Odds are favoring playoffs
COVID positives force NHL to postpone Isles' next two games
The Rangers aren’t buying into the notion that if an NHL team sits in a playoff spot by Thanksgiving, then said team will likely go on to qualify for the postseason
Currently third in the Metropolitan Division at 13-4-3 through their first 20 games, the Rangers happen to be one of those teams. The Rangers, however, aren’t letting themselves get comfortable.
“There’s still a lot of hockey left to be played this year,” defenseman Adam Fox said Saturday after practice in Tarrytown. “Obviously, we’ve put ourselves in a good position in this start of the year. There’s still a lot of hockey.
“I think we want to continue the momentum we have right now and put together a lot of wins. We know we’re in a pretty tough division, so I wouldn’t say you’re ever secure. I think every point matters.”
The Rangers won’t have a chance to add to their point total Sunday, however, as their game against the Islanders was postponed due to their rivals’ COVID-19 outbreak.
While they may be tied with the Flames to round out the top five teams in the league with 29 points, the Rangers aren’t getting ahead of themselves. Head coach Gerard Gallant has tried to instill a day-to-day approach in the Rangers, especially since things change so quickly in the NHL.
“In this league, things change overnight,” Gallant said. “COVID hits your team, and the New York Islanders are a perfect example. You just got take it one day at a time. We’re real happy with the way things are going today, but tomorrow things could change in a heartbeat.”
Their 29 points mark the Rangers’ best 20-game start to a season since they went 14-5-1 to open the 2016-17 campaign.
With points in 15 of 20 games this season, Fox leads all NHL defensemen with 17 assists and 21 points. Friday’s matchup in Boston marked Fox’s 145th NHL game, making him one of 22 NHL defensemen to record 110 points in his first 145 games and one of eight to have 93 or more assists over that same span.
rants the NHL to take action.
The Rangers clearly felt there should have been consequences for Marchand, considering they asked the league to look into his behavior, as The Post’s Larry Brooks reported Friday.
When asked if he felt Marchand also should have been fined, Panarin, in short, said yes.
“Yeah, I think that’s not honest,” he said. “Because I just can’t control myself after that. It’s important to [know] that I didn’t start it. I didn’t say good things about him, too, but I think when you touch country, it’s different. Probably all Russians would want to defend their country.
“In the NHL, lots of people say bad words sometimes. … [But] how do we want to be as humans? For kids and everybody, we have to be good examples. Because, as athletes, lots of people watch us. The last maybe five, ten years, trash talk is pretty popular. But we have kids [watching] who grow up and that’s really important. … I think a balance is important.”
At this point, however, the Rangers certainly aren’t expecting the head of the Department of Player Safety, George Parros, to do them any favors. Parros is likely less inclined to cut the Rangers any breaks after the organization released a scathing statement in the aftermath of his soft discipline of Tom Wilson last season, calling Parros “unfit” to continue in his current role.
Panarin, though, delivered the very punch line that makes the whole situation even more of a joke. No matter how many fines the league hands out, or doesn’t hand out, it never makes a difference. Because, really, what is $5,000 dollars to an NHL player?
“I lost 5K, but thanks to the old general manager for $11.6 [million], I’m good,” Panarin said with a smile.
The Islanders had gone three days without an eighth positive COVID-19 test and it looked as if they were on the other side of their recent outbreak. Not so. After Casey Cizikas tested positive on Saturday, the NHL announced it was postponing the Islanders’ next two games — at the Rangers on Sunday and at the Flyers on Tuesday. As of now, the Islanders are scheduled to return to action on Thursday at home against the Sharks, but that is subject to change.
“The National Hockey League announced today that as a result of an additional New York Islanders player entering COVID protocol this morning, and up to eight players potentially unavailable to play due to COVID protocol, as well as the possibility of additional cases due to spread, the team’s games will be postponed at least through Tuesday, Nov. 30,” the league said in a statement. “The decision was made by the league in consultation with the NHLPA’s and club’s medical groups.
“The league is in the process of reviewing and revising the Islanders’ regular season schedule.”
Islanders president Lou Lamoriello said on a Zoom call with the media following the announcement that in addition to the players, three members of the organization had also tested positive.
Josh Bailey, the first Islander to test positive, did skate on Saturday and would have been a game-time decision to play against the Rangers on Sunday had the game been played.
“We have to trust, and we do, their decisions, what goes into these decisions, what statistics allow them to make these conclusions,” Lamoriello said when asked why games were postponed now instead of earlier. “I am not privy to that so all we can do is respond to what those decisions are as we have today.”
The Islanders are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, and have played with a severely undermanned roster for the past week. Adam Pelech, Anders Lee, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara are all in COVID protocol. Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson are both on injured reserve.
Lamoriello denied a report that he had asked the league for postponements. With the Islanders at 5-10-2, the lack of postponements before now has potentially damaged their playoff chances.
“With the two games being postponed, it’s my understanding that we will certainly be tested each and every one of the next three days and I’m sure there’ll be a conclusion after that as to whether we play the San Jose game or not,” Lamoriello said. “But that’s my assumption and I hate to assume.”
With the shutdown, the Islanders are not allowed to even come to their practice rink. Lamoriello said it was his understanding that, if the team tests negative for three days in a row, they will be able to practice the following day.
It’s unclear, though, what the league’s threshold for postponing games is. In the case of the Senators, it took 10 players, plus a coach, testing positive to postpone three games.
“I have to practice what I preach, what we have no control of you can’t be distracted by,” Lamoriello said when asked about his frustration level. “And all you can do is just stay focused on what you do have control of. And our coaching staff has done that, we’ve asked our players to do that and I think they’ve done a tremendous job over the set of circumstances.”