Blog Archives
Rangers battle the Ottawa Senators; Lundqvist OUT for tonight with illness
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a much needed three-day Christmas break, the Rangers (23-12-1) are back in action at MSG tonight, taking on Derick Brassard and the Ottawa Senators (20-11-2), who are riding a four game win streak.
To say the Rangers struggled in the two games before the brief break is an understatement, with the team giving up seven goals in both of their games and continuing their trend of a diminishing offense. After a start to the season that saw New York score four or five goals in almost every game, their shooting percentage is dipping back to normal, offense is drying up with the injuries and numbers are starting to look more realistic.
Ottawa however, are looking to extend their win streak and continue to fight for the top spot in the Atlantic, where they trail the Canadiens by three points. While both teams have allowed 89 goals so far, Ottawa is only averaging 2.59 goals per game, while the Rangers have scored 3.31 goals per game. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers poor defensive effort hands Minnesota their 10th straight win
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After getting embarrassed at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rangers (23-12-1) had yet another disappointing effort, losing 7-4 to the Minnesota Wild (20-8-4) and giving them a franchise record 10th straight victory.
The Rangers offense was fine tonight, scoring four goals, but the defensive struggles continued. This time, goaltending wasn’t there to bail out the constant defensive miscues and blown coverages. Henrik Lundqvist was not at his best, allowing two weak goals, but there was nobody there to help him. Antti Raanta came in and gave up two goals, both two completely wide open Wild defenders.
You can complain as much as you want about the goaltending, the forward injuries, the lack of “grit” or “toughness,” but none of those issues are as big as this defense. It’s a tire fire at times and the usual offenders (Girardi, Klein) are not getting any better. Yes, it’s still December, but it’s better to solve this problem now. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers look to rebound and snap Minnesota’s nine game winning streak
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Following a beat down at the hands of Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rangers (23-11-1) face another tough opponent before they close out their pre-Christmas schedule, a home matchup against the red-hot Minnesota Wild (20-8-4), winners of nine straight games.
The Rangers played Pittsburg on Tuesday, their ninth game in 15 days, and got pummeled in every aspect imaginable. Antti Raanta was unsupported by his teammates, the defense was atrocious, and the offensive struggles continued.
For Minnesota, everything has been going right. Last night they took down the Montreal Canadiens, Devan Dubnyk stopped 25 of the 26 shots that he faced, improving his record to 17-6-3 with a 1.57 GAA and a .948 save percentage. Eric Staal scored the game winner, a shorthanded goal in the third period. Read the rest of this entry
Nick Holden becoming an important, steady force on defense
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
It seems like the biggest complaints regarding the Rangers tend to be about the defense, at least in recent years. Whether it’s the contracts, poor play or possession or something else, there tends to be an issue that is touched upon.
At the beginning of the year, all of the negativity was focused on Nick Holden. To some extent, it was deserved because Holden looked pretty shaky. Vigneault was playing him on his off side while he adapted to a new system and a new team. His possession numbers were bad and he didn’t look like the steady player that Patrick Roy lauded.
But lately, Holden has become one of the team’s most consistent and reliable defenseman for quite a stretch now. This doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had his lapses or issues at all, but those mistakes have been few and far between. Read the rest of this entry
The Rangers’ brutal possession is a problem, and it starts on defense
Bobby Bevilacqua
Dan Girardi had one of the worst games of his career in last night’s game against the Sabres. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Last nights loss against the Buffalo Sabres was yet another brutal game, continuing a stretch of poor play in recent weeks that is very telling about the true nature of the New York Rangers team.
The performance last night was poor in many aspects. Henrik Lundqvist played his worst game in years. Many of the forwards were lackluster, having little to no impact on the game. The defensive coverage was atrocious at times, with a few players especially standing out.
But a huge problem this team has is their corsi, or their possession numbers. I know a lot of people write off analytics and won’t acknowledge it as a way to evaluate a team, but it truly helps in this situation. Corsi and possession are literally just tracking shot attempts. If a certain player or the whole team is getting buried and shelled with shots, chances are they are not playing well. It just quantifies what you’re seeing on the ice. Read the rest of this entry
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