New York Rangers Flashback Friday: 2014
Every Friday the Blue Line Station team will look at a past article from the site or happening in the team’s history. Today in the first edition, we look at an article published three years ago on this day, and how it relates to the current team.
The New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 in an NBC Sports showdown. The win vaulted the Rangers to a 24-20-3 record, a disappointing campaign at the time.
We all know what happened in the future, as the Rangers went on to play the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. New York won the meeting in seven games, then advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
Still, it’s fascinating to see what was being written at the time, not knowing what would eventually come for the Rangers team. Again, the Rangers were battling merely to make the playoffs at the time, with the win earning the team only their third three game win streak of the year.
On January 13, 2014, Matt Josephs, a writer for Blue Line Station at the time, wrote an article about the game titled “Have the New York Rangers Found Consistency?”
First, take a look at the game action.
A first period outburst assisted the Rangers in coming up with a huge win, and Josephs was rightfully impressed.
What’s most fascinating is looking at the areas of concern and how they relate to the current team. From Josephs:
"First: Rick Nash is back and doing Rick Nash types of things. The big man is using his big frame and driving to the net, as opposed to playing around the perimeter"
Rick Nash’s recent injury has been of great concern to the 2016-17 Rangers. New York is a weaker team offensively without their big man in the lineup, something that has been the case since he joined the organization.
The fear in 2014 was that he was not living up to his name in New York, but the fear now is his injury could cost the team. His progression has been outstanding.
"Second: Henrik Lundqvist, for the most part, has come back to life. The “soft” goals were killing Lundqvist in the first half of the season, but recently he’s managed to cut out those rookie goaltender type of mistakes.It’s been a tough season for nearly every Ranger at one point or another this year, but I don’t think anyone’s been harder hit than Henrik."
Ah, Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist has not played to his usual standards this season, a truth that works for nearly any beginning of any season in his career.
Typically a slow starter, Lundqvist finished the season with a .920 save percentage, then backstopped his way to the Stanley Cup Final. Keep that in mind when feeling like the former Vezina winner is declining.
"Third: Our depth at center is finally showing up. For a while we had Derek Stepan and Derrick Brassard struggle offensively, and Brad Richards was the only one really playing at a respectable level. I’m going to argue that if all three struggle at the same time, the whole team will find it hard to win games. It’s crucial that at least one if not two of these guys plays well every night to give the team a chance to win."
Rather than focusing on centers, this works in relation to this team because of depth. The 2014 Rangers struggled with having every line going at once, but they found their way thanks to their forward depth.
One night it would be Brad Richards’ line stepping up, another it would be Derick Brassard’s line taking over.
The 2016-17 Rangers are no different. When everyone is healthy Alain Vigneault can roll four lines, allowing one or two of the lines to win the game for the team.
A good team does not need every player to be on top of his game every night.
"Finally: I’m glad to see the defense take a more active role in trying to create offense. The team needs more shots on goal from its defensemen and finally, they look competent, for the most part, in the offensive zone.Now if we could only get them to be able to move the puck up the ice quicker to gain more odd man chances, as well as create potential scoring chances.Though I will say, quick puck movement is something this team’s defense has struggled with even going back to the John Tortorella era.Whether that means we need different personnel, or a change in coaching tactics, it is hard to say. But I really think if the Rangers want to make that leap into becoming a more explosive team they’ll need better puck movement out of the defensive zone."
The inability to move the puck has not subsided since 2014. If anything, it has become a bigger problem for the Rangers. Still, the 2014 team managed to make the Stanley Cup with only Ryan McDonagh and perhaps Anton Stralman serving as strong puck movers.
Next: Best Rangers' Draft Picks Since 2000
New York must acquire another one by the Trade Deadline, but seeing how concerning the lack of puck movement was in 2014, and how far the team advanced despite that does lend some confidence to this year’s squad.