The good times ended in New York when the Rangers went into a funk the last two weeks. After winning seven straight games, the Rangers dropped four of their last five before facing the Bruins last night. The B’s were touted as an Eastern Conference favorite, so it was clear that this would be a tight matchup.
But what did we really learn from the Rangers’ struggles? First and foremost, it’s clear that the Rangers are a cellar dweller without Marian Gaborik in the lineup. Other than the power play, they generate absolutely no offensive chances. They resort to a rudimentary “throw it at the net” strategy that doesn’t create good chances. At the same time, the lack of puck possession means the opposition never gets pressured in their own zone. Second, we learned that the Rangers still don’t have their defensive lines ironed out. John Tortorella is either “making them earn time” or quick to bench guys. Rozsival and Redden’s time on ice chart probably resembles a roller coaster track. There have been a handful of instances where they’ll get over 20 minutes in one game only to play 13-15 minutes the next game. Strangely enough, Girardi and Staal seem to have cemented themselves as the “1B” pairing. They consistently log around 20 minutes per game, but they’re not always Tortorella’s “go to” first pair.
The Rangers did beat the Bruins on a Gaborik goal, but the box score tells some interesting stories. Chris Drury is essentially a third line player now. Some fans are even calling for him to be stripped of his captaincy. If not for his role as a penalty killer, he’d rarely be on the ice. His even strength playing time was essentially equal to that of Ales Kotalik. That hurts. Vaclav Prospal continued his inspired play. The re-tread center slash winger notched another assist which gives him 18 points in just 15 games.
The most surprising item on the stat sheet is that Matt Gilroy was on the ice for a massive 22:07. His role is increasing but I’m still worried he’ll wear down as the season goes on. The college hockey season is about 40 games or less, so the Olympic and All-Star break should do him well. It seems as if Rozsival was benched for taking stupid penalties as he only had 16 shifts and 12:51 in ice time. With only six defensemen, there isn’t much the Rangers can do about Rozsival — who is seemingly the goat. Judging by the way Tortorella uses him, it would not be surprising to see Rozsival sent to another team. Though, that means that somebody has to agree to pick up his salary.
The Rangers are solid but their lack of scoring ability and defensive depth is troubling. Henrik Lundqvist is still the only constant on a very young hockey team. Last year, the Rangers were missing a trigger man. They filled that need with Gaborik. They also needed toughness — and they added Donald Brashear (and Sean Avery during the season) for that. However, the Brashear acquisition was more of a band-aid than anything else. It would be ideal if the Rangers could acquire some “nastiness” for the blueline. It’s not enough to have your only tough guys on the third and fourth lines. And while Marc Staal is physical, he’s just not a very imposing or nasty player. Ideally, I’d like to see the Rangers somehow deal Rozsival and a forward for a defenseman with a mean streak. That would solidify the rotation on the blue line and add some much-needed grit to the Rangers’ lineup.
Tags: boston bruins, hockey, john tortorella, new york rangers, NHL
