Blue Line Station
Fansided

New York Rangers: Five takeaways from the Stanley Cup Playoffs (so far)

By Steve Paulus

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets is congratulated by his teammates after Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus defeated Tampa Bay 7-3 to win the series 4-0. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Columbus Blue Jackets is congratulated by his teammates after Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus defeated Tampa Bay 7-3 to win the series 4-0. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 06: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins handles the puck in front of Brendan Smith #42 of the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on April 6, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 06: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins handles the puck in front of Brendan Smith #42 of the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena on April 6, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) /

#4 – Blueline depth is essential

You can never have enough defensemen.  If there was mistake the Lightning made at the trade deadline, it was standing pat and not bolstering their defense corps.  When Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman went out with injuries they were forced to rely heavily on rookies Erik Cernak and Jan Ruta.  Along with Cernak and Ruta, they were left sophomore Andrew Sergachev along with senior citizens Dan Girardi and Brayden Coburn. Ryan McDonagh was left to shoulder most of the load and it didn’t help that he had an awful series

The Washington Capitals learned that lesson with their acquisition of Michal Kempny last season and this year they went out and got Nick Jensen who has stepped up with Kempny’s season ending knee injury.   Jensen is yet another reason the Caps are still playing and the Lightning are not.

The Rangers carried eight defensemen on the roster this season and often played seven.  While juggling extra players is a challenge, the experience will serve the team well if and when they get back into the post season.

While it’s too early to tell how lack of depth will affect the remaining teams as the playoffs proceed, but every night another player goes down and depth grows even more important.

Home/Editorials