Home sweet home has never been so sweet for Rangers this season.
After a 1-0-1 trip to Florida over New Year's weekend, the Blueshirts return home Tuesday to face the 11-game winners of the Metropolitan Division, the Carolina Hurricanes. It's the start of a January schedule in which the Rangers will play seven of their 11 home games, but in those seven games they will face four of the current division leaders.
With a total of five home games against record teams this month, the park is no fortress for them this season. They enter Tuesday with an 8-7-4 home record.
"I don't know why," coach Gerard Gallant said after Monday's practice session when asked about the team's problems at home. "Some years you have an incredible home record, but the next year everything changes."
The Rangers went 27-10-4 at home last season with 52 wins and 110 regular season points. But in their first 38 games, they realized this wasn't their last season.
Also, their retro Lady Liberty jerseys didn't help matters. There are 1 to 5 people staying at home.
However, they are on Tuesday 12-20-6. They are 12-5-2 after taking three of a possible four points in Florida this weekend.
"I think we go on the road, you focus on the game," Gallant said. “During the holidays you're away from home with your family and everything, so maybe the last two games we're focused on the game and ready to play. Honestly, sometimes it's hard to define. . . But the record is far from over, keep doing it.”
The home season began with a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay on the opening day, followed by a 6-4 win over Anaheim. But then they lost to lowly San Jose (and former coach David Quinn) in overtime; Lost to last place Columbus in the East and lost in a shootout to the eventual Stanley Cup winners Colorado Avalanche (and former Rangers goaltender Alexander Georgiev).
In their next home game, they beat Lolly Flyers 1–0 in extra time. They then went 1-5-2 over their next eight home runs.
A three-goal lead blew in the third period in a 4–3 loss to Edmonton on Nov. 26, and two days later, goaltender Igor Shesterkin said he was "embarrassed" by his performance in a loss to the Devils. . Then, on Dec. 3, they lost 5-2 to last-ranked Chicago, who looked like they were going to lose this season because of the prospect of the No. 1 pick this summer and the draft rights to Connor Bedard. .
This looks like below. Before that, Rangers went 4-6-4 at home before trying to turn things around with a desperate win over the Blues on December 5. It began a seven-game winning streak before the Christmas break, including home wins against the Devils, Maple Leafs and Islanders.
But in the first game after the break, they lost 4-0 to Washington at the Garden. And then Galan said: "We were rubbish today."
It's the first home game since Tuesday, and then the Rangers travel to Montreal on Thursday for a 15-19-3 game against the Canadiens, then to Newark on Saturday for a morning game against the Devils. Then they have a rematch at home against old friends Ryan Reaves and Minnesota (21-13-2), the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars (23-9-6) and the Canadiens.
After traveling to Columbus on January 16, they close the month with a home game against Atlantic Division leader Boston, who has the NHL's best record (29-4-4), followed by the Florida Panthers (16-18-4). and Pacific Division leader Vegas (26-12-2) in their final game before the All-Star break. They also have a road game Jan. 25 at Toronto (23-8-6).
