New York Rangers

Rangers going back to Cali, will it be feast or famine?
March 24, 2017, 10:11 AM ET [48 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
In the past, the California trip has either been really good or really bad, very little in-between. For the psyche of the team and its fan base, a really, really good trip would do wonders. Right now, due to their recent stretch of 13 games, in which New York has gone 5-6-2, concerns and negatives outnumber what's gone right and the positives.

We have listed the ails a lot recently, Koch of which Larry Brooks also covered today.

- The offense has produced two goals or fewer in eight of the last 13 and an aggregate 31 goals, with 18 produced at even-strength by their forwards. As I mentioned the last few blogs, those first 20 games look more and more like an aberration. Keeping similar lines hasn't really work, so maybe it's time to start mixing and matching. Maybe move Mike Zibanejad, who finally was good Wednesday, up a line and Derek Stepan down. I don't advocate putting J.T. Miller at center but I do advocate restoring the Grabner-Hayes-Miller trio, despite Grabner's major slump during which he has scored one goal in 15 games.

- As Brooks wrote, the neutral-zone play is ragged and defenders are having difficulty on their rush reads and coverages. Teams are no longer allowing the Rangers to break out through the neutral zone, forcing them to go tape-to-tape and wind their way into the offensive zone, neither or which has happened. Defensively, all the injuries haven't helped, but Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal have struggled, so look for McDonagh and Dan Girardi to get paired together once again. In addition, the puck handling has had more giveaways than a bar mitzvah party, contributing to the struggles.

- The penalty kill is a five-alarm blaze. I really thought the return of Jesper Fast would help here, but it hasn't. Maybe Girardi's return will help. The thought before Wednesday from AV was that the forwards were leaking out early looking for shorthanded breaks. That wasn't the case against the Islanders but two third period power play goals allowed resulted in the loss. Brooks noted that New York has allowed 10 goals on 26 disadvantages over the last eight games, at least one per; a staggering number. The communication, especially as to who goes behind the net and who covers the slot has been horrific, leading to several goals against. The defensive structure also has been weak, contributing to the poor play.

Please find me an area that has played well. Maybe Rick Nash, the fourth line when it's Vesey-Lindberg-Buchnevich, the Skjei-Clendening duo, other than that, no much. Maybe the return of Girardi, whoever thought we or I would be saying that, or Henrik Lundqvist will prove to be a spark. The West Coast looms, will it be feast or famine?