NHL: “The Calm Before The Storm” Rangers Still In Trouble

The New York Rangers, SURVIVED last night. That’s the word I think of in this series. Survival. Washington is bigger, stronger and more skilled in this series. The Rangers are getting beat up, out hustled, and we look depleted and hurt half the time. Last year, we played the 8th seed Senators and the 7th seed Capitals and SURVIVED 14 games between them. We were too tired to do anything against the Devils in the Eastern Conference Finals, and we exited after 6 games. I’m getting that same feeling this year.

The Rangers have the talent and skill to manage the puck and tempo better. But the way we’ve approached these last three games is something that may haunt us in the next few.

These are the reasons why the Rangers are in major trouble against this Washington team.

Power Play:

Yes, we scored on the power play. We took more shots, which I liked, and we had the right guys in front in Boyle and Callahan. Took us a while, but we did it. But we were still 1-6. And we still look like we’re playing on sand. There’s no movement. We don’t bait the defenders to follow us around and open up the ice for more chances. We take shots that get blocked because they’re stand on their heels and give the defender plenty of time to stand in our way. I saw glimmers of movement last night, but if we had a continuous force of movement, we would’ve scored 3 goals instead of 1. This needs to change.

Brad Richards:

I just don’t know what he’s doing, and more importantly, I just don’t know if HE knows what he’s doing. He looks lost, he looks tired and his confidence is completely gone. Not many teams can say they have a Conn Smythe winner on their team this year, and quite frankly, the Rangers aren’t one of them. He needs to lead the way for us. He needs to shoot when he needs to shoot and pass when he needs to pass. That is one of the qualities Brad Richards can bring to a team. His decision-making. We need to see the Richards he’s capable of being or else we have no chance in this series.

Penalty Kill:

People will want to disagree but for me, this is something I feel needs to change. The Rangers always want to hang back on the power play. Yea, we block shots well and yea, we’re great with our sticks, but if we are on the players more frequently, we prevent the lethal Washington power play to set up and do some damage. We need to get physical, play up against them and suffocate them into making bad shots and passes. Even when it’s 5 on 5 and their pressuring us I see the Rangers playing back and looking for the block shots instead of preventing shots. We’re making it too easy for them to get shots in, and the result is a fluke goal my Hillen right off the face-off. We need to man up as a team, and pressure them when we’re in our end zone.

Line-Ups:

I think Tortorella is a great coach, but he is terrible with line changes. I don’t understand why he can split up Hagelin-Stepan-Callahan when they were one of the hottest lines in April. Again, wanting Nash to get better opportunities is something I can understand, but it hasn’t happened and we need to get back to what works.

Hagelin-Stepan-Callahan: Quick, forechecking and skilled.

Brassard-Richards-Nash: Skilled, play-making, and dangerous.

Clowe-Boyle-Pyatt: Skilled, big, forechecking.

Zuccarello-Dorsett-Asham: Up-tempo, size, forechecking.

This is, of course, if Clowe comes back and he has been missed. I feel these lines can boost confidence in Nash and Richards, and open more opportunities for Brassard and Boyle. We need forechecking, it’s been a characteristic of this team for years now.

Forechecking:

This is what we were built on. We got rid of depth for Nash, but made some great moves in the trade deadline and picked up players to get some depth back (Brassard, Clowe, Zuccarrello). We were the hard-working team in the East. We had the dump-and-chase mentality and worked behind the net as opposed to trying to make the big play. We have some size now, we just need to use it. We need to start working hard in the offensive end rather in the defensive end. We’re getting tired and beaten up around Lundqvist. We need to start creating offense off the forecheck now. This is our identity and we need to get back to that.

Shots:

I don’t see the hype in Holtby. He made Boyle look like Malkin with that goal last night. We need to get quality shots on net and be around for some rebounds. Make this goalie earn the hype he’s been getting. He’s been a thorn in our side but a majority of his saves are easy ones in my opinion. We need to just keep shooting.

If the Rangers can do all that, we can make a difference in this series.

NHL: The Rangers, Islanders Needs In The Post-Season

It appears, that the New York Rangers and New York Islanders will both be making the playoffs this year (more so the Islanders). For the Islanders, it was a season where they played poorly in the first half of the shortened season, then came on strong as one of the hottest teams in the NHL the second half of the season, led by their electric, play-making center John Tavares and veteran goaltending by Evgeni Nabokov. The Rangers, on the other hand, were the heavy favorites coming out of the lockout this season to make the Stanley Cup Finals out of the East. By making the splash in the off-season by acquiring right-winger stud Rick Nash, it seemed that they solved their goal scoring woes for good. But, the Rangers still lack goal-scoring and found themselves as one of the streakiest teams in the NHL, and now find themselves grasping tight to their 8th place and final playoff spot in the East. So, the question is, what do both teams NEED in order to make a deep impact against the other six juggernaut teams in the East?

Islanders:

Nassau Coliseum has finally found some life in their building the last couple weeks. The Islanders are 9-2-2 in their last 13 games, shooting up into 7th place in the East, making other teams weary of them. John Tavares has 8 goals and 4 assists in that span, and has had a stellar season, where he is top 5 in goals and a candidate for the Hart Trophy. Even as a die-hard Ranger fan, I always saw him as the perfect teammate, elite play-maker, and the essential piece to the New York Islanders. He makes everyone better around him and has become a threat in the NHL for years to come. My belief in the success to the Islanders this year though, is not Tavares, it is Nabakov. He was a stellar goalie in San Jose, but with lack of playing time and lack of dedication to joining the Islanders, he hasn’t been the same. But now, it seems he’s back to his old self, being sensational for the Islanders. Now, these are the Islanders’ needs coming into the post-season:

*Secondary Scoring

There’s no question that the Moulson-Tavares-Boyes line may be the toughest line in hockey, but in the playoffs, there needs to be other players to get the goals up on the board. Young talents like Bailey, Grabner, Okposo, and McDonald, all need to chip in the post-season. They’ve been playing well in this stretch, but they are going to need to continue in order for the Islanders to make it deep in the playoffs and take some pressure off their top line.

*Nabokov

He simply needs to be what he’s been. Nabokov has done more than enough to keep the Islanders rolling, and if he continues his stellar play, it’s going to be almost impossible stopping the Islanders.

*Playing Simple Defense

With their offense sizzling and their goaltending impermeable, really the only flaw, in my opinion, is the defense. Filled with young players, the blue line is filled with seasoned players, most of which in their mid-thirties. Travis Hamonic, who in my opinion is top 5 defensively in the league, needs to lead the way and continue being the Darelle Revis of his team. Streit and Visnovsky, known more for their offensive talents, need to play at a high level on defense. Carkner and Martinek, more seasoned players, simply need to play better defensively. If these guys can start shutting down opportunities, this team can be unstoppable.

And lastly, Capuano needs to get a haircut…. Just kidding haha! Ranger fan jab. But seriously, if the Islanders can do those three things, watch out NHL. The Islanders are not to be overlooked!

New York Rangers

The Rangers, at best, has had a sub-par season. Losing depth in Dubinsky, Anisimov and Prust has shown us fans that the Rangers are no where near at the level they were last year. Nash has been just about what we expected, being nearly a point per game player. But our lines now are a complete mess. Losing Gaborik and getting Clowe, Brassard and Moore has sparked us a bit, but the Rangers need to do the following in order to be a contender again.

*Tortorella Finally Finding Clicking Lines

Torts has been trigger-happy in changing up the lines in-between every whistle. We have our only offensive juggernaut playing with Brassard and Clowe…. which is unspeakable. He also plays Nash on the 2nd power play unit… which, to me, is non-sense. Now, you guys can argue, hey they scored 14 goals in the last two games. Please, against Florida and Buffalo, in which the Buffalo game more than half were off the Buffalo defense, we were fortunate. Against elite teams, we need to find a combination that is both spread out and consistent or else we are going to lose very quickly. Wake up Torts, let’s get back to how we used to be.

Nash-Stepan-Callahan

Zuccarello-Brassard-Hagelin

Clowe-Richards-Miller*

Pyatt-Boyle-Asham

PLEASE.

*Power-Play

It’s been clicking, finally. The addition of Brassard has been the key to scoring on the PP. But there’s also a simple explanation on why sometimes we score and most of the time we don’t: MOVEMENT. The goals we’ve been scoring on the power play have been because we rotated and made the defenders open up the ice. It’s a simple concept that, for some reason, the Rangers haven’t been able to grasp. If our power play clicks, we will have some offense finally.

*Passion

The past two games, it seemed like the Rangers showed a sense of urgency that was absent in the Philadelphia game prior. The Rangers have been a grind-it-out team. Forechecking and puck possession has been our game. We need to continue pressuring the opposition, making them play in their own end zone. If we can do that, the Rangers will begin getting some goals.

*Crashing The Net

It looks nice when we forecheck and begin controlling the puck, but if we are not around the net for rebounds, it’s wasted energy. We need the big boys like Clowe, Boyle and even Nash to place their big bodies in front of the net. Callahan is the only one who does, and it’s so frustrating to watch. If they do this on the power play and in even-strength, the Rangers will begin to show some life and make a push into the playoffs.

*Hitting

Not exactly something we NEED to do well in the playoffs, but it helps. We get pushed around all the time, and we go in timid going into the boards. This is hockey…. HIT!

So, as long as these two teams do this, we should see New York make a deep run into the playoffs. The last game these two teams played against each other was the best game this season in the NHL. I would love to see a series in the playoffs out of them. Should be a fun playoffs!