Rock Bottom, The nightmarish season that is the 2012-13 New York Rangers took a further tumble last night in the team's 3-0 loss to the Canadiens. For those of you keeping track, that makes back-to-back shutouts against in their past two games in general and four straight shutouts by Carey Price against New York when playing them in Montreal.

In case the numbers in general weren't ugly enough, here is a few more for you (thanks RangerSaver, and mea culpa for my mistake, for them):

- The Rangers are last in the league in Goals Scored Per Game Average (& a 78 Goals Scored Net Total); yet about 4th best overall in the Lowest Goals Against Average Per Game at 2.24; mainly due to Henrik and Marty keeping them in games. They have now given up a total of only 76 goals this year. The actual Rangers total number of goals against is 84, which includes, believe it or not, eight empty net goals against in the 16 regulation time losses

- They are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, yet somehow still have the eighth spot in the conference, which is akin to stepping into the lion's den as it means a first round match up with the Penguins

- They have have given up a power play goal against in each of their past seven games, which is an area of concern that we highlighted earlier in the year. Those struggles along with their own middling at best power play are a big reason for the team's offensive struggles.

A quote in the NY Post by Mats Zuccarello, who might have been the best Ranger on the ice, when discussing the transition back from the KHL to the Rangers, sums it up best for me:“It’s more of a puck possession game there as opposed to more dump-and-chase here, but I’ve played this system for two years.” Now, granted part of that is due to the smaller ice surface here, but the style of play that the Rangers utilize is not one that maximizes the "talent" (word used loosely based on current performance) that is on the current squad.

The issues this year, beyond just the scoring, have been effort and production. One one night, the first is lacking, which has occurred way too often and on other nights, the latter is lacking. Last night, I actually thought the effort was there, however, the production wasn't, with the best chance coming on JT Miller's blast off the post in the first period. The one thing I will say about last night is that they competed, but a goal 47 seconds in put them behind the eight-ball immediately. On Thursday, it was a late goal in the second that was the nail in the coffin. It's scary that for all of us, once they get behind 1-0, regardless if it's early or late, and we are all already figuring that the game is over. If we have those thoughts on the outside, would it shock anyone of us if the team, especially Lundqvist and Biron, had the same view given their season-long inability to score?

It's easy for us to sit on the sidelines and say the coach should go, but none of us, and I repeat none of us, truly know what's going on inside that locker room of the heads of the players. I could write a blog that just says Fire Torts, end it there, and have most people agree with me. I could also just write Keep Torts and have a bunch of defenders. The true answer is, who know what's the right move to make. What I can say is that Torts' reluctance to hire a second assistant coupled with his reported lack of interest and time spent coaching the offense, which may or may not have had a direct result in this season's struggles, could end up getting him fired. It would be one thing if just one or two players were struggling, but it's a team-wide malaise which of course has to bring into question the coaching staff and their ability to get through to the players and maximize the talent there.

The main comments I have read, okay, maybe just from TJ, is that how the style forces the team to think defense and not offense, preventing them from transitioning from one end of the ice to the other. In addition, Torts' psychological ploys have had an adverse effect on the players. While those may be true to a certain extent, these are professional, not amateur, athletes. They get paid to produce and when they don't, they will hear it. I will agree, as I have all year, up to a point, that the collapsing style is preventing the breakout and the odd-man rushes the team needs. However, the Rangers did have chances last night and fail to convert. Maybe you could say Gaborik is so messed up mentally right now and gripping the stick so tight that he is unable to score on a breakaway or a penalty shot, but does any of us really believe that when he is on the ice he is thinking about all those things when trying to score or is it solely a slump? There is only so much blame I can heap on Torts, but also, I am tired of hearing of roster turnover and the lack of training camp as reasons for the struggles. They are 34 games in, enough already.

I do agree the style does have to be opened up. But if you look at St. Louis, who under Ken Hitchcock, play a pretty tight defense, they have 94 goals for but 93 against, so even they are struggling to an extent, but the additional goals would have made a huge difference in the record here. A better comparison is Ottawa, who despite losing their top goalie, center and defenseman, which resulted in a change to a more defensive style, have outscored NY and given up less goals. So the argument of how the style is fully impeding the Rangers this year is mitigated a lot by what Ottawa is doing because everyone has bought in to the system. This year, I am unsure it's the case. i think the wear and tear of blocking shots has had a huge impact on them, especially in the play of Dan Girardi and Ryan Callahan. Players seem less willing to give up their bodies, which has resulted in more deflections getting through and screens on half-hearted attempts. Those two reasons are also why I think a change of style is needed. It's time to open it up. Get back to safe is death and counterattacking. However, as we have seen, even when they do counterattack, the end result - production - just isn't there, but the more chances you create, the better chance you have, because right now, this is a dead man walking team, way too reminiscent of 92-93. If things don't turn around at all, then just like after the 92-93 season, a new coach will in all likelihood be brought in.

So then what to do for right now? In my opinion, due to the lack of a first round pick, making the playoffs is huge. That said, I would not be looking forward to acquiring assets that would require major pieces going back. In addition, I would also look to see if some of the bottom six players, who could be useful pieces on other teams could bring back anything (Pyatt, Boyle etc.). Yes, I realize I am saying be a buyer and seller, but I think that's the place the Rangers are in now. I know many would like to just dump Gaborik or Richards, but given their contracts, especially Richards, and lack of production, that's just not going to happen.

Thanks again to Vin and Pete who stepped in for me last week. In my absence the next two days, Tapout632 (Ed) will have the Winnipeg preview blog and Midnight Marauder (Brandon) will have the recap and look forward to the trade deadline Tuesday. Maybe when I get back Tuesday night, the Rangers will at least have had a win Monday, which is a key game, and have something to build on when they start a home-and-home against the Penguins.

Join the Discussion: » 270 Comments » Post New Comment

» Game 2: Rangers hold on for 4-3 win and 2-0 series lead

» Game 1: Rangers hold serve at home 4-1 over Caps behind the fourth line

» 2024 Series Overview and Preview - Round 1 - Rangers-Capitals

» Rangers-Capitals: Reading the Numbers, Looking for an Advantage

» Rangers-Capitals meet again, though for first time since 2015, in playoffs