Rangers Hit the Snooze Button

Brandon Dubinsky's wake-up call after the last game was going to be prophetic regardless of how the Rangers responded to it. Had they heeded his call, they would have come out strong against the Canucks tonight and would not have let this game get away so errantly. But in doing the latter, they proved him right in saying that if they didn't learn something from the way they won the last game, there was no way they were going to win again. Of course, when I say "they" I have to also include him, as Dubinsky himself was one of the main culprits on a couple of the goals the Rangers gave away tonight.

Henrik Lundqvist was not a culprit. Sure, he would love to have stopped some of those shots, as he has so consistently this season. But what he saw tonight was unprecedented -- three breakaways in the first ten minutes, two of them goals, one of those a league worst seventh shorthanded goal; at least two other occasions in the first period where Canucks ended up all alone with the puck on the doorstep; and countless -- simply countless -- times in the second period when Canucks were all alone with the puck on the doorstep, including two that led to goals and two more during the five on three power play when not one but two men were left all alone in front with the puck.

This is the exception (hopefully) that proves the rule -- without Lundqvist erasing their errors, the Rangers are toast. Everyone I talked to after the game -- Chris Drury, Markus Naslund, and Tom Renney -- recognized as much. Then again, they recognized it even when he was erasing their mistakes and they came back to win -- having failed to do anything about it then doesn't exactly make one confident they will be able to do anything about it now. The problem is that even if they want to do something about it, do they have the proper tool set with which to do it? The defense is not going to get less error prone, not if the philosophy remains one in which they are encouraged to take the risks that lead to those errors, and the popgun offense is not going to suddenly catch fire.

But the good remains: 14-6-2 after 22 games, still among the tops in the league, and still with room for improvement. The Rangers have been walking a fine line all season between making the necessary improvements and crafting an even better record or risking a crash and burn should Lundqvist falter as a human eraser as he did tonight. One bad loss does not throw them into the latter category. How they respond Saturday in Ottawa and back at the Garden Monday against Phoenix, two teams in the bottom half of the league, will be telling.

At Blueshirt Bulletin+ today, Tom Renney, Chris Drury, Henrik Lundqvist, and Markus Naslund talk about why the Rangers are so passive to start games, what the goalie has meant to the team, what happened during that closed door meeting, and what the story is with those shorthanded goals. Some snippets of quotes appear elsewhere around the web, but the bulk of it has not appeared anywhere else. Click here to read it if you subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and have registered for BB+ access. If you need instructions on how to access BB+, write to us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com. If you are not a subscriber, E-mail us or click here to learn how to subscribe to the magazine and BB+.

Game reports: Newsday, Journal News, Daily News, Record, Times, Post, NYR.com, NHL.com, AP, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, and Vancouver.com. The Post reports that Scott Gomez sustained a stress fracture in his ankle when hit by a shot in Detroit last month but continued to play ten more games before it was diagnosed. More on Gomez plus Naslund from the Record, Newsday, Rangers Report, NHL.com, Blue Notes, Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province here and here, Slam! Sports, and Inside Shots. Even more from the reporters' blogs: Ranger Rants, Rangers Report here and here, Blue Notes here and here, Blueshirts Blog, and Game On!. Hartford lost last night -- recaps at Howlings and WP.com. Prospect Park has a report on some prospect action.

There were thirteen teams at the Garden last night scouting the game, as Rangers Report and Blue Notes reported, far more than usual. Only a handful are facing one of the two teams that were on the ice in upcoming games. I asked Neil Smith, who was there scounting for Anaheim, what drew all the others and he said it was merely a case of Vancouver visiting the east so rarely that a lot of pro scouts were taking advantage of this opportunity to see them in action. Elsewhere, P.J. Stock has some interesting thoughts after watching Jarkko Ruutu's shootout shot at Lundqvist the other night at CBC.com, and Damian Cox evaluates some interesting quotes at ESPN, some of them Ranger-related, at least tangentially.

Comments

[Jameson]

A few players had rough games and at the least rough starts, Dubinsky in particular. Love the fight the team showed to make a game of it. Felt real bad for Hank.

A possibly simple solution to fixing the slow starts is giving the 3rd and 4th line more ice time in the first, I feel like they're more likely to score early than the first two lines, minus maybe when Cally is on one of those lines.

The powerplay lives and dies at the point. When we work the points correctly and get shots there(with traffic) we score. When we don't, not only do we not score, but we give up a ton of odd-man rushes that lead to shorthanded goals. Our forwards need to stop handcuffing our pointmen, it's not the first time where a forward's made a pass to the pointman where he had nowhere else to go except across ice. The d-men need to close that gap. And I don't know why we don't work a forward high so that there's room to rotate who's at the points and who's on the endboards by the faceoff circle(s). Maybe it's because Gomez is out and he's the guy we like to have there, or the only one we feel capable of that since Jagr is gone, I'm not sure.

[Ros]

This game was a pathetic effort by a team who things they can simply rely on their super-star goalie to win it all for them day in & day out. I got to witness this debacle in person & it was really sad. they lost just about every battle along the boards, couldn't handle the puck if their lives depended on it, consistently tried to force a play on Vancouver's strong side, & had brainless give-away after give-away all game long. Worst performance of this year by far. Way worse then the Toronto fiasco i think. There was no passion & no thinking out there. Everyone was a flat as can be & now it seems like it's becoming a habit. Someone needs to smack this this upside it's head & wake them up... fast.

[Jess]

So then does this mean that unless Henrik is playing a perfect game every night then this is what we have to look forward to?

Sorry but waiting until the team is down 4-0 to make a "fight" out of it does not work for me as when it was 3-0 against Luongo the game was already over.

And what is even more frustrating is that we get to hear the same excuses, see the same mistakes and by the same players/coaches.

Dubinsky after missing that shot was totally rattled and tried way too much to make up for it and made matters worse.

Why do the MSG cameras and talking heads always show when Dubinsky/Voros/Zherdev are in the supposed doghouse and never it seems anyone else?

Those three have been the Rangers best players on most nights but one would never realize it.

Enough talk already Rangers and Coaches and just fix the stupid problems.

The record may look good but all it will take is one Henrik slump and that record will disappear in a hurry.

[Jive]

We have an awful powerplay that cant score. When we do score, we get 3 PP goals in a game against a bad team to pad our stats. If our powerplay is so bad, and we still give up short handed goals every 3 games, why dont they try putting 4 forwards and 1 defensemen out there for the PP's?

Maybe it'll generate more offense, more puck movement, more down low activity. It sure as hell won't hurt our defense, seeing as how the other teams are getting at least 1 good scoring chance for every powerplay we get.

[sid21]

Looking at the Ranger power play stats the team has scored 18 goals on 109 chances. About 16% they are successful. However if you subtract the 7 shorthanded goals, it is really only at about 10%. That would make their power play the worst in the league except for the blue jackets which is just below 10%.
There power play is a joke and it will continue to cost them games until they can turn it around. As a Ranger fan you only have to look at the stats of the PP to be a realist.

[Bones]

The Rangers record would make David Copperfield proud because its all built on illusion. Sorry but I have already given up on Renney(Roger Neilson Redux). He's supposed to be great with the kids, but I don't see it. Reminds me of Colin Campbell's reign when the team never seemed prepared to start the game with any intensity or seeming plan.

[Cutter]

Ouch.

Ah well...it's a long season and you can't win 'em all.

[chris]

So is renny going to pretend that the almost 4million wasted between dawes fritsche rismiller and prucha are going to net more than 20 combined goals this season? let alone the 20 that he had faith in prucha to provide like he said???

someone smack some sense into renny and get shanny off the sofa and in a jersey stat.

I also have to laugh, the gardens intro from last season was renny saying "we need to be a team of action, not reaction" So what have you been telling this team that has been lifeless against signifigantly worse teams (yes vancovers a mediocore team save for loungo) when they have had to dig them selves outta the hole in each of these games.

Also I stand behind the fire perry pern statement I've made. Its his powerplay and 4yrs with all these different players they can't make any difference??? they need to look at tapes from good powerplays in the leauge who pass hard and shoot even harder who "act and do not react" on their powerplays

[rangerbill94]

BENCH PLAYERS FOR BAD PLAY

That has always been to solution many coaches have employed to get players back on track. Renney has used that with is forwards and with some success. But he is handcuffed with his defense.

SOLUTION

Trade Prucha, if not a trade, send him to Hartford for the rest of the season. Heck, Lundqvist has more points this season than Prucha has! Bring up Cory Potter. That move clears up some cap space and provides a 7th defenseman and puts some pressure on poorly performing D'men. There is no excuse for Redden and Rozsival misques with the puck at the blueline. If their confidence is down, then sit them down. Another shorthanded goal, (7 in 22 games!!!) and a breakaway goal; both less then halfway through the first period!!! That's not even pitiful. One of those two needs to sit the next couple of games. Earn their way back into the lineup. BRING UP CORY POTTER! CAN'T BE ANY WORSE.

And this loss you can't pin on Hank. He just had an off day. Frankly, I would have pulled him after the third goal. It was clear that his game was off. Vali played very well.

[oleosmirf]

rangerbill

the Ranger should waive Prucha, if someone claims him so be it, he needs to find his game if he even has any left at all...

[ntb]

The frustrating part, as Jess said, is that the Rangers keep making the same mistakes every game. Why can't they fix them? Do the players refuse to change their styles? Is the coaching staff trying to adjust their system to compensate for the team weaknesses? If I continue to see these same lapses over the next 10-15 games, the only conclusion I can draw is that the Rangers are a middle-of-the-pack team.

[kovazub94]

Oleo, imagine the (very possible) schenario where Prucha is waived, goes to say Iceladies or NJ and starts to score in bunches. I think that's what they are afraid of the most about waiving him. If I were Sather at this point I would've just traded him for the 4th rounder to a Western team and not 'cause we need that draft pick but to accommodate Prucha. I feel bad for the kid.

[Sioux-per-man]

Bad Game . . . forget about it and move on. Seriously.

Get angry, mad, whatever it takes to get focused and go beat a good team in Montreal.

[jagrmiester]

Play more than 30 minutes.....

[akayama49]

Mentally unprepared to play. That's the only verdict you can hand down after the Rangers' debacle last night. Their defensive coverage was abysmal, amateurish at times allowing their favorite alltime patsies (the once, and no longer, Vancouver Canuckleheads) to achieve their most successful Garden victory in history. I've been watching this rivalry for 35-odd years, and I've never seen apoorer performance by the Blueshirts against the British columbians than last night. Understand, the Rangers' own an alltime winning percentage versus the Canucks of over .700! (The highest such number the Rangers have achieved against any opponent.) Last night can thus be viewed as long overdue. The only solace we can take out of this performance is that we know our guys can and will play much better. Go back to basics, please. Not leaving opponents in front of your net would be a good place to start, and not passing directly to your opponents who are standing alone in front would also be helpful.

[Chris]

Not to state the obvious, but the power play is disgusting. I don't care if they scored two goals last night, it's disgusting, and even strength is not much better. Indeed, this team needs to bring the abundant urgency they display on the penalty kill to the other facets of their game.

The PP is too effin predictable! Enter the zone along the boards and drop the puck back to the defenseman at the point EVERY FRIGGIN TIME? Once I saw Drury whip the puck around the boards, but otherwise, it's the same thing over and over again. Enter the zone, drop the puck to a defenseman who is quickly pressured by two players who are just sitting on that "play".

There's also a nauseating lack of motion. This team - with a couple of notable exceptions - goes to their spots and waits for the action to come to them, as if merely having the man advantage is enough. Beyond Callahan, Drury and (when he gets on the ice) Korpikoski, the power play is utterly stagnant. DRIVE TO THE NET! FIND THE HOLES! GO BACKDOOR! MOVE AROUND! DO SOMETHING other than standing around waiting for someone else to make a play.

That goes for even strength, too. Unless they're on the rush, they just stand around slack jawed waiting for something to happen. It's as if the 1st and 2nd lines forgot how to cycle. God bless Cally and his dump and chase, otherwise I'm not sure they would've touched the puck in the Canuck zone.

[jagrmiester]

yea Dump and Chase, stop going through players when you know your gonna get stopped.

[paul arensburg]

The Rangers defensemen as a unit must be the slowest in the league. In a time when skating is a guy's most important asset. Renney may be not great or whatever, but Sather totally needs to be called out.

[Marco]

Getting Matias Ohlund will be the key to all our defensive worries ... trade prucha and rosivol to canucks for matias ohlund who's contract expires this season and seems to not want to resign with the Canucks. Hes good friends with Naslund and adding a swedish defensmen will be good for Lundqvist in the chemistry and communication department. He is experienced and as we saw last night he can rack up some points. Hes not even know for his offensive skills, more of a stay at home defensemen which is what this team needs. he also makes 3.5 mil this season which by trading prucha and rosivol will free up some cap space and maybe with that extra space we can get an offensmen... maybe someone like afinaganov... someone with speed.. With this in place and everyone playing with energy , we can win a cup .. or atleast make it further then the 2nd round. Man i should be in charge of this team

[rangerbill94]

Chris

Boy, do you have it dead center. No movement by the forwards when the defense has the puck and no movement by the defense when the offense has the puck. It looks to me that they are now OVERCOACHED. Everybody just standing around, making sure they are where they are supposed to be. Zherdev had to motion somebody where to go and that movement OPENED a passing lane to Mara for a great one-timer. Why not just toss the system in the garbage, send out your normal lines and let them inprovise. CAN'T BE ANY WORSE!

[Jess]

Did people see what Renney said to Weinman postgame?

Meanwhile, either the decision is out of Tom Renney’s hands or he hasn’t given it much thought, but when I asked the coach about calling up a player from Hartford so that he could occasionally sit down a struggling defenseman—pick one of several—the coach said he didn’t have the latitude right now to do so.

“The bottom line is we have to look at where we are with our roster in general,” Renney said. “I still have some forward decisions to make. You’d sure like the depth to get guys attention, but we don’t have that luxury.”

It was a complicated answer, and not altogether clear. On one hand, Renney said the idea was worth considering. On the other, he said the real issue was the structure of the Rangers’ practices, in which too much time is spent on conditioning and flow and not on teaching and systems.

“That’s not an excuse. That’s a coaching decision,” he said. “That’s my job.”

So in other words, the Rangers need more time to practice.

Fine—except tomorrow they’re off.

Raise your hand if you’re confused.

My hand is raised, heck both of them are now.

How in the world do you make such a statement and expect us to take you seriously?

The team should be on the ice TODAY working their butts off as punishment for their effort.

Oh and while people are talking numbers, how can one explain away the the Ranger PK has only allowed 8 goals but the Ranger PP has allowed 7?

If I was running things someone would have found themselves "reassigned to other duties within the franchise" after last night

[jagrmiester]

still making forward decisions? let me know when they are made. It maybe Spring before that happens.

[rangerbill94]

Jess

"...structure of the Rangers’ practices..."

STRUCTURE??? Does all this sound like the roster "can't" be set until someone or something is settled? I believe they are playing with a 22 man roster right now, so there is room for another without sending Prucha anywhere. All they have to do is assign Rissmiller to Hartford. That's $1MM in cap space. Something is going on and what ever it is, and obviously Sather is behind it all, the situation is hurting the team. If they send Prucha down, that opens about $2.6 million in cap space, assuming Rissmiller is also reassigned. Sather sees we are winning, so I'm sure he feels no "pressure" to get whatever he is trying to do done just yet. He always waits until his terms and conditions can be met. After reading the interview with Jagr, boy does he sound down and out. Could Sather be setting up a return to NY for JJ, with the blessing of Avangard? I still don't think Shanny is in the picture at all. Maybe Sundin, but I don't think he would came to NY for just $2MM.

[ntb]

In Re: the powerplay,

I think chris and rb94 absolutely correct. There is no movement on our powerplay, man or puck. The Rangers are so slow with the puck. If teams are committed to playing an attacking pk, you MUST move the puck quickly b/c there will be an open man. I watch games, and you can just see the Rangers over-thinking the situation. Powerplays should be instinctive, if you have to think about who to pass to, you shouldn't be on the powerplay.

[Jive]

"Oh and while people are talking numbers, how can one explain away the the Ranger PK has only allowed 8 goals but the Ranger PP has allowed 7?"

I knew our PP was bad, but wow...that is a sobering statistic Jess.

[Ice]

Dubi, I am repeating my comments from BB+ here, b/C I don't know what that live feed stuff means.

I wish you had asked those follow-up questions. They needed to be asked.

As to the players choosing to play a 1-2-2 despite the coach saying it wasn't his idea, that is to be expected when you have a "players' coach" who doesn't "kick the can." Dontcha think Renney has exhausted illuminating the players on X's and O's?

[Ice]

PS Dubes, I also disagree with your assertion that the breakdowns and shorties on the PP are due to our predictable overuse of the point shot. I think our point men are too slow moving with the puck to the center of the ice, and I also think our passes on the PP are slow as molasses. If we moved the puck with harder passes the penalty killers couldn't keep up with it. I know Dubi's pass to Rosey the Posey was too hot to handle and led to a breakaway, but we could still pass the puck a little harder than we do.

[jagrmiester]

if slats had some kind of plan to bring jagr back i would be sooooooo happy.

[Jameson]

Kalinin and Mara should be on the first PP unit rather than Rozy/Girardi and Redden IMO.

[jagrmiester]

i realized two things last night, one is men are dumb officially and wow we spent too much on redden.

[rangerbill94]

Jameson

Not only that, but the second PP defense should be Girardi and Staal!

[alan]

rissmiller's been playing in hartford for over a week now on a "conditioning assignment."

and this jagr love has to stop. we were equally putrid on the PP with JJ, so give it a break.

[Jameson]

Man I love PJ Stock on HNIC but he's a really dry writer lol.

[Jameson]

RB94,
I disagree, they should see PP time, all 6 d-men should, but Rozy and Redden's mistakes aren't all on them. I don't understand how or why the coaching staff hasn't corrected the easiest problem to fix, which is bringing the point men closer together and maybe even having a forward high so it allows the opposite side defenseman to cycle down and then the forward to move to the point and the other side d-man to move to the cycling d-mans side. Forwards continue to handcuff the pointmen with bad passes, and then they get blamed for trying to go across ice (the only place they can go with it with a forward on their tail). Redden gets a lot of nice low shots at least he did at the beginning of the season. Rozy's got the best shot on the team from the point when he's on, you can't deny his offensive skills and he's wasted sitting on the bench. They need to start giving their players opportunities to score.

But like I said I think all 6 d-men should be getting PP time, with Kalinin and Mara being the first two out there.

[Jameson]

Ice,
the pass from Dubi went to Redden, not Rozy.

[i]

Jess I approve that message, but trying to find logic in excuses is almost impossible. They have collected more than their fair share of points, while they skate on extremely thin ice. Renney needs to get his act together on all the talk he gives to totally confuse even himself. The guy thinks way too much, and it's rubbed off on his TEAM. As usual, the inconsistent frustRangers.

[Ralph Ayala]

any ranger fan that hasn't read RANGERS REVIEW BY INFERNO 272 NEEDS TO DO IT. inferno you couldn't have spoken more truth. You've said everything that i want to say. and should be heard by all ranger fans thanks

[wibbles]

As a few here have said, we are missing a lot on the PP due to lack of movement. Not the skating behind the net thing and moving it through the corners, but the lateral movement of the guys on the point. No criss-cross type of thing going on, nothing to stress out the penalty killers. They're not going to fall into disarray without stressing them out a bit.

[joeymole]

ok, lets keep it simple: fire perry pearn from his job as PP coach! it's been a disaster for over 2 seasons now. and the weakest link in the ranger chain this season so..."heave ho". make your next move slats, be gone with p.p. to improve the rangers PP!

(fyi - perry's 3-on-3 camps: http://www.perrypearns.com/)

[rangerbill94]

Jameson

"...I don't understand how or why the coaching staff hasn't corrected the easiest problem to fix." The problem isn't where these guys put themselves on the ice. The problem is CONFIDENCE. That is very difficult to fix. That's why I would not use either of them until they gain their confidence back. They have the skill. And the idea that the forwards are making passes that handcuff them is pure BS and I don't care if that's what Renney said. Both Rozi and Redden are OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN. They have skills similar to forwards when it comes to puck handling. Our opponents will play a little closer to them, forcing a fast play and hoping for a misque. Until they begin to move more and control the puck better, every coach in the NHL will press our point men. If they are shakey, more shorthanded goals will be given up. We seem to have the idea that because we have the extra man we also have extra time. Well, if Pearn is telling them that, then he needs to be fired. Effective PP units move the puck with speed and skill. I still believe that a 7th D'man would change attitudes in a hurry.

alan

"and this jagr love has to stop." I was not proposing that Jagr should come back or that I want him back. Frankly, I think that would be a bad idea. I was just trying to figure out what Renney ment by the word...STRUCTURE...with respect to practice. We all know that Renney is dealt a hand by the GM and that's what he has to play with. Why can't Renney practice systems? It's just a strange thing to say.

[Chris]

joey its been a disaster for the past 3 seasons and the 20+ games so far this season.

different players same result year in year out

[Jameson]

RB94,
The thing is, if you put a forward at one of the circles and start rotating him to the point if one d-man wants to move down, this makes it a lot more risky for a forward to press the defenseman too hard. You hit the nail on the head in saying we need more movement, that's where the movement has to happen. It's not as much confidence as it is the defenseman are being handcuffed and really dont have a ton of options other than letting the puck get out of the zone and still risking a turnover that leads to an odd man rush, or making a high risk pass across that might get intercepted and taken for an odd man rush or a breakwaway.

[oleosmirf]

what i don't understand is why Renney only attempts to fix things by changing lines. The Rangers PP looks exactly the same as it did 3 years ago, the only difference is while Jagr was able to be succesful keeping the puck on the perimeter, this current group of players can't do that.

All they do on the PP is slowly work the puck around the perimeter until a shooting lane opens up. How about some quick puck movement and attacking the net for a change...

[Ant]

what i don't understand is why Renney only attempts to fix things by changing lines

Oleo

What can he do
???

[oleosmirf]

ant

how about changing the gameplan for starters

[Jess]

I

LOL

On the other hand I for one totally disapprove of the Rangers continuing to fail to give a full 60 minute effort.

[JNL98]

I, for one, would love JJ back. I doubt that will happen...but I wouldnt mind it. however, it might upset the balance of power with the team...but i would risk that to have him back in a heart beat.

[Ice]

I was hoping Perry P would get the Florida job, and now hope he will get the Tampa job. Ottawa never got over the hump with him, Neither he nor Renney have ever won anything have they?

He should spend more time on the PP and less time on conditioning. If we keep our shifts short, conditioning shouldn't be a problem.

I like the idea of bringing up Potter and don't know what Renney meant when he said that move was out of his control.

I stand corrected, it was Redden that Dubi handcuffed, which removes one of my few excuses for Rozy!

[i]

Jess they've been coming out flat and playing for the tie & the shootout. It's too King dependent.

[alan]

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/500759.html

think renney would ever do this? this is exactly what he needs to do.