Winslow Townson – USA TODAY Sports
The honeymoon is over, New York Rangers fans.
Following a terrible 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins in which the Rangers blew a late lead, not only have all the issues plaguing the team in recent weeks come to the forefront, but they will now have to deal with the loss of their No. 1 center, Derek Stepan, for an indefinite amount of time. Stepan took a cheap shot from the Bruins’ Matt Beleskey and sustained broken ribs, a dirty hit that will most likely go unpunished by the NHL, but I digress.
For the first quarter of the season, the Rangers have been fortunate enough to remain healthy. They notched 34 points in their first 21 games, catapulting them to the top of the league standings. They received an MVP performance from Henrik Lundqvist, and Mats Zuccarello broke out into a star.
At the same time, these performances and fortune masked some major problems with the Rangers. In no particular order, their defensive zone coverage is mind-mindbogglingly poor, they don’t create enough quality chances on offense, and they simply do not possess the puck enough. Following the aforementioned red-hot start, the Rangers have now lost three of their last four games. They weren’t going to stay red-hot forever, but in addition to dealing with a major injury to a key player, the Rangers need to work out these issues very, very quickly.
The loss of Stepan will test the Rangers’ mettle, and the team has enough depth to overcome his loss in the short-term. In the long-term, however, losing Stepan could be a big blow mentally, and if other key players that have not adequately produced for the Rangers this season don’t step up, especially Marc Staal and Chris Kreider, it will be even bigger.
This past week, the Rangers sprung big leaks in their game. The loss of Stepan is an even bigger leak. The Rangers now face their first taste of major adversity this season. We will find out what this team is truly made of.
Matt Stillwell is a New York Rangers contributor for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattNYR12!
