The Rangers continued their free fall and potential positioning for more ping pong balls with a 5-2 loss to the Wild on Saturday. That defeat on the heels of a 5-1 loss to the Flames on Friday meant that New York ended their four-game road trip 0-3-1. In addition, the Blueshirts have lost 10 of their 11 contests, going 1-5-5 in that stretch. New York kicks off the last 10 games of their season, which come in a 19-day span, Monday against the Red Wings.
Pavel Buchnevich's #17. Buch has been one of the few saving graces during this rough patch. Now up to 17 tallies, he has a realistic shot at 20 for the year, though he still will finish well below the 43 points he scored last season:
Standings and ping-pong balls:
The Rangers remain in seventh place — a point behind sixth-place Vancouver, two behind fifth-place Anaheim, and hold the tiebreaker (ROW) with every team other than the Red Wings, who beat the Islanders. The Sabres, with seven consecutive losses, are tied with the Rangers in points but have a game in hand. Vancouver is one point back of New York with 68 points and a game in hand while Anaheim has 67 points and the Blueshirts have a game in hand. Catching New Jersey (63 points) looks unlikely while Detroit (60), Los Angeles (58) and Ottawa (56) are pretty much locked into 1-3.
Power-less man-advantage:
The Rangers are 1-for-their-past-29 on the power play. An inability to score is the most concerning, but the power play itself looks horrific. No puck or player movement, stagnation, along with a lack of elite talent is the recipe for the recent struggles. Remember earlier in the season when the man-advantage hummed? Seems like ages ago.
The NY Post reiterated what we have said several times: "The Rangers had been converting on 21.6 percent of their power plays before the trade deadline, which would currently make them the 10th-best unit in the league. But since then — with Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello, both mainstays on the power play, traded away — they have hardly been a threat."
“Our power play certainly needs to be addressed,” coach David Quinn said after the Rangers had mustered all of four shots on three power plays in Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Flames. “It’s just too slow, too methodical. We don’t have an attack mentality on the power play, for sure. We don’t have an idea what we’re going to do with it before we get it.”
“We’ve gotta get way more of an attack mentality to our power play,” Quinn said. “We get a puck and we’re looking to see, OK, what are we going to do with it? Instead of knowing what we’re going to do with it before we get it. It’s something we got to address. Obviously after [Friday night], we have to address a lot of things the way we played.”
Fading:
Last season following the trade deadline, the Rangers collapsed down the stretch, costing Alain Vigneault his job. The Rangers (28-31-13) are sinking again this season. Post trade deadline, New York had remained competitive, with five of seven losses needing overtime or a shootout. But the last three game have been no contests, with the Blueshirts outscored 14-4. Frustration has now set in. You can see it on the ice and on the bench. Quinn needs to find a way to get the team re-energized so that even if they do lose, the effort is there.
Lineup:
Boo Nieves and Connor Brickley were out Saturday, so Brandon Smith moved back to forward. Freddy Claesson was also in the lineup. Stay tuned Monday to see who sits.
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