On the heels of Saturday's loss to the Red Wings, the Rangers return home to face their divisional rival, the Penguins. New York played one of their better games of the season in a 5-0 win over Pittsburgh and following Saturday's collapse, a full 60-minutes effort will be needed tonight. Both teams are dealing with injuries and lineup changes, some of what may not be determined until game time.
As pointed out by others, Saturday was the eighth time they lost a game when they had a lead. Five of those losses occurred in regulation and three in either a shootout of overtime. The net loss is 13 points, so you can see where they would sit if they had won just half of those games. This was a issue that proppsed up last year, especially against LA and unfortunately has carried forward to this season.
To me, the term "mentally soft" applies. I think they - and honestly the fan base - expects that even when they have a lead, something will happen. Plus, if it's a two-goal lead cut in half, the other shoe will somehow fall, resulting in a tie. It's bad enough when we expect, but if the players do - and I think they do - then the organization has a major problem on its hands. To change that almost needs a culture change, but barring that, which I don't expect to happen, then a win or two where a lead is halved or lost yet the team responds would do the trick. But because they are mentally soft, it's a catch-22. If they have a lead, they expect to lose it and likely will, so the confidence that would be boosted by holding the lead is shattered.
It's too early to say they need major changes. However, there are way too many struggling and please stop using the Stanley Cup Finals hangover excuse - it's a crutch. Marc Staal has to hit the net with the puck. Mats Zuccarello is scoreless in seven of nine and four straight. Chris Kreider, out tonight with neck spasms, is scoreless in 11. The team is 28th in faceoffs, winning 46.5% of their draws. Henrik Lundqvist, back between the pipes tonight, has a 2.70 goals-against average and really subpar .905 save percentage.
However, the most damning to me is the stupid mistakes night in and night out. How on a 5-on-3 power play, you fail to get a touch immediately to get more PP time. How you try and set up Rick Nash for a one-timer rather than move the puck quickly to take advantage of open ice and space and get the goalie to go side-to-side. How a cardinal rule in hockey, basketball and soccer or anything with a goal is to cover the man in front and worry about further away second, yet, repeatedly they fail to do so, like Kreider did Saturday. That "lazy back-checking" has become the norm rather than an exception and yet no one pays the price for it. Send a message. Sit someone for a shift, a period or a game even though the depth is lacking. The longer-term gain from a possible short-term loss would be acceptable to a lot of us if it resulted in that change of effort and attitude. AV is doing it with Matt Hunwick, who was toasted by Drew Miller, scratching him for John Moore but this can't be a one-time occurrence.
I would go into the lineups and line configurations, but you know, it doesn't matter. Whoever plays needs to bring in for the full game and not figure someone else will get it done. The main tweak is Lundqvist getting back in after giving him basically a week off following last Monday's nightmarish loss. For New York to get back on the beam, they need their Ling to play as one and not like a Pauper. Tonight would be a good place to start.