First it was the power play, then is was occasional lapses in defense, now it is simply pervasive. While the Rangers continue to register shootout victories, having not registered a regulation win since Nov. 6th against Tampa Bay, they've also begun to lose focus from night to night. They consistently allow teams to open up early advantages and proceed to claw back from these deficits to either lose in regulation or win in a shootout. With the big contracts and top line talent on this team you have to start looking at the coaching. It's one thing to get outplayed, it's another thing entirely to look sluggish and unprepared. I see a team tripping around the quarter pole of the season. The Rangers have managed to develop very little chemistry in their offensive and defensive pairings, a direct result of Renny's insistence on shuffling the line-up card. His same philosophy based in rotation has managed to suffocate what should be an explosive power play, a unit that has struggled all season long, especially over the last month going just 2-24 with the man advantage in December. This isn't a new problem either, if it was just this month, or even the first few months, you could chalk it up to the prolonged draughts that plague all hockey teams at one point or another, but this problem dates back seasons. The power play is, and will continue to be the number one factor keeping the Rangers stuck in the second round of the playoffs.
The second of the Rangers many problems is their continued failure to sure up the blueline. Redden and Rozsival have been almost non-existent this season. In fact, with the exception of Marc Staal's second year brilliance, the Rangers have watched the likes of Mara, Fritche, Kalinin and Girardi (mixed with some cameo appearances here and there) struggle to find their swagger. You know it's getting bad when the typically reserved and well focused Lunqvist erupts in the locker room. Continued neutral and defensive zone let downs plague the Rangers and are the main catalyst leading to early deficits.
The Rangers are 3-3 in December with impressive showings against Pittsburgh and Carolina, an average performance against a struggling Atlanta team and three horrific outings against Montreal, Calgary and New Jersey. We can give them a pass in Montreal, back to back games are tough in the NHL, especially when they come in the home and away variety. In this case, the Rangers were coming of a very emotional, very physical home win against Crosby and Co. and they played like a team who was drained. The New Jersey and Atlanta games are head scratches. Both games were riddled with mental mistakes which led to monumental collapses following Ranger goals. As soon as the Rangers would tie or take the lead they would allow their opposition right back into the game. Mental errors reflect very poorly on coaching which reflects very poorly on Renny as well as the outlook for this team. Unprepared teams do not win in the playoffs.
Let's not lose the positive in all of this. While there are poor starts and large deficits as well as more lapses than can exist on a team with Stanley Cup hopes - there are the makings of mental fortitude. There is something to be said for frantic third period comebacks, and although there are no shootouts in the playoffs, there are in the regular season, and two points is two points. Things do need to be corrected but the talent is there, now it just needs to be well prepared and properly utilized.
There are many games to be played.
Keywords: New York Rangers
