Control of their own destiny. The Rangers entered Thursday's contest in control of their own destiny. After their 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes coupled with Pittsburgh's win over Nashville, destiny is no longer in their hands. Based on what we saw last night and have seen at way too many times this year, it's probably an accurate assessment of how this year has gone that New York now can't control their own destiny.
You would think or hope 76 games into a season with a playoff clincher in their grasp that the team would come out in full force. Well, you would be wrong. Excuses such as three days off and the emotional return of Eric Staal to Carolina have been tossed out as ways to explain New York's overall performance, especially in the first period, when they were somnambulant. I probably should be throwing things and ranting and raving, but I am not, and that's likely even worse. Because it means I have to come to expect and unfortunately accept the reality of this squad.
That reality is that through 77 games, we only see glimpses of what we hope or expect this team to be. At times, you look up and they come across as a clear Cup candidate. Too often, you have to watch with your hands in front of your eyes, with the fingers slightly separated as you peak through them because watching too closely an you make you sick to your stomach while the performance on the ice is akin to something in a horror movie.
Carp summarized it beautifully: "The chasing by the D – whether to the point, or to the corner, or behind the net — makes the D look guilty most of the time, and plenty of times it is guilty. But certainly within the man-to-man system there has to be a rotation of forwards back, and far, far too often, nobody is back. Or back enough. Or accomplishing anything defensively once they get back. And in a man-to-man, if one man doesn’t do his job, all is lost. I think this way of playing defense, too, is why the PK has been so awful. And it has been awful."
The D does rightly get a lot of the blame but there is enough to go around. Why forwards leave a player in front of the net - like Derek Stepan, who normally is responsible defensively - to chase a forward behind the net is mind-boggling. Add in the fact that a defenseman is already there and it's clear there is no or not enough communicate on the ice. When you consider it was Stepan who made the bonehead play, it then shouldn't be surprising when other less defensively and aware responsible players make a similar mistake.
The coach has drawn a good portion of the fanbase's ire. To an extent, that's where it should sit. Not having your team ready to play falls on the coach. His comment after the game of "I haven't said this very often about this group, but we were outworked badly and definitely weren't ready to compete," is something that should never had to be said in the 77th game of the season. Though as noted above, as a professional, if you can't get up for what would be a possible playoff clinching win in an emotionally charged environment that should make it easier to play, that's on you. But the repetitive nature of this problem has to fall on the coaching staff. But blaming AV for the decision to not re-sign Anton Stralman and being in Dan Boyle may be giving him too much credit.
What you can say is that the move from Torts' ground a opponent into the ground style to AV's more open style has brought its own set of problems. The old style forced the Rangers to be constantly engaged. Each night required a lunch pail effort to win. That also grated on the team after a while and did require a change. Bringing in AV was hailed as a breath of fresh air. A SCF run occurred on year one and ECF one in year two. You could argue that large portions of that run can about with Torts' players. In addition, seeing how they have played, stating that the team is nowhere near as good also may not be that far off base. All that said, I am not ready to move to try and bring in another voice behind the bench.
More emotion behind the behind from AV would be nice. Shortening the leash given to veterans is another area where work is needed. Avoiding sitting young players for large stretches also has to be fixed. On the latter, re-inserting Dylan McIlrath should be step one. Giving Oscar Lindberg another look is step two. Sitting Boyle for McIlrath makes too much sense. Who to sit for Lindberg is a bit tougher. I could see Viktor Stalberg or Tanner Glass getting a day off but the fourth line has been the Rangers' best one for a while. So if it's only McIlrath and not Lindberg initially, I could deal with it. Just like players have to learn and adapt, so too does AV and he has failed to do so.
Now back to the game. Henrik Lundqvist was pretty good early, as NY slept through the first. Patrick Brown – son of ex-Devil Doug Brown, grandson of Wellington Mara – scored his first NHL goal to give Carolina a 1-0. Boyle turnover, Stepan and Keith Yandle were asleep as Jeff Skinner dumped it off the glass. Brown beat them to it and beat Lundqvist short side; one that maybe should have been stopped. At the end of one, Carolina up 1-0 on scoreboard and 13-4 in shots in a period that should be used as Exhibit A of how not to come out of the locker room to start a game.
The second was a mixture of good and bad. New York tied it early, as Stepan won a battle, Boyle won a battle, Stepan made a nice pass to Mats Zuccarello. who beat Cam Ward to tie the game. The Rangers' second goal was even more impressive. Rick Nash may have had his best goal of the season, showing power and skill to fend off Brett Pesce and beat Ward to make it 2-1. Why no penalty was going to be called if Nash didn't score, who they heck knows.
At that point, we thought it was going well, a theme that will be repeated. But we were quickly disavowed of that notion, as Lundqvist was beaten by a 50-foot Justin Faulk wrist shot. On replay, it looked as if it might have grazed McDonagh and changed directions. If it did, it was minimal and possibly/probably should have been stopped. If it didn't, ugly goal allowed and tie game.
The Rangers shook it off and were able to take a 3-2 lead into the third thanks to a retro Chris Kreider goal. On the power play, Stepan put the puck hard off the boards looking for a breaking Kreider, who used his speed to get past Pesce and like Nash, his size and skill to beat Ward. Up 3-2, entering the third with past history against Carolina and when having a lead after two dancing through the fans head.
But this clearly isn't the Rangers' teams of the past, as we have seen all too often this season. McDonagh chased the puck up above the right circle, neither Stepan nor Klein picked up Skinner, who was left wide open in front, to deflect the point shot past Lundqvist. As Carp said: All season long, chase-chase-chase, leave the man in front uncontested. 3-3.
Now the scoreboard watch really started. Pitt up big. Isles tied. Rangers trying to at least get the one point and get a goal to earn two. But it wasn't to be. This time the PK failed. Dan Girardi slapped a loose rebound to the line but not out. Yes, I know the play is to go through the board but no one was inside the line and it looked as if he got it high enough. But Faulk leaped and gloved it down with replay inconclusive on if there was offsides, despite it appearing his skates were outside the line. Staal chased the puck up high, leaving Girardi alone with two Canes, one of whom, Viktor Rask, was all alone to put in a loose puck after Girardi blocked a shot with his stick blade. Down 4-3 and desperation time.
However, not enough desperation. Other than Kreider nearly tying it with a high-speed redirection off Ward’s mask after Stepan's pass, the Rangers did little. Too much outside play, not enough grind to the net. 4-3 defeat, control of destiny lost.
Playoff Picture :
Starting with 10 games to go, scoreboard watching became the sport inside of the sport. As of the end of games March 31, the Rangers, who have five games left after their loss to Carolina on Thursday, sit third in the division, 43-25-9 with 95 points. When I do a recap or game preview blog, I will include this at the bottom of the blog. However, on non-game/recap days, I will run this daily since this is a huge topic of conversation and a large component of our focus.
Thursday, the Penguins defeated the Predators to move into second on the division, one point ahead of the Rangers. In addition, Pittsburgh is now tied with the Rangers with 40 ROW. Florida beat NJ and Montreal defeated Tampa Bay; neither of which had a direct impact on the Rangers, as their magic number to clinch a playoff berth remains at three. In addition, each team's remaining games could have an impact on standings placement down the road when in the post-season, depending on who wins first and second round matchups. Friday: Direct - none. Indirect (overall standings) - Red Wings-Wild and Bruins-Blues. Saturday: Direct - Isles-Penguins (have to hope for no three point game) and Flyers-Sens. Indirect (overall standings) - Lightning-Devils, Red Wings-Maple Leafs and Panthers-Canadiens.
Division:
Washington locked up the division and top seed in the conference with their win over Ottawa on March 22.
Pittsburgh- defeated Nashville 5-2 on Thursday for their fourth straight win. 9-1-0 in last 10, second in the division, one point ahead of the Rangers with same number of games played and tied 40-40 in ROW. (played 40 games at home, 37 on road, one left at home, four on road)
NYI- 4-3 win over Columbus on Thursday for their their straight victory. 5-4-1 in last 10, one game in hand and two points behind the Rangers, in fourth place in Metro. First Wild Card. (played 37 games at home, 39 on road, four left at home, two on road)
Philly- defeated Washington 2-1 in a shootout Wednesday. 6-2-2 their last 10, no games in hand on the Rangers, six points behind NY. Ahead of with Detroit by two points for eighth place in conference and are the Second Wild Card while also having one game in hand on the Red Wings. (played 38 games at home, 38 on road, three left at home, three on road)
Carolina, 3-2-5 in last 10, is now five points back, while NJ, 5-4-1 in last 10, is seven back of Philly, who have two games in hand on both teams, who have played 78 games. In addition, Carolina trails Boston by four points and has four games left, so they will have a difficulty beating the Bruins out. Since they are mathematically still alive and playing to stay in the race.
Conference (teams with a reasonable shot at the playoffs. Right now, three team race for division with Detroit looming).
Florida has 95 points with five games left after beating New Jersey on Thursday. That win pushed the Panthers back into first in Atlantic, as they have 95 points to Tampa's 93. Panthers and Lightning have each played 77 games but Tampa is up 41-36 in ROW. Florida is 6-4-0 in last 10, having played 39 games at home and 38 on the road. Two games left at home and three on the road.
Tampa Bay still has 93 points with five games left after their 3-0 loss to Montreal on Thursday. They are 5-5-0 in their last 10, having played 40 games at home and 37 on the road. One game left at home and four on the road.
Boston loses 2-1 to NJ on Tuesday and are now 3-6-1 in last 10. They trail TB and Fla by five points and each of those teams have a game in hand on the Bruins. Detroit is one point behind Boston with each team playing 77 games. The Bruins have played 38 games at home and 39 on the road. Three games left at home and two on the road.
Detroit - lost 4-3 to Montreal on Tuesday. 5-5-0 in last 10. Six points behind Isles, who have one game in hand. The Flyers win Wednesday put them two points ahead of Detroit and they also have one game in hand. One points behind Boston but with no games in hand. (played 39 games at home, 38 on road, two left at home, three on road)
Summary: After a disappointing road trip, a solid win at home against the Panthers followed by one over Boston, a victory in Montreal, overtime loss to Pittsburgh and defeat by Carolina. There is still work to be done, as the team needs to stop playing a shell and laying back on their heels in the third period. The Rangers the past several seasons have been excellent down the stretch, to lock in a spot, they may need to do the same thus year. Upcoming schedule is no cake walk. Remaining games overall are four at home and two on the road. The Rangers are going to get no help from others, so they will need to keep winning in order to make the post-season and maintain a top-three seed in division.
In order:
3/21- Fla - win 4-2 3/23 - Bos - win 5-2 3/26 - @Mtl - win 5-2 3/27 - Pit - lost 3-2 in overtime 3/31 - @Car - lost 4-3 4/2 - Buf 4/4 - @CBJ 4/5 - TB 4/7 - NYI 4/9 - Det