Rangers Recap: Cue Tom Petty, The Rangers are Free Falling, Lose to Wild 3-1

is that even though this team is different from years past (playing very hard, going with more of a youth movement than years past, not mailing games in) the season pattern is the same: big start, Hindenburg-esque finish. As stated by most…whether the goals are Hank’s fault or not (and the last two games it seems they’ve all been blown assignments or deflections) he is their franchise player and they need him to steal games since their offense and PP is so ridiculously inconsistent.
The frustrating thing about this damn franchise is they could have Gaborik come back healthy, Richards sign with them…and still struggle to make the playoffs next year cause they’re the freakin Rangers.

It does to me. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing, I guess it means this year’s team has more heart.. expectations certainly should not be higher this year, we are rebuilding. But still.

All I can say after this game is WOW

The good, Avery looked determined and his postgame had a great message they have to win today at any cost. Seeing as he is one of the team veterans now (kind of sad) his recent play and goal contribution is really the shining light of this game atleast 1 overpayed vet has came to play in a big game…

Besides that Staal looked good. McCabe is not an answer but he doesnt hurt us being here.

Concerns… We are not playing our full potential for 60 minutes still we played lights out in the first, with one defensive breakdown that almost went into the net, then period two we did not play poorly but we let the game open up and for some reason, even though we are a young team, we are not a fast team letting the game open up gets us destroyed. Third period heroics are great but we are starting to get gassed in that third and that wont get better if we try to depend on it.

Team is spent our work horses need a recharge, and the veteran presence that should be taking the reins by producing and keeping the rookies on course are not there or havent been producing to their potential. And if Avery is the Vet presence that is trying to take this team into the playoffs, I love his heart but I just dont think he has the finishing talent to lead by example.

Dubinsky, he is starting to tail off, he is overthinking and his hands look stiff, he keeps hitting posts or missing easy shots which is not helping him out of the slump. He is tired and as a young guy he has carried the team probably as far as he can without the supporting cast that can produce often.

Artem God if this guy could hit the net from anywhere besides high between the circles his production would be way up he has a great shot it is just not getting close to the net from anywhere else on the ice very frustrating.

Stepan Dont know how much more we can expect out of the rookie this season he will always give the effort always but this is not the guy we can look, to yet, to lead us into the playoffs.

The way I look at it is if Hank cant put this team on his back and carry them or Gaborik cannot come back and play to his potential to lead the team offensively we are sank for this season. Not the end of the world but would suck to miss two seasons in a row, I dont want to go back to a playoff drought I am still getting used to playing in the post season after how long that last one was.

In a nut shell we need the vets to step up the rookies have given everything they will continue to give everything but they need that confidence booster guiding them to keep this ship afloat.

Just awful. Even if this team somehow manages to hold on to that last playoff spot, how do they not getting utterly destroyed by the Flyers in the first round?

I looks like they are all finally playing the system Torts has been teaching all year and that’s the problem. They look too robotic out there. Teams know all our lines are going to try to grind in the corners and behind the net. If the rangers could get a little more creative by moving the puck from low to high and crash the net from point shots, they may start getting more open ice in the slot. I think the team is only thinking about executing Torts system too much and it’s preventing them from finding the best play.

screw the shooter tutor..this team needs to learn how to HIT THE NET. I can’t tell you how many times over the past few games that I have wanted to throw my remote through the TV and hit arty in the face. I’m picking on him because he has been one of the more obvious players as of late…but seriously..it’s a joke how many times we have great opportunities..with the net wide open.. only to have them miss it entirely.

Since they can’t win a damn home game to save their lives, why not switch it up and wear white at home? They should also consider sitting on the visiting bench, and only having a handful of fans cheer when they score.

I know it’s something we discussed a bit during the game Jim, but I totally agree Lundqvist has got to be better. As much as some like to get down on the kids about their lack of scoring or coverage, it’s the veteran guys on this team who have been around that need to lead this team out of the funk. As much as we need guys like Dubinsky to step up (I’d say Cally too, but he’s got I think 6g, 6a in 14 games?), Henrik needs to be better.

He’s making almost 7m a year to tend the net. He’s got the highest cap hit among goaltenders in the league. He needs to be better than good enough. He hasn’t been bad lately, but at some point he needs to start winning games for this team like he did early in the season against Pittsburgh.

It’s the whole point of having an elite goaltender. He’s there to help cover up the mistakes of a young, lesser experienced defense.

As far as the game…the D needs to do a better job checking people. You cannot let a guy keep his stick free for deflections.

Power-play. Showed some good signs, but I also saw them revert to their old form of being too cute and having nobody near the front of the net.

Who"s defensive coach ask him that

I am very much sure that our coach is the problem. Tortorella does not coach our team at all. There is no set plays, our powerplay sucks, and we can’t score. He can’t blame Gaborik, he is not playing now. Also, we can’t just buy McCabe and think that we have solved all our power play problems. He has to coach his team, not just yell at them and blame the officials and Gaborik all the time. I hope Tortotella gets fired, so we can get a real coach (see Devils).

Our offense was slow and predictable. The Wild kept getting their sticks in the way of good scoring chances cause guys kept hesitating, especially Brandon ‘first half of the season may have been an aberration’ Dubinsky. Power play needs to be sharper and where was Bryan ‘listed at 6-2, but that’s on skates’ McCabe’s big shot??

Can’t blame Hank, but we have seen him play better than this.

Too early to call upcoming games ‘must win’?

When the Rangers’ management decided to embark on a youth movement, it should have been obvious that the young prospects lacked the experience and skill to challenge for a cup. Despite the numerous injuries and poor play by key veterans, the Rangers overachieved during the first half of the season. Unfortunately, the team was not nearly as good as we thought it was. Lately, the team has run out of gas and the playoffs seem doubtful. I still think that the young prospects will make the Rangers competitive in the long run. The Rangers are definitely not competitive in the short run. There is no proven goal scorer on the current active roster. We don’t have one 20 goal scorer, although several Rangers are close. Every opposing netkeeper looks like a Vezina winner because the Rangers cannot score. Forty shots on goal and only one goes in. This is against Jose Theodore, not Jacques Plante. Most of the teams who are chasing the Rangers for a playoff spot are playing much better hockey right now. Carolina has just passed us. Buffalo soon will take over the last playoff spot. The Leafs, Thrashers, and the Devils may also pass us. Unless the Rangers play with a little more skill than they have demonstrated lately, they are toast. They are playing to win, but they are unable to win because their dump the puck, grind in the corners and take unscreened shots from lousy angles style of play doesn’t work anymore. When they do manage to score, it is usually a garbage goal off of a rebound. The Rangers are not executing well, but Tort’s style of play gives them little chance to win.