By “this” I mean the last two games, both very tough road losses that have left the Rangers reeling in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers are even on points with the fourth-placed Montreal Canadiens, who have a game in hand and one point ahead of sixth-placed Philadelphia, who have two games in hand. The surging third-placed New Jersey Devils are now way off on the distant horizon, five points ahead with a game in hand.
We can go as far as to pinpoint the precise moment when perhaps (though hopefully not) the fortunes shifted dramatically in the Rangers season: The start of the third period in Pittsburgh last Wednesday. Going into that period, the Rangers and Penguins were tied 1-1 even though the Blueshirts had clearly been the better team up to that point. After the teams traded goals in the first period and New York was essentially dominating Pittsburgh in the second, I remember thinking ‘this is the type of game the Rangers of seasons past would typically lose. Let’s see what happens here because this could be telling.’ The team was coming off impressive back-to-back home victories and seemed to have momentum in its favor. It was playing tough, defensive hockey and more importantly seemed well-disciplined, staying away from silly mistakes such as turnovers and cheap penalties. I had every reason to believe this season would be different from others the past decade and a half. Or so I thought.
Then that third period happened and the team fell apart, playing perhaps its worst 20 minutes this season. Pittsburgh scored three times in the first 10 minutes and the rout was on. The five goals scored against New York in that period were the most in any period so far this season. And still, the Rangers outshot the Penguins in the game, 34-33. Rangers players were as baffled as anybody. “I just played terrible, I can’t explain it,” said Henrik Lundqvist. Paul Mara also called the experience “unexplainable.”
Tom Renney and the coaching staff deserve credit for getting the team to forget the experience and focus on the next game, at Boston on Saturday afternoon. The Rangers played much better, very well even, but still lost, 1-0, thanks largely to an otherworldly goaltending performance by Bruins rookie Tuukka Rask. “We played the best team in the Eastern Conference right to the letter,” Renney said afterwards. And he was right, of course. But as nice as those type of performances are, they become exercises in frustration if the team doesn’t come away with any points. Unfortunately, these are the types of games mediocre teams (ones that go one and done in the playoffs) lose. They’re also the type of losses that leave fans with the impression these are the same ol’ Rangers after all: good on paper, solid for the most part and sometimes even capable of impressive victories. But ultimately lacking any kind of unified core that can get the team back to the Stanley Cup.
Having said all that, it would obviously be premature (not to mention highly irrational) to write off the Rangers season at this point. There are 30 games left to play (31 to be precise) and the team is well placed for the Eastern Conference playoffs. Plus we have Adam Graves night tomorrow; if that doesn’t get the team fired up, nothing will. It’s not unreasonable to expect the event to propel the team on a more definitive momentum-changing streak–a true “turning point” if you will (with a more positive outcome than what is outlined here). Hopefully, that’s what happens. But these are the Rangers, after all. Until somebody like Mark Messier comes along (and unless he’s flanked by Adam Graves and Brian Leetch), “hope” is something better left abandoned. See you tomorrow night.
Posted under Blog
This post was written by Nathaniel Baker on February 2, 2009
