Blog Archives
Halfway there: Evaluating the Rangers at the midpoint of the season
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
We’re officially halfway through the Rangers season, and it’s been a pretty good start despite some injuries, rough stretches and a lot of new players for Alain Vigneault to figure out and utilize properly.
With a 27-13-1 record along with practically same defensive unit as last season, the Rangers have probably exceeded most people’s expectations. Their 55 points are tied with the Penguins for second in the division, as well as being tied for the second most points in the entire league (Pittsburgh has played three fewer games). The Blue Jackets sit in first in the division and the league thanks to their incredible 16 game win streak that stretched from late November into January.
Given the situation with all of the forward injuries, the first half of the season has been a big success. There have been some issues and rough patches, like with just about every team, but it’s hard not to come away with more positives than negatives. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers battle the Flyers in crucial division matchup; Vigneault fuming after yesterday’s loss
Bobby Bevilacqua
Yesterday was an embarrassing game for the Rangers (26-13-1), who lost 4-1 to the Buffalo Sabres after showing almost no effort or fire in their game. The team needs a quick turnaround, because they take on the Philadelphia Flyers (20-14-5) on the road tonight in what could wind up being an important one for the Metropolitan Division standings.
The Rangers did almost nothing right last night, and were outworked and out-executed by one of the worst teams in the league. Alain Vigneault normally keeps his cool, but he was fuming after last night’s loss.
“There’s no doubt we didn’t do a good enough job in preparing our team for tonight’s game,” Vigneault told reporters. “I mentioned it many times. There are no easy games in this league. We weren’t ready when the game started, our execution was nonexistent. We didn’t have a ‘D’ that could make a pass, and our compete level was not good enough. I haven’t said this very often about this group since I’ve been here, but this was a very bad game where we got outworked badly, and we’re going to need to respond here.” Read the rest of this entry
Rangers get a lot of shots, but are shut out by Anderson and the Senators
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers (15-7-1) could not make it two wins in a row, as they were able to get more shots on goal but could not covert that into offense, falling 2-0 to Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators (14-7-1) despite a 33-20 edge in shots.
Recently, the Rangers have been the ones getting outshot and out possessed, but coming away with wins for the most part. Despite turning the tables tonight, they were shut out, mostly because their shots were not from high danger areas. The Rangers had some pretty good chances when they were able to break through the Senators’ defense, but Anderson answered the call.
There wasn’t a lot going on for the Blueshirts in terms of their usual breakaways, because the Senators did a really good job eliminating the Rangers’ speed game. Ottawa clogged up the neutral zone, pushed the Rangers skaters to the outside and mostly eliminated a lot of the good scoring chances. It was a pretty disappointing effort from the Rangers coming off of a game where they barely came away with a win over the Flyers, nearly blowing it in the third period. Read the rest of this entry
Zibanejad injury sets Kevin Hayes up for a breakout season
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
When Mika Zibanejad went down in overtime against the Florida Panthers, you knew it was bad.
Thankfully, the Rangers’ offseason acquisition only suffered a broken fibula, sidelining him for the next six to eight weeks. I say only because with the way he went into the boards, it could easily have been a shattered ankle, torn tendon or a messed up knee.
I like to think that I’m a bit of an optimist, so there was a bit of a silver lining to his injury. The first was that it’s a clean break, which is better when it comes to healing. The other positive out of this awful injury is the fact that Kevin Hayes will get a huge opportunity to grow and develop in a top six role. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers begin home-and-home series with Pittsburgh; Hayes an important piece moving forward
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers (13-5-1) fell in the shootout to the Panthers last night and lost Mika Zibanejad for the next 6-8 weeks, but the turnaround is quick as they head to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins (11-4-3) on the road.
Goals from Kreider and Zibanejad weren’t enough as the Rangers mustered a lot of scoring chances, but only two goals on James Reimer. It was the second loss in a row for New York, marking the first time this season that they have lost consecutive games.
The Penguins will be playing their fourth game in six nights, and coming off of a shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves and allowed just one goal, while Sidney Crosby scored the lone goal for the Pens. Read the rest of this entry
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