The Rangers return to action Friday against the Islanders coming off a rousing comeback that netted them a point but a shoot out loss. I would love to say that contest and the comeback against Calgary are evidence they are on the right track, but that would mean I had to be convinced of it and I am not. Plus, when you add in some of the recent roster moves and decisions, it makes you go all Blazing Saddles and ask: what in the wide, wide world of sports is going on here?
We may be here all day discussing it but let's just touch on moves from the past two days:
- Wednesday, Chris Kreider, who is one of your better offensive weapons is sat for all of the OT and not used on the PP. Granted, he did not have a great game, but your offense has in general been stagnant, and at times, non-existent, yet you don't use his big body on the man advantage or his speed in the OT because you felt he was not one of your top 8 or 9 forward. Sure makes sense to me.
- Arron Asham is called up to provide a physical presence, yet you barely play him even when active, scratch him Wednesday and now send him back down to the minors when you about to face a major division rival and one who loves to play a physical, irritating game. As Pat Leonard said, Asham couldn’t play for Torts when he scored in the playoffs, so why should we expect to play now.
- Dylan McIlrath is called up to provide some depth and a physical body on the blue line, especially with Marc Staal out. I get sitting him down Wednesday, though it would have been nice to have his presence there as a deterrent from even touching Hank - though I don't believe Kunitz ran him intentionally. Now, he is sent down before facing the Islanders where his size is needed because of his poor skating and lack of on-ice awareness. I am sorry, were you watching a different player in the AHL then we were and did something change in his skill set since being called up? You knew those issues when he was promoted, so how did that now warrant a demotion especially when Falk was so horrific the other night, yet he remains in the lineup?
- JT Miller is getting Amtrak miles galore. Down, up. Down, up. He goes back down to play, yet ostensibly has only played four games this month with two of those seven minutes for the Rangers. He has played well in the minors, though hasn’t translated that to the Rangers. So unless you are going to give him real minutes - doubtful - why bother to promote him? Play him major minutes for weeks at a clip in the NL and only promote him if a need, such as an injury, arises and you will use him accordingly. (Edit: He at least is skating with someone with some skill and as AV said, " hoping the veteran with his experience rubs off on the younger player, "see below)
There are so many more to cover but considering all of this is from the last 36 hours, is it now not clear why the heck we wonder what the heck is going on with this team?
The Rangers and AV are shifting the lines again in a way to stimulate a moribund at best offense:
Nash-Stepan-Zuccarrello Kreider-Brassard-Hagelin, Richards-Miller-Pouliot Boyle-DMoore-Dorsett
(my quote at 9:25am from my comments on my blog yesterday: "I don't view MZA as a center. Personally, stick him on the wing with Nash and Stepan. Put Hagelin on the line with Richards and Kreider with Brassard centering the third line, especially when Callahan returns." I got the first line right, most of the second, but I would have put Richards there and have Miller with Brassard on the third line. Boyle has three goals in 73 games as jimbo etc pointed out. Look, I would love him to score, but actually think his play on the PK and overall is in line with what I expected and worth the $1.7 mil he is making. If the top three lines were scoring, no one would care that he isn't)
McDonagh-Girardi, JMoore-Stralman, Del Zotto-Falk
(reunited, will it feel so good? After breaking up McDonagh and Girardi, they are back together. In addition, Del Zotto is with Falk and Moore with Stralman. I would rather MDZ with Stralman and Moore with Falk, but understand they like Moore's ability to recover and provide O while Stralman can hang back. Though, keeping McIlrath up and benching Falk would have been the move I made)
Lundqvist
(so overuse Hank is the new mantra? I understand wanting to get him back on the beam and on a roll. He played better versus Calgary and Pittsburgh, but he has a stiff neck after Kunitz knocked him down. So you are playing him against a team that I am sure will put traffic in front and make contact when they can, especially with no Asham or McIlrath. Plus, you allow Talbot to stagnate and wear down Hank, who will play tons in the Olympics and if the team is battling for a playoff berth, will play almost nightly down the stretch. Makes sense to me)
Every day it gets harder and harder to figure out and root for this team…