30-16-3

A loss to Vegas and a win against Ottawa bring the New York Rangers team skidding into the All Star break. While the 7-2 win over Ottawa was fun to watch and a good sign, it was expected because Ottawa is last in the league. Plus it was a rally game, Rangers being down 2-0 in the 2nd period. I don’t think they would have been allowed back in New York if they didn’t win.

Still, scoring 5 goals in the 2nd period is a good sign. They were finally able to take advantage of an opposing team’s mistakes and make accurate shots. Once their own mistakes stopped (Miller’s horrific pass attempt that turned into a breakaway and goal) the misery largely stopped. It did look like the Rangers team from November was back on the ice.

But that team wasn’t there for Vegas. Or San Jose (!) or the recent .500 stretch of games. There’s serious dysfunction that needs to be fixed and that’s a tall order. Especially with Filip Chytil being done for the season. He played 10 games this season and got a concussion. After 3 months it looked like he was a week or two away from coming back when he had another episode at practice. It’s unclear what happened, he was on the ice in a no-contact capacity with 2 teammates and he went down and could not get back up on his own for many minutes. His goal is now to come back for the 2024 season and we all wish him well in his recovery.

This means a 3rd line center is now needed along with an excellent right wing and defense man. With Chytil’s contract money now being able to be used, that gives Drury around $4.8 million to get all of that done. I don’t there’s much room to work with on prospects or draft picks to trade. Some players whose contracts are up next season could be used as trade chips. The fact is with the defense being so bad and the top players being ice-cold, big moves could be coming to keep this season from going underwater. Many of the top players have huge contracts and no move clauses so they aren’t going anywhere. That makes the younger players susceptible to being moved. The pressure is going to be turned up come February 5th. Some guys could be playing to stay in New York. Prove that this is a rut and not a systemic problem.

Chris Drury has a lot to figure out and soon. I don’t think there are many really good centers on the trade block, so there likely will be tough negotiations needed and the Rangers may only have enough assets for 2 players. If things don’t get sorted, a lot of jobs could be on the line next season. The core that’s been here since 2018 (Kreider, Trouba, Zibanejad, Miller, Lindgren) will likely have their final seasons.

With limited outside movement available, what about blowing up the lines? Is this a coaching issue? Does Laviollete need to be more aggressive? Gallant refused to change lines or do much coaching at all and that got him the axe. There’s been this weird multiple-year-long stubbornness to keep a lot of pairings together (Kreider/Zibanejad, Fox/Lindgren, Trouba/Miller) no matter what. I don’t think it would be the end of the world to break them up to see if new chemistry can be made with new lines. Since there are so few on-ice reactions now, why wouldn’t you change the regents to see if something sparks? For example, Lindgren is hurt and Zac Jones was called up. Trouba is suspended 2 games for clocking a Vegas player with an elbow and this 27-year-old 6′ 4″ monster named Connor Mackey was called up. Jones has been wobbly every game he’s been called up for this year but he played by far his best game against Ottawa with Panarin. Mackey, I have no idea where he came from, but he came to play. He was flying out there throwing his weight around and got into a fight with one of the roughest players in the league, Brady Tkachuk, and held his own. He was like a lit match out there and he inspired the team to keep charging forward as a unit. It was awesome.

Please, give us more of that.

29-15-3

On the previous lengthy west road trip, the Rangers went swept 5-0 at the start of the season. That was then, and this 1-2-1 dreck is now. That’s 3 points out of 8. That’s leaving the door open for everyone in the Metro to catch up. The bright side is that the other teams have been catching some Ls too.

The other horrific side of this is tonight’s 2-0 blown lead against the Sharks, losing in OT. The Sharks are terrible. I mean bottom of the league terrible. I’m so mad I can’t double-check if they are in 31st or 32nd. And again, the other team scores twice against the Rangers barely 2 minutes apart. The first one was from a dumb turnover that got shot from a weird angle and the second was deflected in. Neither were really Shesterkin’s fault (especially the deflection) but it’s just obscene with these losses. The power play didn’t score on three chances which is unacceptable against a team like this. Way too passive, way too many passes. The whole game they weren’t aggressive enough. Two good periods and then an egg. The killer instinct has disappeared and it keeps biting them in the ass. Embarrassing. They let 3 points slip away on this trip.

They host Vegas on Friday and then go to Ottawa on Saturday before the All-Star break. Vegas is always a challenge, having just lost to them last week even with them missing 3 of their top players along with 4 others. Ottawa is currently circling the drain but that doesn’t mean much with how the Rangers are playing now. They cannot think “oh, we’ll fix this during the break.” Nope. That motivation to put grinding boots to the ice is due in two days people. Those four points have to be chased after, then you can rest.

The list of teams they wouldn’t be able to beat just ballooned to scary proportions and I do not like it. Meanwhile, Edmonton have won 14 games in a row to resurrect their entire season. Everyone was ready to bury them in a ditch until October months ago so if they can turn things around, the Rangers can pull off less-than a full on miracle now.

26-12-2

January has been terrible so far. 1-3-1. The Rangers have just hit 3 losses in a row, the worst of the season. They’re playing at what looks like 50% right now losing to the nest and the worst in the league. Of the total 14 losses so far, I think 8 have been blowout losses. It’s been concerning and it’s not getting better.

I mean, look at what’s happened this month:

Carolina and Vancouver are top of the league. Chicago is terrible so that win had to happen. Montreal isn’t much better making that OT loss bad–which the Rangers were down 0-3 in the 2nd period–and St. Louis is barely over NHL .500.

The problems, most of them old:

• Terrible defensive mistakes. Schneider and Miller are so sloppy right now it doesn’t make sense. Adam Fox hasn’t been the same since coming back from his injury. He’s been getting some assists, but goals are far and few in between, and he’s making uncharacteristic mistakes. Gustafsson has gone ice-cold points-wise. Zac Jones is looking more and more like the AHL is the peak of his hockey skill.
• With the defense being so porous (bare effort stick checking doesn’t work in the NHL much!) the goaltending has gotten ugly.
• Turnovers. Good lord the passing is bad. It’s like the David Quinn years.
• Turnovers lead to breakaway chances which is killing this team now.
• Injuries have taken their toll and the water in the luck well has run out. The 2nd line has been the only consistent production line all season. The first line scores in spurts and it’s usually only on the power play (speaking of Zibanejad and Kreider in particular). The first line is like dead right now. Vessey and Cuylle are the only bottom six forwards who are doing anything positive. The rest are slow and cannot score. When the top two lines are producing, the bottom two just need to be competent with as few mistakes as possible to win games. That has stopped. If it wasn’t for Trocheck and Panarin having career seasons, whoo boy.

So the ship is in rough seas and coach Laviolette has his work cut out for him. There are no players to call up that have the skills to make a major difference. Kaapo Kakko is about to come back from injury, possibly tomorrow against Washington. He’s needed and hopefully when he does come back he isn’t too rusty. Wheeler on the first line is a failure so let’s get Kakko back there. Hopefully, Zibanejad isn’t sick for long and it doesn’t spread through the team. The garbage passing has to stop. Most of the problems seem to be more or less from bad on ice decisions. And then there is bad puck luck…the Rangers have greatly out-shot the last 3 teams but haven’t gotten that blessed hockey god second bounce or rebound chance.

We are at the mid-point of the season and the front runners are solidifying. The point gaps are either shrinking or gone and every game matters. The Rangers had a 10 point lead in the Metro division and look at what the standings are now:

3 points. That’s it. Carolina is heating up and it’s going to be work for the Rangers to fend them off. The Islanders aren’t incredible but their OT points are still points and they’re frequent PITA opponents for the Rangers. Florida, Winnipeg, Seattle, and Edmonton are on massive win streaks. Edmonton are now playing like everyone thought they would at the start of the season and are knocking on the playoff door. They had a terrible record and have turned it around. Vancouver rarely loses. Boston and Vegas have stumbled recently which adds to the top of the leaderboard turning into a feeding frenzy.

The home and home against Washington this weekend is important. It’s going to be a gut check. The following week is a tough schedule for the Rangers and the Caps are going to be the “easiest” competition.