Alright, I admit it. I’m really surprised by this start by the Rangers. After picking them 14th in the Eastern Conference preseason, the Broadway Blueshirts find themselves with a 22-15-3 (47 points) record, good for 7th in the East through 40 team games. Their next game, which is tomorrow against Carolina, will mark the halfway point through the season, which usually is a good time to assess a team and where they are headed.
After years of struggling to find offense consistently, the Rangers are 9th in the league in goals/game with 2.9, trailing juggernauts Vancouver, Chicago, and Pittsburgh among others. They have a couple of players who have emerged this year in forwards Brian Boyle and rookie Derek Stepan. It’s not all Marian Gaborik this time around. If you recall, Gaborik was far and away, the points leader for this year in 2009-10. As of right now, six players on the team have at least 21 points. It’s not just the Gaborik Show anymore and that benefits the team greatly. One player that does need to step up is Alex Frolov, a free agent from the LA Kings who only has 7 goals on the year. Then if the offense is the problem, what is? And it’s not what you think!
In the past, this team would have to rely on Henrik Lundqvist to stand on his head because of the lack of offense But now, we could say that it’s the opposite and maybe Henrik is the problem that they have “only” 22 wins. You look and he’s in the Top 10 [10th] in the league in GAA. However, in his 30 starts this season, he’s allowed 3+ goals. Not surprisingly, the Rangers are 2-11-2 in those games. I love Lundqvist and think he’s a great goalie for this team. My only criticism of him is that he lets other teams get to him. Once he allows a goal, the flood gates could open and bad things would happen. Just look back at the Montreal game on 2/19/2008. With 12:30 left in the 2nd, New York was winning 5-0. After allowing a goal a couple of seconds later, the Habs hopped on Hank and won 6-5. Despite all that, he’s been playing a lot better lately, as most of the games he was bombarded with was at the beginning of the season.
A problem the Rangers haven’t solved yet is their blue-line play. They don’t have that impact guy that could shut down a Crosby or an Ovechkin. Marc Staal and Dan Girardi are emerging on offense, but their defensive games still aren’t where they need to be. Michael Del Zotto is young, but will get better and Michael Sauer is getting his first true taste of the NHL. Don’t even get me started on Michal Rozsival or Steve Eminger. Their teammates are better off throwing them in a locker and getting rid of the key before each game. Matt Gilroy, a former Hobey Baker winner, should be moved to forward, where I think he’ll do much better.
Finally, something every team in the league could/should do is cut down on the lazy penalties. Whenever there is a holding call or hooking, it’s because the defender is lazy or they got beat and need something to cover up their mistake. This team does a little too much of that and they aren’t playing at that level where they could give the opposition a lift.
Overall, I am very proud of the Rangers through the first 40 games. They’ve exceed my very low expectations and would have a playoff spot if the season ended today, something they didn’t have last year. They just have to remember that there are still 42 games that count, so keep plugging away, boys!
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