Minus a key center to a broken leg, light on depth at the position, struggling mightily out of the gate and positioning for the McDavid sweeps. Only when you get to the last part of that does it seem to describe the Canes. With Richards gone to free agency and Stepan out with a broken leg, the Rangers have a bit of a crisis at center ice of their own. And despite having an elite goalie and what has generally been a solid defense, the team has been porous in terms of giving up goals. And at 1-3, all the troubles are finding their way to the standings. But because of the expectations for the Rangers and their solid 2013-14 campaign, the talk about the Rangers is not about McDavid, it is more about righting the ship, figuring things out, adjusting, etc.
Paint the perspective how you want based on preseason expectations. Thursday's matchup at MSG is nothing more than 2 struggling teams trying to find their way right now. The Rangers have given up 5, 6 and 6 goals in 3 consecutive losses, and the Canes have given up 5, 4 and 3 goals in 3 consecutive (with 1 OTL) losses. Whichever, if either, team can right the ship defensively and in net seems to have the advantage.
From the Canes side, it has been a surprisingly good week on the injury front. Jeff Skinner magically appeared at practice this week and is a great than 50% chance to play tonight. Andrej Sekera who took a horrible spill into the boards in Tuesday's game is being described as "sore." He will also be a game time decision and does not appear to be a long-term injury concern. Finally, Eric Staal is not expected to play Thursday, but his injury too seems to be a short-term thing. Patrick Dwyer is still out which has Brody Sutter as the Canes latest AHL call-up.
Here is what I will be watching tonight:
1) In net. The Canes have got average or worse in net in all 3 starts. There is room for improvement in net, and it is a necessity for the Canes to find success on this road trip. I need to go hunt down tonight's starter, but I don't think Ward did anything to seize the role with a 'meh at best' outing on Tuesday. I figure Peters keeps going back and forth until he finds something which would suggest Khudobin tonight.
2) Rick Nash and his matchups. Though it is not benefitting the Rangers in the win column, Nash has taken a liking to the early-season, loose style of play to the tune of 6 goals in 4 games. On the road, the Rangers get to dictate matchups a bit, so it will be interesting to see if the Canes can matchup and contain him a bit.
3) A rising. Light on pure offense, the Canes could use a power surge. There are options. Skinner should be back. Semin has more to offer. The duo of Boychuk and Terry were the best players on the ice down the stretch on Tuesday and will probably see a bit more ice time because of it tonight. The power play continues to produce.
4) The matchup game. This game starts the annual NC State Fair road trip that sees the Canes playing away. That means the other teams get to dictate matchups a bit. I will be watching to see if the Canes roster, especially the forward lines that are heavy on youth, can hold their own at least against some challenging matchups trying to pick on them. The challenge placed on Rask and Nash gets dialed up another notch starting tonight.
If either team can muster a better effort in net and on defense, I think they get the upper hand. If it is another preseasonish loose effort from both teams then picking a winner is a crapshoot.
With a win the Canes climb to 1-2-1. That's not great, but it is not "already focused on next June either."
The puck drops at 7pm on Fox Sports Carolinas with Tripp and John.
Twitter=@CarolinaMatt63
Go Canes!