After a two-week break due to the 4 Nations Face-Off won by Canada, the New York Rangers return to the ice for a late afternoon game against the Buffalo Sabres. Now that the sun sets at a normal time, we’ll still be able to see it when the puck is dropped for today’s game at 5:30 PM in Western New York.

With 27 games remaining, the Rangers continue their playoff chase. They began Saturday trailing the Senators by four points and the Red Wings by three for the final two wild cards. At last check, the Red Wings were leading the Wild 3-1 in the third period in a game on ABC. If that score holds, they’ll jump over the Senators into the first wild card. At 7 PM, the Senators host the Canadiens on Hockey Night In Canada. At the same time, the Bruins take on the Ducks in Beantown while the Blue Jackets are home for the Blackhawks. Among the teams in the wild card hunt, only the Islanders aren’t in action. They’ll play the Stars on Sunday night in Elmont.

For the Rangers, they must keep winning games. They can’t concern themselves with what happens on the scoreboard. It’s all about what’s on the schedule. They start it off with two winnable games against opponents who aren’t in the playoffs. After facing the Sabres later, they’ll visit the Penguins tomorrow for an afternoon match on national TV. Sidney Crosby will be back for the Pens after captaining Canada to gold. That doesn’t matter. What does is that the Rangers come away with four points this weekend.

They’re pretty healthy for the final stretch. Igor Shesterkin will be back to start against the Sabres. Whatever was ailing him before the break, he should be fully recovered. A top three goalie, it hasn’t been a good season for Shesterkin, who signed an extension in December that’ll make him the highest paid netminder in the league starting next season. It’s time for Shesterkin to deliver in net. He’ll have to carry the Rangers to the postseason.

As far as the players who participated in the 4 Nations Face-Off, only Vincent Trocheck is banged up due to suffering a broken finger against Sweden. The positive news is that he won’t miss any time. If there’s a concern, it’s how it’ll affect him on faceoffs. The Rangers’ best went 0-for-4 against Canada in the championship game. Winning draws is a key part of Trocheck’s game. Hopefully, it doesn’t fall off dramatically. He enters play with a 60.6 success rate in the dots, which is tied for the league lead with Senators’ center Claude Giroux.

Encouraging is that the Rangers rank second in the league on faceoffs (53.9). Mika Zibanejad has improved by winning 53.1 percent of draws. J.T. Miller is over 58 percent for the season. Sam Carrick has also gone 54.4 percent on faceoffs. Head coach Peter Laviolette has plenty of reliable options to take critical draws.

The Rangers will remain without rookie forward Adam Edstrom, who suffered a lower-body injury on Feb. 1 against the Boston Bruins. He’s not expected to return until the spring. It’ll either be Carrick and Matt Rempe with Reilly Smith or Jimmy Vesey.

Of the five players who participated in the 4 Nations Face-Off, defenseman Urho Vaakanainen impressed me the most for Sweden. He was used in a top four role and played well defensively. He’s been a steady player since coming over from Anaheim in the Jacob Trouba trade. Vaakanainen has played primarily with Braden Schneider on the third pair. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any carryover from a good tournament.

Both Miller and Trocheck played in all four games for USA. Miller was utilized more in a defensive role along with Trocheck, who centered the fourth line. Miller also saw some time with Devils center Jack Hughes against Canada in the final. He made some good defensive plays during the tournament. Chris Kreider only got into two games. He scored the only goal for USA in a 2-1 loss to Sweden. Then, he played less than six and a half minutes against Canada. It was a mystifying decision by USA coach Mike Sullivan, who lost top forward Matthew Tkachuk for almost the final two periods. Kreider should be fresh for the stretch drive.

Adam Fox also played in every game for USA. Similar to how his season has gone, he struggled to distinguish himself. Fox saw his ice time cut down due to his struggles at even strength. He also was replaced on the top power play unit by Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who’s having a Norris caliber season. Ever since Fox suffered the injuries on a pair of knee-on-knee collisions last season, he hasn’t been the same player. His skating has looked worse, and his defensive play has suffered. If he’s playing on a bad knee, why didn’t the Rangers address it in the off-season? It’s been frustrating to watch Fox this season.

When they came back to defeat the Blue Jackets two weeks ago, the Rangers were sparked by Trocheck and Will Cuylle. Cuylle had his shot tipped in by Vaakanainen to tie the score at three. It was then Cuylle who took advantage of a turnover to get the winner late in regulation for a big win. I would expect that combination with Alexis Lafreniere to stay together.

Laviolette decided to try to find more balance by splitting up Zibanejad from Miller. Zibanejad had some success with Kreider and Arthur Kaliyev, who scored his third goal as a Ranger against the Blue Jackets on Feb. 8. Miller played with Artemi Panarin and Vesey, who’s hardly ideal for a top line role. We’ll see how things shake out in Buffalo.

Jones on Loan to Hartford

With Zac Jones remaining the odd man out, he was loaned to Hartford on a conditioning assignment. It’s important for him to play games. His first one didn’t go well with him finishing a minus-3 in a Wolf Pack 4-1 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday night.

Jones can stay down with the Wolf Pack for two weeks. Defenseman Matthew Robertson was recalled taking his place on the roster. Robertson has still yet to make his NHL debut. He’s taken the place of former Ranger Ryan Graves. Another player they never gave a chance to who eventually became a solid defenseman with the Avalanche before his career declined with the Devils and currently the Penguins.