Now that all the pomp and circumstance has passed, now that the omnipresent documentary cameras have left, now that the focus is back indoors, the Rangers have work to do.
A day later, the Blueshirts were still reveling somewhat in the glow of the Winter Classic, a terrifically staged drama that resulted in a 3-2 overtime victory Monday afternoon over the Sabres outdoors at Citi Field. There was a ton of hype going into it, and the game lived up to almost everyone’s expectations despite the subarctic temperatures.
But the hype has given way to the Blackhawks, a stout opponent that coach Alain Vigneault was looking forward to having in the Garden for a prime-time matchup Wednesday night.
“I’m happy we’ve got an Original Six team coming in, like Chicago, a team that obviously with their skill set and their reputation that they bring to the table, it should have everyone’s attention,” Vigneault said after a short and spirited practice Tuesday in Westchester. “Because there’s no doubt that [Monday’s] game was a special game and a special event.”
The Rangers organization dealt with a lot in the lead-up to the event, and Vigneault was certainly correct in saying the whole thing was very “well run.” After J.T. Miller scored the overtime winner and all the flames and fireworks went off around the Mets’ ballpark, the Rangers moved to 4-0 in their history of outdoor games.
“It was obviously an emotional week, an emotional month leading up to all the excitement,” Rick Nash said. “It’s kind of nice it’s behind us now and we can move on with the season.”
Now it’s back to thinking about the actual hockey, to the tightly packed Metropolitan Division with at least seven postseason-worthy candidates. That means every point is at a premium, something the Rangers have been able to focus on while going 12-4-3 over their previous 19 contests, a stretch that even internally has had its ups and downs.
Fortunately, their flow was not interrupted by the Winter Classic, which the Rangers had hoped was only a good thing.
“I think it’s a nice change of pace in the course of a season,” defenseman Marc Staal said. “It’s obviously a good win, so the feeling in the room after was that we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. All those things. Everything can hopefully get us rolling and string a few wins together and help us down the road.”
The season takes a bit of an odd turn here in the first month of 2018, with the schedule coming to a few stops and starts. The team is going to fly to Arizona on Thursday for a Friday practice and then a game against old buddy Derek Stepan and the Coyotes on Saturday night. Then Sunday night is their first-ever game in Las Vegas, where the red-hot Golden Knights await for the second leg of a back-to-back.
Then the Blueshirts go right into their five-day bye week. By the end of the month there is a four-game, week-long road trip to Denver and California, which segues right into the All-Star break, leaving the Rangers without a game from Jan. 26 until a Garden match Feb. 1 against the Maple Leafs.
By then, the Winter Classic will seem like a long time in the past and the Rangers will have a better idea where they stack up in the postseason picture.
“I think January is a challenging month with the breaks,” Staal said. “If you’re not paying attention to detail and not working the right way — you’re not playing [a lot], you’re not getting into the flow. It breaks up a little bit. So I think we just have to make sure that when it’s time to play, we’re ready to go. And understanding points are huge, especially going into the second half. They’re going to be big going down the stretch, so we have to make sure that we have a good month.”