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New York Rangers Must Limit Turnovers In Postseason

By Steven Carollo

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The New York Rangers may have finished the regular season with the most amount of points in the NHL, but that will mean nothing in the playoffs if they continue to turn the puck over.

New York Rangers
New York Rangers /

New York Rangers

In Game 1 of the 1st round of the playoffs vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers found themselves turning the puck over in their defensive zone at an uncomfortable rate, especially in the 2nd and 3rd periods, which helped keep the Penguins in the game.  Luckily though, the Rangers were able to hang on to win by a 2-1 final score  in Game 1.

Now if these turnovers by the Rangers were a rare occurrence, I wouldn’t make too much out of it.  Well actually, knowing myself, I would still make a lot out of the Rangers’ turnovers whether if it were a rare occurrence or not, but what I find is very disconcerting is that these Rangers’ turnovers are not rare.

All season long, and even all of last season, the Rangers seem to turn the puck over, especially in their defensive zone, multiple times throughout the course of a game.  Now if the oppositions’ forecheck was just that good and they caused the Rangers to turn the puck over than you just have to tip your cap to the opposition.  However, what is very frustrating, is that most of these turnovers by the Rangers are self-inflicted.

Mental errors are the cause of the Rangers being too careless with the puck in their defensive zone, offensive zone, and the neutral zone, resulting in turnovers, with most of the mental errors coming from their defensemen.

Whether it is a bad attempted outlet pass through the middle of the ice from their defensive zone, bad passes in all three zones, holding onto the puck too long in all three zones, or not shooting the puck off the boards hard enough to clear their defensive zone, the Rangers just give way too many opportunities to the opposition based on self-inflicted turnovers.

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The Rangers may have finished the regular season with the most points in the entire NHL, however, in the postseason if they do not play smarter and limit their turnovers, especially in their defensive zone, winning the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season, like it does most seasons, will once again mean nothing.  The playoffs are a whole other animal, and for a team like the Rangers who are trying to win the Stanley Cup this season, these turnovers in all three zones, but especially in their defensive zone, will prevent the Rangers from winning the Stanley Cup this season unless they start playing smarter hockey and fast.

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