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The New York Rangers can win the Presidents' Trophy with a win against the Ottawa Senators on Apr. 15.
The Rangers host the Senators in their final game of the season on Monday night. If New York wins, the team will not only clinch the division but also the Presidents' Trophy, which is awarded to the NHL's best regular season team.
The Rangers are 54-23-4 and in first place in the Eastern Confernece. New York is one point up on the Carolina Hurricanes, with both teams having a game to go. So should the Rangers win on Monday, they would have home ice in every round of the Stanley Cup playoffs they play in.
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However, the focus for the Rangers right now isn't the playoffs. Instead, it's the final regular season game against the Ottawa Senators.
“The only thing we could do [right now] is play regular-season games,” head coach Peter Laviolette said, via New York Post. “There’s still one more regular-season game left. You wanna make sure you’re doing your best to make sure you’re getting the two points, getting the wins. And if you do that well enough, then you get a chance to play for the Stanley Cup...
"The playoffs are what we’re here for. We gotta get through this next game, make sure we do a good job playing that game. And then we’ll attack [the playoffs].”
If the New York Rangers win on Monday and clinch the Presidents' Trophy, New York will play the second Wild Card team in the first round of the playoffs.
New York Rangers Presidents' Trophy curse?
Although the New York Rangers are looking to clinch the Presidents' Trophy, the team that finishes the year with the best record has not won the Stanley Cup since the Chicago Blackhawks did so in the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season.
Recently, the teams to win the Presidents' Trophy have struggled in the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning were swept in the first round in 2019, while last season, the Boston Bruins were stunned in the first round by the Florida Panthers.
