Rangers end rough January, but remain atop Metro Division

NEW YORK, NY — Nikita Kucherov scored his 20th and 21st goal of the season in the second period to lead Tampa Bay to a 3-0 win against the Rangers. Brandon Hagel also scored an empty-netter. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 37 saves and earned his second shutout of the season. The Rangers (27-19-3, 57 pts) were sent to the penalty box five times but managed to avoid surrendering a powerplay goal to the Lightning (29-16-7, 65 pts).

Rangers lose ground, fall to 5th place

The loss to Tampa Bay was New York’s sixth in the last ten games played as they ended the month on a 3-6-1 run. They piled up losses at Madison Square Garden where they are now 11-12-2. On the road, they are 16-7-1.

Rangers complete skaters and goalie stats

Since the start of January…

• Biggest moves up: Colorado had the best performance in January, winning 12 of 15 games and stormed into 3rd place (up from 11th). Buffalo went 11-4-1 to rise into the 8th playoff spot in the East.
• Biggest move down: Nashville suffered a power outage, falling 9 spots to 15th place.
• Toronto bumped Detroit from the top of the East standings. The Red Wings fell to 2nd.
• Arizona continued their epic slide, dropping another 4 spots after a 6-9-1 performance.

Buffalo on the stampede

The Buffalo Sabres had the best January performance in the conference, going 11-4-1 and improved their standings position seven spots to 8th place. The Sabres, who missed the playoffs last season, had hovered near the bottom of the East the last two months. Winger Alex Tuch has provided a spark, leading the team with 19 goals, and Rasmus Dahlin follows with a team-leading 31 assists. Buffalo has succeeded despite a lackluster performance by goalie Antii Raanta (20-12-8) whose 2.86 GAA ranks far down the list.

Colorado’s avalanche of success jets them into 3rd place

That rumbling sound in the Western Conference is the Colorado Avalanche (30-19-3, 63 pts) who improved their standings position by a whopping eight spots, moving up from 11th to 3rd place after winning 12 of 16 games played in January. Nathan McKinnon (32g/34a/66p) remains one of the top scorer in the league. Gabriel Landeskog is second on the team with 55 points. Goalie Alexandar Georgiev (2.76 GAA) is ranked 10th in league.

Notable injuries around the league

Arizona Coyotes — G Frederik Andersen (hip pointer) will be out until March 10. Bad timing for Arizona who continue to fall in the standings.

Colorado Avalanche — RW Mikko Rantanen (10g/20a/30pt) has already missed 18 games with post concussion syndrome, and will miss a lot more with an expected return in March.

Minnesota Wild — Sam Steel (broken foot) expected to miss much of February. He’s 5th on team in scoring with 33 points.