New York Rangers: Should you believe in the team’s recent resurgence?
The New York Rangers are finally getting back on track, as they’ve won five straight games. Does this mean they are back to contender status? Our experts here at Blue Line Station shared their thoughts.
The New York Rangers got off to a horrible start. Through 12 games, the team held a 3-7-2 record and were perhaps one Halloween loss to the Las Vegas Golden Knights away from getting their coach Alain Vigneault fired.
Things have changed rather dramatically in the last two and a half weeks.
The Rangers have now won five games in a row and have been able to find goals at key times from their top lines. Players like Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Shattenkirk, J.T. Miller, and Pavel Buchnevich have been leading the charge for the team lately. Zibanejad even has scored just over a point per game through 17 games.
There are still parts of the team’s game that are shaky though. Although they have been playing better, they are not playing perfect hockey by any stretch of the imagination.
With all of that in mind, is this team back to its perennial contender status? We asked some of our experts here at Blue Line Station to weigh in.
Brandon Cohen
That is a great question! Because I believe in yes or no answers only, I say yes. However, if I am allowed to say “maybe,” that’s my answer. It’s difficult to truly measure whether or not the Rangers are for real because there’s so much regression to be had, so many decisions that need to be made, and so many question marks everywhere.
Will Alain Vigneault ice the best lineup possible? Will the team’s shooting percentage remain low, or will they find the back of the net more? Can they continue to outscore their own mistakes?
These questions do not have simple answers. Still, I keep coming back to the fact that as long as Alain Vigneault does not play Steven Kampfer over Brendan Smith, there are essentially zero weak spots in the Rangers’ lineup. So it makes more sense that the Rangers are for real than the Rangers struggling.
The Rangers are not a true Stanley Cup contender right now due to their style of play, but they are a team that can win a lot of games
John Williams
This is a tough one.
On the one hand, the Rangers have answered some of the biggest questions I had about the team coming into the season through 17 games. I wondered if Mika Zibanejad could handle the top center role, a role where he has been exceptional to start the year. You wondered about the development of Pavel Buchnevich and he looks like he is gonna be a stud in this league for a long time.
The thing that turns me off a little bit to as far as their contender status goes is that Alain Vigneault is still the head coach. I have absolutely no faith in his ability to evaluate players ability. Even Steven Kampfer’s mom knows that Brendan Smith is better than him and that the lineup should be adjusted to show that.
But here we are regardless.
At the end of the day, I think there is too much talent on this roster to completely screw it up. So yes, the team is back to contender status, but this will be something that needs to be monitored routinely for the rest of the semester.
Garrett Gartino
It was only a matter of time until this team turned things around. The 2017-18 New York Rangers were always destined for a better season than what the first month showed. Now, riding a five-game win streak, we’re beginning to see what the Rangers are truly made of.
Sure, there are still glaring holes in their play. Personally, I’ve yet to see a complete 60-minute effort out of this season’s team. However, every game they inch closer to finding the recipe that will help make them a top contender by season’s end.
If the lineup remains intact, with little agitation from Alain Vigneault, we’ve seen the offense they’re capable of creating. One area where the Rangers must step it up is the defense. Luckily, Ryan McDonagh is still playing sub-par hockey, meaning the best is yet to come of our beloved captain. The reinsertion of Brendan Smith into the lineup will further cement that top-six.
There was never a doubt in my mind that the first month albatross was being overblown. This New York Rangers team is just a few steps away from being mentioned among the elite tier of the NHL. It’s time to get excited, Rangers fans, the good times are just beginning.
Jack Milewski
Yes, I believe in the Ranger’s resurgence. Maybe it’s the fan in me talking, but the team couldn’t possibly be as bad as what we saw to begin the season, right? Sure there is a lack of center depth, the defense is still a question and the coach is always questioned, but the team still has talent.
What I’ve seen in this recent stretch from the Rangers is something that can’t really be quantified on the score sheets other than in the win column. It’s a fight that was a regularity a few years ago and has been missing since the loss of core guys like Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan.
Early in the season the Rangers were falling behind at the beginning of games and struggling to claw back. Now the Rangers are getting early leads and keeping them or battling back after being down. The game against the Blue Jackets this past Monday is the perfect example, the Rangers just never quit.
While this Rangers team may not be as fundamentally sound as teams of the past, they have one weapon that has been lacking. The power play is back. If the Rangers continue to show resiliency and the power play continues to roll, the team could be dangerous down the stretch.
|
The NHL season is a marathon, not a sprint. 16 games are not enough of a sample size to project over the course of an entire season. There are things to pick out from the win that tells if the recent pattern of success is sustainable.
Right now, the Rangers power play is nuclear hot. Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Pavel Buchnevich are in sync at a level that is winning games.
The win Monday night against the Blue Jackets was fueled by the power play. Right now, the Rangers are fifth in the league with a 24.2 power play percentage.
Teams that are reliant on the power play to win games are setting themselves up for failure. The more the group pays together, the more film other teams will have. Teams will study the power play and make adjustments to defend against it better. The Rangers then will change their scheme.
I don’t believe in Alain Vigneault to make those adjustments. Over the course of an 82 game season, trying to outscore the other team to win every game in place of sound defense is not sustainable.
Karly Redpath
Prior to their game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 31, the Rangers were 3-7-2. They beat Vegas (8-3-0 at the time), beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 2 (10-2-2) and beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were 9-3-1 prior to playing at the Garden on Monday.
Their recent resurgence has come as a result of the success of the players on their top line and the fact that they have been capitalizing on their power play opportunities.
In the last five games, the Rangers have scored 21 goals in regulation. Seven of these goals were scored by either Chris Kreider (3), Mika Zibanejad (1), or Pavel Buchnevich (3).
The Rangers have recorded six power play goals in these five games. Four of those six were scored by the top unit, which these three players are a part of. Going 6-for-13 in the last five, the Rangers have jumped to 5th overall in league power play percentage (23.8).
However, despite having figured out aspects of their game, other aspects still raise questions. The Rangers have looming issues with their depth on the offense. And while some players who had been quiet prior to these past five wins are stepping up, Alain Vigneault is still putting out defensive pairings that don’t completely capitalize the talent they have.
Next: Six players that need a new role
While they have definitely been playing a more balanced game, they have still had to make up for mistakes in areas where they fall short. This counterbalance will be hard to sustain as they continue deeper into the season.