Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
When Marc Staal went down with a serious eye injury many people expected it to hurt the New York Rangers. Very few people expected them to suffer this much without him.
Staal, who missed most of last season with a concussion, was back to the high level he was playing before his concussion. The Rangers were on a roll and then came the horrific eye injury. A deflected puck hit him right in the face and knocked him out for a while with blurred vision.
Staal is by far the Rangers’ second or third best defenseman. Before his concussion, he was paired with Dan Girardi and the two were considered one of the best shutdown duos in the NHL. With the emergence of Ryan Mcdonagh this gave Rangers coach John Tortorella the ability to have depth on his blue line. This gave Tortorella maneuverability and a chance to have two shutdown pairs of defenseman. But with Staal’s absence, the Rangers have struggled with depth on the back end. Michael Del Zotto and Anton Stralman have done their best to fill Staal’s void, but this leaves the number five and six defense spots weak.
The Rangers also miss Staal on their power play. Staal has a big lefty shot and rarely misses the net. As most people know the Rangers power play has been down right awful over the last few months of the season. This is an area where Staal would help big time.
Also, Staal is a veteran and a leader on this young Ranger team. He has played in many playoff games and most Ranger fans remember his epic game-winning goal against the Washington Capitals last year in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup. If Staal were to return in this series against the Capitals, it would be a huge boost for the Rangers.
