New York Rangers Could Catch a Break in Florida with Lightning's Arena Snafu

The Rangers are down in Florida this weekend for back-to-back games against the Lightning and Panthers, but it’s possible that they could get two points automatically if Tampa is forced to forfeit Friday night’s game, according to Rick Carpiniello of The Journal News.

Carp writes:

"A giant compressor blew at the St. Pete Times Forum yesterday, and the Lightning’s home ice turned into a flood. According to reports, it might be impossible to fix the compressor before Monday. And the NHL is saying that if the Lightning can’t fix it, or can’t reschedule the game before next Sunday, it will have to forfeit the game (and the two points) to the Rangers.

"Rescheduling a game at this stage of the season is almost impossible because teams cannot play more than two consecutive days, and neither team has an obvious opening for a rescheduled game. The NHL does not seem inclined to stretch the season beyond next Sunday because the playoffs are scheduled to begin on Wednesday, and such an extra day would cause logistics nightmares."

Thoughts

As much as I would love to see the Rangers net themselves two easy points, I hope they find a way to get this game played.

If the Rangers are going to make the playoffs, it will likely come down to a point or two in the standings, and for them to be awarded two points for this kind of a freak occurrence would be in poor taste.

Also, if the Rangers can’t play well enough to get into the playoffs, I’d rather they just stay home.

The Rangers, Lightning, and the NHL should do whatever they can to make sure this game gets played.