The New York Rangers have been one of the most
pleasant surprises in the NHL to this point in the season. When the team starts again on Tuesday against
Pittsburgh they will have 30 games left in the season to ensure they hold onto
their playoff position. They start the
“second half” with a five-point edge on the ninth-place Carolina Hurricanes,
who have two games in hand on New York, and a four-point lead over the Atlanta
Thrashers, who have played the same number of games as the Rangers.
Since there are eight spots in the playoffs, I made a
list of eight things that must happen for the Rangers to stay in the top
eight. The list is divided into four
things that must continue and four things that must improve for the team to
hold onto a playoff spot, if not advance up the standings.
Room for
Improvement:
Health
This one is the winner of the captain obvious award
considering the Rangers have lost 193 man-games to injury already. That number is going to rise with each
passing game as Dubinsky, Christensen, Fedotenko, Prospal, Boogaard, Frolov
will not be back at the start of play Tuesday, but Ryan Callahan and Dan
Girardi should be. This team has played
admirably though all the injuries and found different players to continue to
step and step up, but if they are going to hold on they need some better luck
on the injury front.
More Gaborik
This one is pretty self-explanatory as the Rangers
need Marian Gaborik to be Marian Gaborik more often. The three hat-tricks (one four goal game) are
great on those nights, but they need him to have an impact more consistently.
Power Play
Improvement
Overall this season the Rangers rank 23rd
in the NHL with the man advantage, converting on just 16% of their
chances. That standing is the lowest of
any team that currently finds themselves in the top eight of either
conference.
It is no secret the Rangers have struggled mightily to
solve their deficiencies at the point on the power play. Michael Del Zotto was thought to be the
answer there, but his struggles not only had him off the power play, but down
in the AHL. They have tried just about
every defender on the point and even forwards to fill the void.
As bad as the point has been though there is a
mentality problem on the man advantage that is just as big in my opinion. The Rangers do not attack the net or shoot
the puck enough in an attempt to create the kind of scramble plays they score
on while at even strength. With the man
advantage the forwards seem content to play pretty passes looking for the
perfect shot while standing around the outside of the zone. The attacking mentality will not solve the
deficiencies in terms of a big shot, but it would allow for more ugly
goals. Someone should inform them that
pretty or ugly, they all count the same.
Win a
Faceoff
The team is currently ranked 28th in the
league (45.8%) on draws. That percentage
and ranking is simply not good enough for a team that wants to be a puck
possession club. If there is one area
where I would look to make a move it would be here.
Where Things
Must Remain the Same:
Mentality
The Rangers have gotten to where they are because they
have played with and stuck to a system and the identity it has forced them to
adopt. A key for the Rangers will be to
keep that mentality once they get healthy and not relax because more talent is
in the lineup. If they scratch and claw
for points the rest of the way, as they have through the injuries, then the
team will have nothing to worry about from those behind them.
Avoid
Hitting the Wall
The Rangers are a team that has played a lot of
players minutes and games they have never seen before in their careers. You have players like Ryan McDonagh, and
Derek Stepan who have never played this many games in a season. There is Michael Sauer, and Steve Eminger who
have not played this many games in years.
You have Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust who might have played the games,
but certainly not the minutes they are logging this year. It will be important for all of those guys to
avoid wearing down as the season get towards the latter stages.
Career Years
Must Continue
Players like Brian Boyle and his 18 goals certainly
top this list, but it includes his partner Brandon Prust, along with young
players like Stepan, and Zuccarello.
Maybe it is unrealistic to think any of them can continue to play at the
level and pace they have to this point, but the team will need them to maintain
a similar level even with the return of key pieces like Callahan and Dubinsky.
Goaltending
Schedule
John Tortorella has done a brilliant job so far at
managing his goaltending situation.
Martin Biron has allowed him to do that with his stellar play and that
will obviously have to continue, but it is important that if Biron does have a
bad game that Tortorella sticks to the plan.
The extra rest certainly seems to be doing the job of keeping Henrik
Lundqvist healthy and fresh to this point in the season and they need him that
way for the stretch as well as the playoffs.
