While the first few weeks of the season for the Rangers seemed to find the team heading happily down the yellow brick road during a 7-1 start, the club appears to have a taken a wrong turn on to the road to nowhere ever since.
With disturbingly effortless home losses to the Washington Capitals (4-2) and Florida Panthers (3-2) this week, the Rangers have officially given back all of the “feel good” vibe that quick start had provided. A 4-9-1 stretch since has the landed the club at 11-10-1 overall, but more troubling than their record is the seemingly directionless play over the last few weeks.
Even the usually combustible John Tortorella appears a little lost at the wheel as his club’s pop-gun attack up front currently seems like a bad fit for his offensive-minded system.
Not Very Kingly: Like most of his Ranger teammates, Henrik Lundqvist is not at the top of his game so far this season. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Fred Chartrand)
“You stay with it,” Tortorella said, after the most recent loss to Florida. “You just keep trying to battle through this. I wish I could tell you how to get out of it. The only way I know is for the team to stay together. We have to have a little bit of resiliency. It is a miserable time, but you have to come to work and fight your way through.”
The rallying cry the last couple of weeks has been the lack of secondary scoring beyond the only line that does score most nights—and that’s obviously the one with Marion Gaborik on it.
While that would certainly help matters, the fact that the other lines don’t seem overly engaged at all is a much bigger concern. If you have never had the privilege of witnessing a no-hitter during the baseball season you’re in luck, as they are happening with regularity at the Garden during Rangers home games this season.
The only forward that brings any kind of physical aspect to the rink every night is Ryan Callahan—one of the smallest players on the roster at five-feet-11-inches and 185 lbs. You would think that might serve as an inspiration but it instead simply spotlights how timidly the rest of the club plays every night.
And while were on the subject of a punchless attack, Chris Higgins, though certainly not acquired with the idea he would fill the nets, remains stuck on two tallies for the year and Russian bookends Enver Lisin (three goals) and rookie Artem Anisimov (four goals) have slowed considerably after showing some promise early on.
While there have been signs of life to Sean Avery’s game lately, the spark that so often has lit the Rangers’ fuse appears to have been dampened after the playoff spanking for undisciplined play he received last season from Tortorella. While the two goals thus far from Avery would be overlooked if he were stirring the pot every night, he’s just another winger that can’t find the back of the net for now.
The one-game experiment with Ales Kotalik on the top line with Gaborik and Vinny Prospal is apparently over as Higgins practiced at center with the pair on Sunday, so expect to see that trio together tonight against Columbus.
On defense, the team seems to be trying to will Wade Redden out of his two-year coma, but continually claiming that he is “having a bounce-back season” doesn’t make it so. The 13-year veteran continues to struggle and remains a shell of the player he had become in Ottawa.
More troubling than Redden’s struggles is the fact March Staal’s game has slipped quite a bit since the opening weeks of the season. The Rangers had to be secretly hoping that this might be a breakout season for the blossoming third-year defenseman, but he seems to be struggling under Tortorella’s system.
The other major concern on Broadway has to be the play of Henrik Lundqvist in goal. Though lack of goal support might be his biggest issue right now, he has not looked razor sharp just yet and certainly hasn’t stolen any points for the club—something the Rangers had come to rely on often over the last few seasons.
“We’re getting some bad bounces on the goals against but you turn that around with hard work, so we can’t use that as an excuse,” Lundqvist explained after the Florida game.
The big stop from a goaltender can turn that around as well and that hasn’t been a part of their game either since the quick start. Third period “put-away” goals in the games this past week by the Cap’s Matt Bradley and the Panthers’ Nathan Horton were moments “The King” would have typically made a big save in past seasons. Not so this past week.
After the game against the tough Columbus Blue Jackets (12-6-3) at the Garden tonight, the team hits the road for games against the suddenly red hot Panthers again on Wednesday, the much-improved Tampa Bay Lighting on Friday and the defending Cup champs, the Penguins, on Saturday.
In other words, it doesn’t get any easier for the Rangers in the next week.
ICE CHIPS
Some good news? Well, Chris Drury is skating again and Tortorella actually said, “He’s had a number of good days,” so perhaps a timetable will soon be placed on his return. And with concussion victims that’s always the first step back.
As for Brandon Dubinsky—the cast was removed from his broken wrist/hand late last week. He is now in just a brace. Still looks like a Christmas-time return for the young center though.
Ales Kotalik was on the ice for a couple of more goals against in the Florida and is now a team worst -10 on the season. After the game against the Panthers, Tortorella said of Kotalik, “He doesn’t belong on the first line.” Can you say “powerplay specialist?”
Gaborik’s goal against Florida was his 16th of the season, tying him for second in the league with the Caps’ Alex Ovechkin. San Jose’s Dany Heatley leads the league after a hot week with 18.
