New York Rangers: Maddening inconsistency the only constant

The New York Rangers are almost at the halfway point of the 2021 NHL with only one word fit to describe the team at this point.

Inconsistent.

It’s not just a game to game inconsistency either, many times there is such a difference in the way the team plays from period to period.  Last night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers is a great example.  The team was absolutely terrible in the first period, fantastic in the second, somewhere in between in the third.

Let’s take a look at the past three games.

Last Thursday the Rangers opened a two game set in Boston against the Bruins.  They were never in the game in any way shape or form.  Dominated from the first puck drop the Blueshirts just could not generate anything offensively against the Bruins. Once the B’s got the first goal against a shaky Alexandar Georgiev, and then a quick second, the Bruin went into complete shut down mode and essentially ended the game after one period, eventually winning 4-0.  There was little fight from anyone on the Rangers side.

Two nights later the exact opposite happened.  The Rangers jumped out in front just over three minutes into the game, settled in a bit, and then scored early again in the second.  At that point the Rangers took a page out of the Bruins playbook and just locked it down defensively to take a the back end of the series 4-0.

You could not find two more completely opposite games.

So what was different?  Just about everything.  From the macro sense the entire team played two different games, from the micro sense, many players played two completely different games as well.

Let’s take Jacob Trouba as the example.

In game one of the series Trouba played 23:12. He had no points and one hit and two blocked shots. He finished minus one for the game

In game two, Trouba played 23:24 total time.  He had one assist and 4 hits and three blocked shots.  He finished the game plus two.

The stats certainly show the difference in the way Trouba played, but what was even more apparent to any Ranger fan who was watching was just how much more engaged and present Trouba was in game two.  On the very first shift he jostled with Patrice Bergeron and showed some snarl that was not there in game one.

Trouba made it known right from the get-go that he was there to compete and battle, something that was missing in the first game against Boston.  In fact the second Boston game was probably Trouba’s best game since returning from injury.

Is it a coincidence that K’Andre Miller probably played his best game of the season that night as well?

Moving ahead to Monday night against the Flyers, Ranger fans were probably looking for Trouba to carry that play over to the next game, especially once it was announced that Adam Fox would not be available for the game. Trouba may even need to take his game to a higher level as he would clearly be getting more ice time. But that did not happen.

Trouba played 27:23, had no points (despite over four minutes of power play time), two hits, and no blocked shots.  He just was not as engaged as he was in the previous game against Boston. Is it a coincidence that Miller played perhaps one of his worst games of the year Tuesday night?

We are using Trouba as an example for every player on the team.  To a man, no player on the Rangers has played with ANY sort of consistency during the first half of the season.  It just seems like you never know which player is going to show up night after night, and it is not just the kids.

With that comes the constant juggling of the lines that we see all too often, which leads to even more inconsistency.

The individual inconsistency that plagues the players is what leads to a team that is nothing more than inconsistent game after game.

Yes, it’s difficult for a team to play the same brand of hockey night after night when there are injuries to the top players on the team.  Add the COVIDfactor this year, and of course the circumstances that kept Artemi Panarin out of the line up for nine  games and it would seem all but impossible to establish a constant level of team play.

But what is not impossible is for individual players to bring the same level of compete, the same attitude, the same desire to every game.  Clearly, it is tough to do night after night over the course of an entire NHL season, players will have off nights for sure, but what we are seeing from the Ranger players are just as many bad nights as good nights from a far too many on the roster.

The team is nothing more than the sum of all parts.

Perhaps there is the need for the Rangers to name a captain at this point.  Someone to hold players accountable from a different perspective. It could make a difference. But who would that be?

The bottom line is the Rangers need to figure this out now, or the season will be over before April arrives.

Let’s hope that all the crazy off-ice  extracurriculars are in the rear view mirror. Let’s hope that Igor Shesterkin comes back soon and re-establishes himself as the number one goalie the team expects him to be.  Let’s hope that a more consistent roster leads to more established lines.  Let’s hope Jacob Trouba constantly plays game two in Boston every night.