Weekly Diagnosis: New York Rangers Games 12/13-12/20

The New York Rangers have been absent from our TVs these past couple weeks, playing only 4 games (including tonight) since 12/1. They lost 2 consecutive games to the Tampa Bay Lightning (6-3) and to the Detroit Red Wings (3-2) before finally snapping their losing streak to the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-3 OT). The Blueshirts looked good for the most part of Monday’s game; that is, until 15:17 of the 3rd period, when the Rangers saw a 3-1 lead vanish before their eyes. Evgeni Malkin scored his 15th, and Steve Downie netted his 4th just 24 seconds later to eventually send the game to overtime. Kevin Klein, the same player that received 13 stitches to his ear in the same game, miraculously came back and scored the OT winner, his 6th of the season. He’s been absolutely on fire this season, scoring 6 goals in 25 games so far. 6 goals is the 10th most by a defenseman in the NHL as of 12/13/14, ahead of names like Brent Seabrook and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Who would’ve thought?

1) 12/13: New York Rangers @ Vancouver Canucks: The Rangers begin their Canadian west coast trip tonight, facing Alain Vigneault‘s old squad. John Tortorella is no longer with Vancouver, so most of the emotional altercations we saw last year probably won’t be there tonight. Kreider is back, be on the 4th line, with Miller on the 2nd line wing. The Canucks played 5 games in the week of 12/2-12/9, which ended in a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. While they did get 4 days off, watch for the Rangers to dictate the pace in the first period. The Blueshirts have been invisible on the powerplay all season long, but it was especially apparent in the game against the Red Wings, where they had a chance to tie the game up 3-3 on a 5-on-3 advantage in the 3rd period, but failed to do so. The Rangers currently sit 23rd in the league on the PP with 15.1%, and a dead-average PK (15th) at 81.0%. Vancouver has a slightly better PP at 18.3% (16th), with a great PK of 96.1% (5th). This is the game where the Rangers prove that they’re better than their record dictates and that reaching the Final last season wasn’t a fluke. In order to accomplish this, they need to sweep this road trip, which I absolutely believe they can do. If the Rangers don’t give the Canucks any breathing room to make any plays while countering quickly, they should win this game. 4-1 Rangers final score.

2) 12/14: New York Rangers @ Edmonton Oilers: It’s almost scary to think that the Oilers have lost 14 of their last 15 games, and only 3 of their last 20. With that in mind, which team was one of their 3 wins against? None other than the New York Rangers, by a score of 3-1 on 11/9. Edmonton is just a train wreck at this point, and their rebuild needs a rebuild. Players don’t want to compete and lack the effort needed to earn victories, yet the same people are defending their coach, Dallas Eakins. Their entire staff needs to be replaced to start the rise from the ashes, but until they do, the Rangers come to town, and they’ll wreck the Oilers as a form of redemption. 6-0 Blueshirts will be the final score.

3) 12/16: New York Rangers @ Calgary Flames: The Flames have lost 4 in a row (as of 12/13) and are seemingly falling back down to Earth after their incredible 17-8-2 start. They were looking to be the Colorado Avalanche of the 2014-2015 season, but when you have one of the worst Corsi-for% in the league, the losses will catch up to you sooner rather than later. I don’t expect the Flames to beat the Chicago Blackhawks on 12/14, especially since they’ve won their last 8 games and are on a 9-1-0 tear. Watch for Calgary’s struggles to continue, as their defensive lapses cost them while their inability to defend a counter crush their chances of victory. The Flames will be angry coming in due to their lack of recent success, so if the Rangers can fix their atrocious powerplay, the game will be over before it started. 4-1 win for the Rangers if they can take advantage of Calgary’s recent struggles.

4) 12/20: New York Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes: The Canes are tied with the Oilers for worst record in the NHL, having lost their 5 games, going 2-8-0 in their last 10 games. They’ll be facing the Montreal Canadiens (on a 2 game winning streak) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (7-1-1 since their 9-2 loss against the Nashville Predators on 11/19) before the Rangers, so I expect their struggles to continue. They play the Blueshirts again the next day in Madison Square Garden, which I don’t expect to be much different. If the Rangers don’t underestimate their opponent and defend the top guns on their roster, they should be fine. 5-2 Rangers should be the result.

I don’t usually predict the Rangers to win all the games in one week. but this time around I feel like they can really take advantage of some downs that teams have been having. That and the pressure to show what this team could really do should push the team into top form. Hopefully I can write about next week’s games while being on a 5-game winning streak. That would be nice.