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Game 1: PHX 4 NYR 1, Lots of Work In Own Zone Required |
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The Rangers' initially foray under new coach Alain Vigneault was clearly not one for the record books or memory banks. Too many defensive breakdowns and uneven play contributed to the 4-1 loss to Phoenix on Thursday. Part of the defensive breakdowns can be attributed to the change in style, but in several cases, they were outhustled or pushed off the puck. In addition, Henrik Lundqvist wasn't great, which didn't help. However, all that said, despite the disappointing loss and overall so-so play, there were some positives from the game.
Game Highlights:
If you look at some of the advanced stats from www.extraskater.com, while the final score was 4-1, the gap between the two squads wasn't as wide as it would appear. Yes, Phoenix had a better Fenwick (60-51) and Corsi (42-34) than NY, which would be expected, but it's not as if the ice was completely tilted. In addition, in 5x5, the spreads were just 38-36 and 25-22, which is a better indication. That said, the starkest difference came 5x5 when tied, which mainly was when it was 1-1 and in that three-plus minutes span, the spreads were 8-2 and 8-1 as well as 7-0 in shots. Those last stats are reminiscent to a year ago when the Rangers came back and tied a game, they lost focus, gave up control of a game, took a bad penalty and allowed a goal. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Some other thoughts on last night:
- Face-offs, face-offs, face-offs. Only Boyle was halfway decent winning 6-of- 11, but Moore won just 5-of-12, including a bad loss on the PP goal by Vrbata that was almost the nail in the coffin and Richards won just 2-of-7.
- What we have here is a failure to communicate. We all knew that defensively it would be a work-in-progress and we saw last night just how much effort will be needed. Players are caught in between former muscle memory and switching to the new style, so caught in no-man's land. Not passing off skaters correctly, leaving big gaps in the slot - as seen on the first goal - not filling in correctly when a teammate is beaten, as seen by Staal and egregiously Nash on the last goal. The movement from a zone concept and blocking shots with the forwards and D pinching down to a man-to-man, recovery and help style, will take time. In the interim, Hank needs to be a stalwart and he wasn't last night.
- I actually the movement on the PP, even though just one goal was scored. In addition, decent transition from defense to offense, which is an area we have been harping on as a major weakness and gap for years, and when they had good chances, nearly every time. Mike Smith, who played well, actually outplaying Hank, stoned them.
- Staal was the Rangers' best player last night, hands down. He made one mistake but overall showed good jump, anticipation and no ill-effects from last year's eye injury.
- Other than the pass to Staal and sticking up for Derek Stepan, who was plastered, Rick Nash was invisible. Your best forward has to be your best forward nightly, last night, Nash wasn't.
-As mentioned in the comments. leave the Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello line alone; by far their best forward unit even strength.
-Richards wasn't bad. He was engaged and didn't look completely out of place at left wing, so I guess that's a positive.
- It's hindsight, but if Zuccarello's shot goes in and not off crossbar/post, I wonder if things might have been different.
Overall, was it a great first effort, no. Are there major areas that need to be fixed and worked on? Yes. Is that something that shocks us? No. But all that said, there were enough positives last night where you can see how this style will work, especially when Callahan and Hagelin are back. Cleaning up the own zone play is a major priority, which is why I said it may take 10 games of so before this becomes muscle memory and second nature. A tougher test in LA looms.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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