We came here because Rangers can’t score. Not the depth, the stars. The Rangers was shutout for the 7th time this season there were six on home ice. And you can ask yourself. “Well… how can we fix this?” And we’re here to say, “not without the stars doing their part.” That’s it. That’s what the Rangers need right now. They need the stars to pull their weight. No team dressing Mika Zibanejad, JT Miller, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck should record a shutout in 20% of their games.
You knew early on that we were going to have a bad game. Evander Kane and Matthew Robertson skated to the corner, Robertson hit a linesman trying to get out of the way, and Kane went in all alone and scored off Jonathan Quick, who had a rare bad game in net. That was quite symbolic of the season so far, as the Rangers held Vancouver to just seventeen shots on net, but between a rare off-night for Quick and the ineptitude that characterizes the Rangers offense, it was another shutout loss.
Rangers ‘praised’ that five forwards squandered their four chances by playing as individuals rather than as a five-man unit. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I will never understand why the coaching staff insists on throwing away this unit over and over again. There is no teamwork, no creativity and the shot selection is questionable at best. Adam Fox won’t make the difference if the other four can’t score.
Something is rotten to the core here, and nothing makes sense anymore. This power play should be a line of assassins that is constantly on the move, all making threats at different times, and that’s just not the case. I don’t know how many more looks it will take for Mike Sullivan and David Quinn to see that five forwards aren’t working, but an adjustment needs to be made.
It’s time we have the Gabe Perreault conversation again. We can’t expect him to be a savior on this team, and I think everyone knows this. But the Rangers are directionless and there is certainly player movement on the horizon. I was hoping the Rangers would wait to get Perreault closer to the Olympic break, but I think we have our answer for what this team is, and it’s not pretty.
The Rangers are mediocre, if that, and could use another experienced rookie who plays really well in the AHL by all accounts. At this point it’s not about the playoffs as this team won’t even win a game in the first round. It’s audition time for some Hartford guys to see if they’re a solution and to get a head start on what the team could look like next year. Will Perreault be in the lineup on Thursday in St. Louis?
#Rangers #Summary