Rangers clinging to playoff hopes after promising five-game stretch

The Rangers’ recent five-game uptick has been a promising sign for a wildly disappointing team that’s in danger of going from the Eastern Conference finals last season to sitting out the playoffs this year. 

They’ve gone 3-1-1 following a four-game losing streak just before the new year, and that has moved the Rangers to within five points of eighth place Columbus in the East. 

Still, they’ll need to leapfrog five teams to get into playoff position, a daunting task for a team that’s been in a rut most of the season and hasn’t won consecutive games since a three-game winning streak in mid-November. 

Recent signs, though, indicate all may not be lost. 

“I think we went through a stretch where we were playing some bad hockey and we didn’t deserve to win games,” Reilly Smith said after Thursday’s hard-fought overtime win over the Devils at Madison Square Garden. “I think over the last little bit since Christmas we’re doing enough to give ourselves a chance to win every night. [Thursday] was a great example of that. It was probably one of our better games since the start of the year… As a group of five, we defended as well as we have in a long time.” 

They’ll try to bring that momentum on the road with them, as the Rangers are set to open a three-game Western trip in Las Vegas on Saturday.