It's early, but Rangers need to look at standings
Photo credit: Getty Images | Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers need to pick themselves up, beginning with an upcoming four-game road trip. (November 30, 2009)
Rangers coach John Tortorella dismissed a question about the conference standings last week, insisting that it was too early to keep track. Perhaps he'd better begin.
Through 27 games, the Rangers (13-13-1) have collected 27 points, 50 percent of what was available. To reach the playoffs, it looks like it will take 94 points. So, the Rangers (6-12-1 in the last 19) will need 67, or 61 percent, of the remaining 110 points available.
Their performance in the upcoming four-game stretch, over eight days beginning Saturday in Buffalo, could be telling. They face the Sabres (15-7-2) twice, home and away, the Blackhawks in Chicago (16-6-3 and 10-2-1 at home) and the Red Wings (13-9-4) at the Garden.
One reason the Rangers are sinking is because they are juggling not three or four lines, but two-thirds of a No. 1 line: Marian Gaborik, whose second goal Monday was his NHL-leading 21st, was named the NHL's third star for November. Sidekick Vinny Prospal has six goals; no other Ranger has more. A dozen teams have at least two players in double-digits.
The collective frost is remarkable: Ales Kotalik (one goal in the last 15 games and minus-12 overall), Chris Higgins (two in 26), Ryan Callahan (four in 27), Chris Drury (none in 12) and Sean Avery (two in 19), provide no punch. Enver Lisin, playing with a hairline fracture in his left foot, is pointless in 12 games. Center Brandon Dubinsky, who has missed nine games with a broken hand, should return in a few weeks. Dubinsky, with the potential to be a top six forward, will allow Prospal to move back to left wing.
To pull together a streak, Henrik Lundqvist needs to raise his game; high shots are eluding him and he's allowed four goals in four of his last eight starts. Complicating matters: Tortorella's plan was for backup Steve Valiquette to start about 15 games, but with just two wins in five starts, a 3.74 GAA and below-par .852 save percentage, his performance may have shaken the coach's confidence.
Young defensemen Matt Gilroy and Marc Staal are solid, but vet Michal Rozsival is faltering and the hot start of 19-year-old Michael Del Zotto (five points in the last 15 games) has faded. Wade Redden steadier, should return this week from a shoulder injury. Rookie Bobby Sanguinetti was remanded to Hartford Tuesday.
Then there are the whispers. Has Tortorella's confrontational style and head-scratching personnel decisions alienated some players? A few people close to the team are privately suggesting that as possible; naturally, no player has publicly voiced a complaint. Others argue that the personnel simply does not fit the Tortorella blueprint.
GM Glen Sather is looking to improve the roster, but is hamstrung by his own spending that has the club within $800,000 of the salary-cap ceiling. Even a depth move might require waiving a player such as Aaron Voros (0-1-1 and earning $1 million). And a deal for a top-six forward such as Chicago's Patrick Sharp would require clearing space by shipping Rozsival ($5 million per season), for example, to the AHL and trading a prospect or pick.
