Knights pierce Rangers in final game of month

NEW YORK, NY — New York (21-11-2, 44 pts) rung up two key wins approaching the end of the month, but the momentum of defeating top club Detroit and a tough Florida team didn’t carry over to a battle with the Vegas Golden Knights (19-12-5, 43 pts) who won 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. Andreas Athanasiou scored his eighth of the season to brake a 1-1 tie 4:35 into the final period, and Danil Chayka’s empty netter put the icing on the cake. 

January: What to watch for

RANGERS GO 9-5-1, CLIMB 4 SPOTS

The Rangers ended the month in third place, six points behind the 1st place Red Wings, and four points behind 2nd place Toronto. Florida is shadowing New York (also with 44 points), but New York is ahead of 9th place Philadelphia by eight points.

Filip Chytil stuns 1st place Red Wings with short-handed late winner

Since the start of December…

• Biggest moves up: Vegas (9th > 4th), Minnesota (12th > 7th)
• Biggest moves down: Edmonton (3rd > 12th), Chicago (7th > 15th)
• NY Rangers pushed hard, picked up 19 points in December and climbed to 3rd place
• Calgary remains the hottest club, climbing another 3 spots to take over 1st place in the West. Former leaders, the Canucks are one point behind.
• Washington, who finished at the top of the East last season, can’t get things going still. They improved 3 spots to move into 13th place.

Strong December performance has Toronto on the rise

Toronto (23-9-2, 48 pts) moved up to 2nd place after going 10-4-0 in December. It’s their best showing since starting the 2022-23 season in third place, but slid progressively towards the lower half of the standings by the end of the campaign. Their defense has improved — and they can thank improvements on offense, raising their GFPG from 3.45 to a league-best 3.53. Auston Matthews (23g/32p) is ranked first in the league for most goals (tied with Penguins’ Evgeni Maulkin).

Calgary hot stretch continues into December

Calgary, the defending Stanley Cup champions, began the first month as a 13th-place club, then jumped 9 spots in the second month. In December, the Flames (21-12-5, 47 pts) were more than hot, going 10-4-1 in the month to take over the top spot in the Western Conference. Fueling the success are Nazem Kadri (47 points, ranked 1st in NHL) and Elias Lindholm (42 points, ranked T-4th). The Flames are ranked NHL 2nd in GFPG (3.50).

Notable injuries around the league

Colorado Avalanche — RW Mikko Rantanen (post concussion syndrome) will be out two+ months. Rantanen (10g/20a/30pt) is Colorado’s 4th leading scorer.

Minnesota Wild — G Marc–Andre Fleury (MCL sprain) will be sidelined until late February. The 7th place Wild were allowing 2.68 goal per game at the start of January. 

New Jersey Devils — RW Phil Kessel (separated shoulder) will be out until January 20. The Devils have struggled, and losing their 2nd-leading points leader won’t help. Kessel has 7 goals, 15 assists in 34 games.