Rangers lost the winning ways

[Mel]

Coincidence that the Rangers forgot how to win right around the same time I've been too busy to post here? I think not :conspire:

Lost 4 out of 5. I hope Jagr remembers how to find the net again soon.

I was cool with the 3 game losing streak because they were all winnable games with decent effort. A few mistakes, but this team is far from flawless. Then they found their winning ways again vs. Tampa for a positive note on the holiday break.

Then Monday in Ottawa, the best team in hockey... IIRC they gave up 5 straight power plays in the first period, which I believe Ottawa converted 3. By the end of the first I looked like this

:burning:

... and I had to pop some blood pressure pills.

This team needs to smarten up. They had a test and they failed miserably. Ottawa's tough enough to play against without doing them any favors. Starting January 5, the Rangers play the Flyers 7 times in under 3 months, and that includes the Olympic break. Not only will they make you pay for mistakes as Ottawa does... but they're holding first place in the division.

The focus of tonight out on the Island should be mistake-free hockey and a victory to get back on track.

[swflyers25]

They won tonight, but it's not like the NYI are a tough opponent. We won keeping the 3 point lead over them in the division.

[MadDevil]

Looks like the Rangers are starting to fall back to earth. Their solid start had to get rough at some point, and this could be the beginning of a slide. I still think they can be a threat in the East if they get back to what they were doing earlier in the year.

The thing I noticed looking at the Rangers' stats is that they seem to have 5 players that are producing at least somewhat consistently, and beyond that there's quite a bit of a dropoff. Jagr has scored 21 more points than the Rangers second leading scorer, Straka with 34 points. Nylander has 30 points, Rucinsky 25, and Prucha 21. Beyond that, there isn't a whole lot of offense on that roster.

[Mel]

Looks like the Rangers are starting to fall back to earth. Their solid start had to get rough at some point, and this could be the beginning of a slide. I still think they can be a threat in the East if they get back to what they were doing earlier in the year.

The thing I noticed looking at the Rangers' stats is that they seem to have 5 players that are producing at least somewhat consistently, and beyond that there's quite a bit of a dropoff. Jagr has scored 21 more points than the Rangers second leading scorer, Straka with 34 points. Nylander has 30 points, Rucinsky 25, and Prucha 21. Beyond that, there isn't a whole lot of offense on that roster.

No there isn't. That's why when Jagr gets cold the team has a hard time mustering offense. The 3 game losing streak prior to the holidays was a demonstration of that. Those were all 1 goal losses in which the Rangers managed 2 goals or less. (NJ loss was 3-1, I know but last goal was EN).

Early in the season, this team developed an excellent work ethic, and started convincing themselves and everyone else they could not only compete but win. They went on a win streak in November, finishing the month 10-3. But unless you follow the team closely, you probably wouldn't realize that the win streak was masking a noticable drop-off in team effort. In the past few weeks, the team has started to re-gain that winning formula - the all out full 60 minute, 4 line effort... but unfortunately they lost their offensive groove. They need to get going on all cylinders to win. Maybe last night was a kick in the right direction.

So I don't really think this is the beginning of a long term skid. But I don't think this team is good enough to finish in first place either.

What has absolutely killed this team is penalties, right from the beginning of the season. They are at or near the most times in the league short handed. It's really ridiculous how many they take.

Nylander managed four minors against New Jersey - 3 in the 3rd period (he got scratched for the next game). But nothing Renney seems to do can keep these guys out of the box.

That, above all else will be their downfall this season. Thanks to their hard work, they still hold the league's 2nd best PK. But you give the Ottawa's and the Philly's of the league enough chances to light you up, and they will make you pay for it.

To end my semi-rant, I would like to say give Lundqvist the undisputed starting job and use Weekes as a backup only. :)