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The best and biggest Rangers games to watch in 2021-22.

Leen Amin

The schedules for the 2021-22 season for all 32 NHL teams were released on Thursday evening. Let’s take a look at some of the key stretches in the New York Rangers‘ schedule next season.

The Rangers will open the season on Oct. 13th at the Washington Capitals. Tensions were high between the two teams to end the 2021 season, so seeing them face off to kick things off should be exciting.

The Rangers’ home opener will come the next day against the Dallas Stars. Fans will be excited to see the Rangers take on the league’s newest team, the Seattle Kraken, for the first time ever on Oct. 31st in Seattle.

The Rangers have lots of must-win home games in December: they’ll play three in a row on Dec. 1st, 3rd, and 4th against the Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively.

They’ll play another three in a row on Dec. 17th, 22nd, and 27th against the Vegas Golden Knights, Montreal Canadiens, and Detroit Red Wings.

Their schedule gets pretty tough at the end of December heading into January. They’ll face the Colorado Avalanche, Golden Knights (twice), Canadiens, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning (twice, back-to-back), and Edmonton Oilers.

The Rangers play just four games in February. They’re tough ones, but three of them will be at Madison Square Garden. They host the Panthers on Feb. 1st in their last game before the All-Star break.

They’ll host the Capitals in their first game back from the break on the 24th then travel to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on the 26th before heading back home to take on the Vancouver Canucks on the 27th.

The Rangers’ schedule next season is a bit strange because they don’t have many tough or easy stretches, which is actually quite nice.

Arguably the team’s toughest stretch will be the one to end the regular season.

They play the Winnipeg Jets on April 19th, the New York Islanders on April 21st, the Boston Bruins on April 23rd and 24th, the Carolina Hurricanes on April 26th, and the Capitals to end the season on the 29th.

The good news is that the Rangers play just three games away from home in the month of April.

Leen has written about the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, and international soccer. She is currently the primary NHL writer for ESNY. Leen's work has been featured on Bleacher Report and she was formerly a contributor for FanSided's New York Mets blog, Rising Apple. She is a co-host of the Yankees-Mets Express podcast.