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The honeymoon is over, New York Rangers fans. It’s time to stop thinking this team will simply turn it on at the right time and make another deep playoff run.
The truth must be told: this team cannot be trusted.
When you dominate a top team like the Detroit Red Wings for 35 minutes, then not only blow a two-goal lead in a span of a minute, but fail to score on more than five-consecutive minutes of power play time, including two 5-on-3 opportunities, you know you are just not that good.
Whether it is a lack of heart, soft defending or a failure to score timely goals, this Rangers team is showing us absolutely nothing. They have shown too many non-60-minute efforts so far this season, and have shown zero killer instinct. The game against the Red Wings was essentially a microcosm of the season so far.
Everyone is to blame, Alain Vigneault and the players. The players-only meetings and practice tirades from Henrik Lundqvist obviously have not helped. It is now time for each and every man in the locker room to look into the mirror and decide what kind of character they want to display going forward.
Maybe this loss will be a blip on the radar screen in the long run, and this may finally be the event that turns this team around. How many of these “events” have we seen so far this season, though? At what point do you simply say they just aren’t good enough?
How the Rangers respond from here on out, especially their next game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, will tell us all we need to know about them in the 2014-15 season.
Right now, though, they deserve all the questions and doubts coming their way.
Matt Stillwell is a New York Rangers contributor for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattNYR12!
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