The Rangers had another one of their lather, rinse, repeat meltdowns Sunday against the Capitals. By lather, rinse, repeat, I mean that the same issues that have plagued this team for weeks and maybe months reared up again. Most teams will take advantage of the type of changes New York gave them, but a real good team like Washington really exploit and make the most of those opportunities.
Coach Alain Vigneault tweaked the lineup for Sunday's game, benching Viktor Stalberg and re-inserting Oscar Lindberg, who was scratched Friday. In addition, the lines were jumbled, as JT Miller was moved to the top line, Jesper Fast to the second, Zucc down to the third with Tanner Glass, yes, you read and saw that correctly during the game, Glass while Lindberg ended up as a fourth line wing.
Those changes, head-scratching as they were, didn't have the desired effect initially. As Carp wrote: Hayes and Etem left defenseman Taylor Chorney open at the left dot for a wrister that Justin Williams, abandoned by Hayes and unchecked by Boyle, deflected home for a 1-0 lead. But the Rangers rebounded, surprisingly scoring the next three goals. But we all knew or should have known that was fools gold.
Why? Because this team is mentally soft. Because they can't live with success and seemingly don't have the mental capacity to learn from their mistakes to avoid making them again and again and again. Because for all the rhetoric and talk in the room, it's just words with no actions to back them up. Because we have been down this road a lot lately and nothing has changed.
It started early in the second, as Washington had a good chance just :19 into the period. But New York was able to keep the Capitals at bay for five minutes before the floodgates opened. Evgeny Kuznetsov made it 3-2 at 5:26 and you just knew the Rangers were toast. That goal came after a turnover and a bad change by Hayes, leaving Kuz wide open on right wing to roof a back-hander.
Then as Carp wrote, Marc Staal and Chris Kreider were beaten by T.J. Oshie to a long bank-pass by Nicklas Backstrom off the corner boards, and Henrik Lundqvist off-balance can’t stop him, just a bad goal (where have we heard that before) and it was tied. Chris Summers takes a penalty, of course the Rangers ignore Alex Ovechkin in the low left circle, because we know he never sets up there, and it's 4-3. Just to make the rout complete, Williams beat Lundqvist again with a minute left in the period to make it 5-3, good night and go home.
The Rangers were no better in front of Magnus Hellweg in the third, as he surrendered two goals to make the final 7-3. Mistake after mistake, error after error. The same ones made over and over with no sign of abatement.
I have been a fan of this team since I was six years old. Right now may be the most embarrassed I have been of this organization. In the past, they stunk because the talent wasn't there. Now, even if the talent may not be up to where we thought it was, the losing is largely due to a lack of effort, hockey sense and at times, heart. I am unsure which of those three is worse. Maybe heart, because other than Zucc, no one really seems to give a damn.
The answer may be to blow it up but that seems unlikely. Maybe he return of Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein will be the panacea many expect it to be, though I am not one of those that believe that. Too many passengers on the bus. Too many players not pulling close to their own weight.
It's possible that Kreider will never figure it out and he has to be moved, but are you willing to take the risk that he develops into a Cam Neely type and you traded him for pennies on the dollar as Vancouver did with Neely. Hayes could have read too many of the headlines about him last year or just be dealing with a sophomore slump, but whatever the case, he isn't cutting it. He should be stapled to the bench and would be a candidate for demotion if waivers weren't an issue.
My hope is that if a move is made its not out of panic. Keep the long term in mind when making a possible trade. Because right now to quote Michael Ray Richardson, 'the ship be sinking.'