The New York Rangers have had their share of ups and downs during the playoffs. When it comes to their game play, here is the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
First, I will talk about how incredible their team is. Their newest acquisitions, especially Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano have been doing a stellar job for the team. These two players make plays and score goals, which is why the Rangers got them in the first place.
Nobody can forget about Chris Kreider who has brought the Rangers success during the regular season as well. He led the league in power play goals (PPG) and won the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award this year. His leadership both on and off the ice has lead to great success for him and the Rangers.
Also, their goaltending, up until the last couple of games, has been stellar. Igor Shesterkin has kept the Rangers in the game. He is being considered for the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the league. He definitely deserves it after what he did with the Rangers throughout the season.
Remember their epic comeback after being down 4-1 in Game 3? So do I! This is the Rangers team I want to see on a consistent basis. I was screaming like crazy after they tied the game up. I thought their chances were slim being down 4-1, but I had hope they could come back because it was still early enough in the game to do so. The way they played was amazing, but it didn’t last.
The Bad
I talked about how great their team is right? Well, the Rangers are all over the place. One period they play great. The next period they play like a JV squad. I don’t get it!
A perfect example of this was Tuesday night’s game when they lost 7-2. What I saw was a game where experience outweighed the youngsters. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been to the playoffs consistently, 16 years in a row. Their players know what the playoff atmosphere is like. They have already been in this position.
The Rangers have missed the playoffs for the passed four years. They are a pretty young team and some of these players either have very limited playoff experience or none. It clearly showed in Tuesday night’s game. It was really hard to watch in the third period.
Another issue was defense. Oh sorry about that guys! There WAS no defense. There really was no offense either because they couldn’t even enter the zone and keep pressure on the Penguins.
Letting the opposition into the zone, not making a move to stop it, and then watching the guy score is ridiculous. I know the players have to play their position on the ice, but to just stand there and do nothing? That happened a few times and shouldn’t happen at all.
As far as offense goes, I already said that it was slacking badly in the third. I keep referring to the third period of Tuesday’s game because that was the worst of what I saw of the Rangers.
Shesterkin was removed from two consecutive games. For the most part, the goals were good and it wasn’t on him, but there were a couple that I am sure he wanted back. They were just bad goals that he should’ve had. He would probably tell us that too.
The Ugly
Pretty much everything mentioned above in “the bad” section could be put here too. I think the ugly part of the playoffs for the Rangers is just how sloppy they have been. Their inconsistency is scary. Also, their passing has been subpar and here is why.
I love Artemi Panarin. Breadman is awesome! I know than nobody is perfect as well. With that said, there have been a few times when Panarin’s passes make me scratch my head and be like “what was he thinking”? The upside to this is I have seen him, after making a bad pass or bad play, looking at the tablet to see what went wrong.
It is not just Panarin that has done this, but I the reason why I am bringing it up is because of how bad the team is playing. I admit that there were many times in the season he has had bad passes or tried to shoot, but shot the puck right into an opposing player. I was upset for that moment. I got over it fast though because he usually helped the team win. Nobody really looks at a player’s faults if the team is doing good and winning right? Nope. I may be a little extreme, but it is true that people look at things differently when their team is winning.
One other thing is their power play and penalty kill. They were up there in both categories as one of the best teams in the league. What happened? The Penguins were struggling with their power play, but it helped lead them to victories against the Rangers. The real question now is can the Rangers pull it off and win three straight games to advance? Here are the do’s and don’ts.
Are the Rangers Done?
If the Rangers keep playing the way they have played in the passed two games they will have more time to practice their golf swing.
The Rangers need to do back and look at the tapes of where they went wrong. Their top line got killed by the Penguins’ top line in every way.
What the Rangers need to do is go back to their fundamentals and think about how they played during the regular season. I know the playoffs are a different animal, but a team shouldn’t change the way they play if they were successful. They just need to up their game because of the playoffs. Add more intensity, hits, speed, and make things happen. Doing this will be a recipe for success.
What do you guys think of the Rangers and how they have been playing? Do you feel the same? Do you think certain players deserve more playing time or vice versa? Please let me know your thoughts.