Rangers still searching for an identity
As of today the New York Rangers sport a below .500 record of 16-17-2, 10th in the East going into the NHL roster freeze that started last night at midnight and is effective until December 27th.
With a chance to measure their game the Rangers came up empty handed once again in New York last night. The Penguins iced one of the more depleted lineups they’ve had in years. They were missing 12 regulars from the lineup from either injury or suspension.
Players missing from the lineup: Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Derek Engelland, Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Kris Letang, Tanner Glass, Andrew Ebbett, Beaut Bennett, Jayson Megna, Tomas Vokoun.
The Penguins drew first blood with a powerplay goal from Kunitz, and continued to build on their momentum going into the second as they increased their lead by 2 with goals from Dupuis and Sutter. Sutter was able to make a beautiful inside move on Del Zotto and put it top shelf on Lundqvist.
The Rangers made a late push tying the game up with goals from Zuccarello and Brassard in the final minutes of the game. The Rangers were able to get a single point by forcing OT.
Overtime was hindered by New York’s biggest fault of late; lack of powerplay scoring as they have gone 1-11 over the past 4 games. Henrik Lundqvist was able to draw a penalty in OT giving the Rangers a great opportunity to win the game on the man advantage. Earlier in the day AV commented on his powerplay of late.
“Our power play is getting some good looks,” Coach Alain Vigneault said. “I like a lot of things about our power play, I’d love it if we’d finish a little more. We’ve got a good net presence in Kreids (Chris Kreider).The other guys are moving the puck around real well and going to the options that we’ve talked about. We’ve just been a little bit behind in some of that execution we’ve talked about. Those chances we’re getting are B, B-pluses. We could be getting some Grade A chances with just a little bit better execution. We work on our power play a lot. We’re going to continue to work on it and hopefully it’s going to get the success we need.”
Kreider did not see a single second of ice time in the extra frame, and the Rangers attempted too many force passes to try to open up the seams. The powerplay proved to be ineffective as everything they tried was not successful. Time to try something new!?
The game went to a shootout where the Rangers lost in the 5th round with the deciding goal from Sutter. Final score of the game was 4-3 for the Pens who have won 10 of their last 11.
Chemistry up front has been a major issue moving forward. Vigneault has had trouble finding line combinations that can work, most notably in his bottom six who are not providing the grit they are counted on contributing to the hockey club.
The most consistent forwards this season have been rookie Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello who have both been pleasant surprises. Kreider has been the most effective forward as of late, continuing to be productive in a top line role. AV needs to play these guys in order to win games. His line juggling has proven to be useless as of late and the team has struggled to show that they are playing a team game.
Alain Vigneault is having tremendous difficulty finding a way for his team to win. It all starts with line chemistry, ice time and taking veteran guys out of the lineup. He needs to stick to keeping his team together instead of trying to implement the same philosophy he had in Vancouver. Hopefully things turn around with the roster freeze. A record of 1-4-1 at home in December is unacceptable with only two shootouts to show for it.
“I’ve got mixed feelings..it was a good comeback, but not good enough when you don’t win at home” said Mats Zuccarello.
The Rangers had an opportunity to build on the late game heroics in their last two games. However, a loss to a depleted club like this is extremely deflating to a team that desperately needs wins. With 3 more games left in their 9 game home stand. The Rangers must come out with all 6 points and someone needs to step up and be the player who makes a difference night in and night out.
Your move Rick Nash.
Side notes:
GM Glen Sather was spotting talking to scratched forward Taylor Pyatt after yesterday morning`s skate. Coach Alain Vigneault was asked if he has heard anything on the status of Pyatt who has been a healthy scratch for 4 of the last 5 games
“Right now he’s on the outside,” Vigneault said of Pyatt’s place in the rotation. “After a strong training camp, he was given a lot of opportunities, whether it be on one of the top two lines, third, fourth, and never really after training camp got his game going. Right now, he’s on the outside looking in, and I’m not quite sure where all that’s gonna go.”
“We’re going to talk tonight after the game and if there are some things we need to adjust we’ll do it after tonight,” Vigneault said of the roster.
After last night’s game the entire roster might be in jeopardy as the search for an identity continues.
Changes are coming in the big apple.
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