Once the trade deadline passed, the Rangers began a stretch of 20 games in 38 days to wrap up the regular season.
They just finished up a grueling stretch of five games in seven days, with two sets of back-to-backs.
Three of those five contests were on the road in Carolina, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh.
The road trip was bookended by division-rival matchups against the Devils and Islanders.
“A lot of us guys who have played in the American league are kind of used to this, but some of these guys aren’t,” Jonny Brodzinski said of the recent schedule. “It’s definitely a grind. Especially with the earlier games, we had a 3 o’clock game [on Saturday in Pittsburgh], a 1 o’clock game [Sunday against the Islanders]. There was no excuses because [the Isles] also played [Saturday]. Just a good effort by us.”
The schedule does not let up from here, considering a three-game week is now on deck. After taking on the Jets at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, the Rangers will venture to Boston to play the No. 2 team in the NHL as of Monday, the Bruins, on Thursday.
The good news for the Rangers is that there are no more back-to-backs left on the schedule.
They finished with a staggering 11-1-0 record in the second game of back-to-backs.
“It’s preparation and then it’s following our system on back-to-backs like this,” Vincent Trocheck said. “Whenever you’re able to stay in your structure, it makes things a little easier.”
The Rangers only have one multi-city road trip left when they head to Colorado and Arizona on March 28 and 30. They then have a one-off in Detroit on April 5 before finishing their road schedule April 9 on Long Island.
“Obviously, lot of games in a short amount of time, but I think it just comes down to the will within the locker room” K’Andre Miller said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that can step up that are playing really good hockey right now. It’s been fun.”
Rangers defensemen accounted for six points in Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Islanders, giving the club 172 points from the D this season. That ranked third in the NHL entering Monday’s games.