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New York Rangers Recent Defensive Moves Might Give Girardi New Life

By Jay Travers

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When you thought about New York Rangers defense over the past 10 years, a few constant names may have came to mind.

One that may have come up first was probably Dan Girardi.

Girardi has been a mainstay of the Rangers’ defense having played his entire eight-year career, going on nine this season, with New York.

Last season, he led the team in hits (224) and blocked shots (184).

The 31-year-old defenseman is only one of two Rangers defenseman to have played a full 82-game schedule five times in his career, the other being Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch.

Girardi has missed just three games, since his rookie season of 2006-2007. With his regular season and playoff games combines, he ranks 10th all-time in franchise history.

All while playing with multiple injuries.

The nickname, Iron Man, seems appropriate.

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Having the top defensive pair of himself and Ryan McDonagh for the past five years, fans have gotten comfortable, and often spoiled, with their outstanding defense.

This year, however, has not been the case.

With the team’s defense seeming to falter this season, head coach Alain Vigneault made the decision to reassign Girardi to the second pairing with Keith Yandle, while promoting Kevin Klein to the top pair with McDonagh.

Was this a crazy move? Perhaps. Has it worked? So far, so good.

Last season, Girardi had an average ice time of 22:42 per game. This season, it’s been reduced to 20:32.

You may say 2:10 is not much of a difference, but for the 31-year-old veteran it has been helping his game. The rest is needed and deserving for Girardi. After playing as many games as he s in previous seasons, the wear and tear might taking it’s toll on his body. One of the by-products might be contributing more offensively, which we saw Girardi score a goal on Sunday.

Girardi is not going to become the next Brian Leetch after scoring one goal, however his overall game might be elevated now.

New York Rangers
New York Rangers /

New York Rangers

One of the best things about this stay-at-home defenseman is that he’s a warrior, doing everything he can to make sure no shots get through to whomever is in net. As mentioned, he blocks a crazy amount of shots and is not afraid to take the body.

But, what will be interesting is to see whether or not AV will move Girardi back up to the top pairing.

Kevin Klein has been used in 56.4% of defensive zone faceoffs, McDonagh has been in 54.7%, and Girardi in 52.9%. If that was to change, the whole defense might be in disarray.

For right now, Vigneault should keep the defensive pairings how they are. The old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” fits this situation to a T. The Rangers do not play again until Friday night, so there is time for Girardi can work on parts of his game.

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