Win one, lose one, win one, lose one. Stop me if you have heard this before. That pattern has existed for the last 10 games, Sunday was no different. Coming in off a 3-2 shootout win that many of us hoped would be a springboard, the Rangers reverted to their bad habits, though since it's a habit, maybe reverted isn't the right word, so go with "continued to show" their bad habits Sunday against the Capitals in a 5-2 loss.
The effort level has been better but then the pattern shows itself again. As Carp wrote: "The Rangers compete, they really do, but they play such dumb hockey at such critical times. Such head-you-know-where hockey. Poor reads, poor coverage, lazy penalties. And with just a few shifts each night, they undo all the good they’ve done lately. They take the strides they’ve made, and fling them into the toilet." It's those mistakes that drive us fans and likely the coaching staff up the wall. From Dan Girardi's comments below, it's pretty clear the players can't understand why it happens and how to stop them from occurring.
“I feel like it has been déjà vu in here for the last two months. We come in the room after a game in which we do the right things to win, and then the next day it’s, ‘Oh, we let it get away from us.’“It’s really tough. It’s definitely been a long stretch. We play well for a stretch, but then we have lapses, and I don’t know why that is.
“There’s no such thing as a little play in this lovely game of hockey. You have to be able to focus on every shift. For some reason, we haven’t been able to be consistent from game to game or within games.
“It’s very frustrating.…
“All these small plays that we’ve just been doing the last couple years, like a natural feeling, I feel like now we get away from ourselves. I feel like I’m just talking (about) the same (issues) after every game. We have to figure it out. I don’t know what to talk about anymore. We were saying the same things two months ago. It’s crazy.…
“It feels like every time we make one mistake it’s one mistake turns into two or three,… Girardi added. “Everyone is just scrambling and it’s in the back of our net. That’s really been hurting us, those little plays. We’re not recovering from them.…
Derick Brassard's penalty led to the first goal. J.T. Miller's turnover resulted in the fourth goal. The failure to cover the front of the net. Playing out of position with no communication and similar with the lousy handoffs in the defensive zone. The inability to move players from in front of the net. Coming in on a 2-on-1 and not getting a good shot. This list is likely just the tip of the iceberg but part of the pattern we have seen too often this year and it's not just one or two players but the whole roster.
If you are going to struggle 5-on-5, then your special teams has to be good. As we have seen, that's far from the case. Both the man-advantage and penalty kill have been atrocious. As noted in several outlets:
"The penalty-kill unit that entered the match 20th in the NHL at 79.6 percent, yielded two power-play goals on four disadvantages to emerge at 78.7 percent. It’s been much worse than that lately, assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson’s unit having allowed 10 goals on 27 disadvantages over the last nine matches and 17 goals in 17 games. The Blueshirts’ power play went 0-for-4 to slip to 1-for-26 in the last nine games."
You can't win that way. Even if Henrik Lundqvist was playing as he did the first six weeks and the team scored 5v5, the above numbers make it almost impossible to win. On the penalty kill, the box has huge holes in it, allowing easy tap-in goals in front of the net. If not that, then the point is open with a screen on the goalies. The power play suffers from a failure of a player and puck movement, all of which is impacted by the lousy entries; an issue that has existed for seemingly forever.
The general view of a lot of Rangers fans is to blow it up. I understand the thought, especially since the team makes you want to drink, shake your head or both. The effort level, which has been an issue, has been a bit better. But there is a difference between real and faux effort. Real effort is constantly moving and hustling. Faux effort is making a last ditch effort to beat a player to the spot and making it look close, but if that player had been hustling throughout, they would have easily gotten there. Maybe a bit deal trading a core piece would wake the squad from their doldrums but who doesn't believe doing so would come back to haunt the team or they would either pick the wrong one to deal and/or not enough in return? Maybe they are fried from the long runs or not giving max effort in the regular season. The early season run gave them some wiggle room but that space is now almost totally gone and they need to pick it up. If they do get in the playoffs, as we have seen you never know what can happen, but they still have to get there.
The Nash-Stepan-Kreider line seems to have some chemistry and if Nash can only get on a quasi-roll... Brassard and Zuccarello need to regain that chemistry they showed earlier in the season. Miller has also come on. But if they don't clean up these mistakes, which to date, there is little to show that will be the case, it may not matter. I doubt much will happen before the All-Star break, but if the pattern continues, something will be done.
As noted, the schedule gets a bit easier going forward. Canucks, Hurricanes, Senators, Sabres, and Devils are all up next. On paper, you would think the Rangers should beat all those teams but as we know, that is unlikely to happen. At worst, they need to get three wins and start to regain some confidence.