now of any team. Obviously, we didn’t have a lot of games postponed.”
The Islanders have played a league-low 39 games after a slew of postponements due to their own COVID-19 outbreak earlier in the season and attendance restrictions in Canada. Third to last in the Metro was not where the Islanders expected to be after making a run to the conference final in the last two seasons, but defenseman Adam Pelech said his team is ready for the challenge ahead.
With 43 games left and a steep hill to climb, however, the Islanders have a lot of ground to cover.
“We’re definitely confident,” said Pelech, the Islanders’ lone All-Star. “We understand that we have to go on a roll here.”
The same can be said for the Devils, who currently sit in the basement of the division and are fifth-to-last in the NHL, with 35 points. Having lost 10 of their past 12 games, the Devils are likely grateful for an opportunity to regroup.
“We’re obviously struggling,” Devils center Jack Hughes said. “We have good, young pieces in place, but we’re working, we’re learning how to win. We still have 40 games to go, so we just got to keep pushing.”
Every game down the stretch in the Metropolitan Division is going to be meaningful, every point is going to make a difference and the top teams are going to be clawing toward the finish line.
“I think you start score watching a little bit earlier on in the year,” said Tom Wilson of the Capitals, who trail the Penguins by three points in the standings. “You look after you win a game, you look online and it seems like every Metro team just kind of keeps winning. But it’s fun. It’s competitive. They’ve built a great hockey team in New York. We know when we’re playing a divisional opponent, it’s going to be a battle.
“We’re looking forward to crunch time here toward the end of the year, and no matter who we’re playing in the playoffs, if we get in and we’re there, it’s going to be a battle.”
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