While the New York Rangers got off to a clunky and slow start, the team is starting to resemble preseason expectations. A group that’s simultaneously fun and bad at the same time.
All things considered, things could be a lot worse at Madison Square Garden. A mediocre team with a rookie head coach had the potential to be an outright disaster. That’s what the New York Rangers resembled after a month of play, a mess resembling garbage day in Manhattan. Over the course of the past two weeks, signs of life developed.
It took a real gut-wrenching loss to the Los Angeles Kings to get the team back from the brink. That loss brought back really bad memories for a group far removed from the Stanley Cup Final. David Quinn revealed that the team was disheartened in the game against the Calgary Flames. New York drastically outplayed Calgary but ended up losing 4-1.
This combined with some bad luck was a combination that gave birth to a horrendous start. The team was failing to convert scoring chances even though it was creating a decent amount. This led to lopsided games that got out of control. Even though New York was being out-chanced in every game, the low shooting percentage implied that the team was due for a positive regression.
Tuesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens was a perfect example of what this year’s Rangers team can be. While the Canadiens are likely not as good as their record indicates, the come from behind win was a matter of will.
Last year’s Rangers team would have wilted while trailing 3-1 and the game would have snowballed out of control. Instead, Quinn’s constant badgering about relentlessness paid off and the team showed some real heart. Rallying back from a 3-1 deficit took some real gumption especially against a team like Montreal that plays a cheap and coercive style of hockey.
It takes a mentally resilient team to not fall into the trap and take dumb penalties. Instead, New York pushed it right back at Montreal and stuck it to them.
Even though New York is technically in the playoff mix, they likely cannot stay there in the long term. This is likely the team’s ceiling for this season, which is perfectly fine. A team that plays hard every single night and manages to hang around in tough games is exactly what Quinn promised back in May when he took the job.
The culture for a team that is eventually successful is being established. It’s extremely early but at the very least the Rangers will have a fun team to watch. Following along with a young team finding its identity is what rebuilding is all about.