The luxury of the Rangers racking up points for the first three-quarters of the season is now they don’t have to worry about wins and can focus instead on things that will have more of an impact once the postseason starts.
Because rest assured, they know what a challenge the first-round series against the Canadiens — starting Wednesday or Thursday in Montreal — will be.
“There’s no doubt that in the back of our minds, we are going to look ahead,” coach Alain Vigneault said Wednesday night after his team’s 2-0 loss to the league-leading Capitals in Washington. The coach gave his team off Thursday before they begin a back-to-back to finish the regular season, going to Ottawa to play the Senators on Saturday afternoon and then playing host to the Penguins on Sunday at the Garden.
“We still can’t look past Ottawa,” Vigneault said, “and then we have to take care of Pittsburgh.”
But Vigneault is looking ahead in a figurative sense, given the chance to rest six regulars on Wednesday night: Ryan McDonagh (the captain missing his third straight as he recovers from a minor undisclosed injury), Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello, Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei and Nick Holden.
One guy who did play was goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who had another solid performance in his fifth game back from a nearly three-week absence due to a hip injury. His game seems no longer to be in question.
Odds are backup Antti Raanta will get his final start of the regular season on Saturday and Lundqvist will have that final game against Sidney Crosby & Co. to tighten anything up and feel good about how he is playing entering the playoffs.
“Positive thing is our goaltender has found his game and is looking real sharp,” Vigneault said. “He was under control, he was focused. … For the most part, he made some timely saves and did what a goaltender is supposed to do — give you a chance to win.”
Lundqvist then joined the chorus of Rangers players who used the word “structure” in describing the game they played against the Capitals. That defensive mindfulness must have been a point of emphasis from the coaches as they think of some of the miscues over the past month that has led to a 7-8-4 record going back to Feb. 26.
“There was a lot of structure in front of me,” Lundqvist said. “We made really good decisions with the puck. We don’t give up the really big scoring chances right in front. There are going to be a few — there are going to be a couple breakdowns, it’s hockey — but you have to make them earn it by working really hard. I think the last two games we’ve been smart and more consistent with our decisions. And I think that’s very important going forward.”
The Canadiens are still a team with skill up front, but as opposed to prior years, they now have an edge to their game with the trade-deadline acquisitions of Dwight King, Steve Ott and Jordie Benn. And of course, Carey Price, a likely finalist for the Vezina Trophy, is once again having an outstanding season in goal.
The Rangers will need to counter with Lundqvist on top of his game, with structure in their own end and with opportunistic offense. There will be unforeseen circumstances as well, and injuries can change the makeup of a series. (Don’t have to look too far to remember Price getting hurt by Chris Kreider in the conference finals of 2014.) So it’s also good that Vigneault is getting to look at the back end of his roster while so many of his regulars continue to sit.
But the task in front of them is to get through this weekend healthy and feeling good about their game, two things far more important at this point than actual wins.
“Postseason is demanding and you need depth,” Vigneault said, “and that’s what we’re going to try to get ready for in these last two games.”
The Post’s McDonald Award Nominees
The Rangers will return to the Garden for the final time in the regular season when they host the Penguins on Sunday night. That will also be when they hand out the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, an honor the fans vote on and means so much, especially this year after the iconic NYPD detective died in January.
The award has been handed out since 1987-88 to the Ranger player “who goes above and beyond the call of duty both in and off the ice.” Here are the players The Post would consider for this year’s award.
1. Mats Zuccarello: The diminutive Norwegian has won the award twice, including last season and in 2013-14. He has had another terrific year, possibly leading the team in points again. It’s easy to forget that just two years ago he suffered a skull fracture and could not speak for four days. But Zuccarello has never lost his energy and enthusiasm on the ice, or his playmaking ability.
2. Jesper Fast: The do-it-all winger is reliable, and a glue piece to the lineup — just ask Alain Vigneault. The coach is effusive in his praise of the Swede, who is an integral part of the penalty kill and plays far above his 6-foot frame in his own zone and along the boards.
3. Marc Staal: It’s never going to be quite the way it was for Staal a few years ago, when he was as sturdy a defensive defenseman as there was around. But an eye injury, numerous concussions and, most recently, an ankle injury last season, has slowed him down. Yet Staal has managed to fight through and is again part of the back-end stable.