The New York Rangers are riding high on a current six game
winning streak to push their record to 9-3-3 through 15 games. The record has the team only two points
behind Pittsburgh for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with two games in
hand. The results through 15 games are
impressive without question, but is the team really as good as the record would
indicate?
The play of the team within games would say that they aren’t
up to the level of their current record, but something is to be said for getting
points when your team is not playing their best hockey. The law of averages however would suggest
that you will then get the flip side in losing games when you do outplay the
opposition, so where does that settle out for the Rangers? Are they legitimate threats for a division
title this year?
The holes can be obvious at times with the lack of 60 minute
efforts, missing a All-Star defender and streaky offensive output. However, there is consistency and stability
in the goaltending, top offensive players contributing and Dan Girardi
spearheading a defensive group that is exceeding expectations. It is a dichotomy because you don’t know
whether the good can remain where it has been or if the bad will turn itself around
as the season progresses. The Rangers
need both their stars to play to their ability level and their grinders to
return to last season’s form.
Marian Gaborik is certainly doing his part with an
unbelievable start having nine goals and six assists already to erase the
doubts that arose during last season’s subpar performance. Dan Girardi is proving once again why he is
one of the most underrated defenders in the league as he has taken hold of the
top spot in Marc Staal’s absence. Along
with Girardi, Ryan McDonagh has reached another level in his development
playing huge minutes against the opposition’s top lines and adding offense to
his shutdown defending of last season. Richards,
Callahan and Dubinsky will get the numbers they are supposed to when the season
is over while Stepan and Anisimov, at least right now, appear poised to exceed
the levels expected coming into the season.
The question offensively is will the Rangers get enough on a game in
game out basis as opposed to the explosions in certain games followed by
droughts of the past few seasons.
Defensively the questions come from the wear of a full
season at the type of minutes Girardi and McDonagh are being asked to shoulder
right now and if more time for the bottom pairing will expose them more than
they have already been this year.
The power play is certainly still a work in progress, but it
has shown signs of life and comfort with it will only grow as the season goes
along. Injuries are always a factor, but
the Rangers have done as well as any team in surviving losses within the lineup
and getting results.
The tools are there for the Rangers to contend given the
record they have thus far, but the play will have to rise to that level in
order for them to be legit as the season moves along.
