Rangers Summary: Where are the trades?

A game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on national television, with the team clearly on its way back, what could go wrong? Don’t let the 6-5 score fool youthis game was only close because the Penguins are also a bad team, who happen to play in this weak Eastern Conference, and give up four goals in the final 10 minutes of the third period. The problem was that those last ten minutes in the third were the only time the Rangers looked involved all game. A microcosm of weak leadership, potentially poor coaching and very little ownership by a team that is clearly just going through the motions.

The Penguins skated circles around the Rangers for two and a half periods and took a 5-1 lead with ten minutes remaining. The Rangers let their emotions get the better of them, taking tough penalties that the Penguins took advantage of, building that lead and leading to even more frustration. The players aren’t happy with themselves, but it does seem like a lot of them are quitting, knowing that trades are coming. They’re not engaging, they don’t mentally prepare to play, and the mistakes they make are costly.

One of those mistakes was Scott Morrow’s pass to Matt Rempe, who wasn’t even looking at Morrow. This led to a quick goal from Anthony Mantha and was only symbolic of how Rangers played yesterday. That was a standard breakout game and now on Morrow. Many were angry with Morrow, but the better question is: why didn’t Rempe expect a standard breakout pass? These are the types of mistakes you don’t normally see on a Mike Sullivan-coached team.

JT Miller could go down as one of the worst captains this franchise has ever had. Say what you will about Jacob Trouba, Ryan McDonagh and other captains along the way: Miller is a snake oil salesman. Sold as a captain who drags a team into battle and is difficult to play against. All we’ve seen this season is a player who is *hopefully* dealing with multiple injuries. Otherwise he is in a steep decline. Either way, his game is on him right now. I look forward to him going one step further at the Olympics and then being placed on LTIR. Great leadership.

Remember when we got a false bill, which would have been difficult for this team to play against? That certainly wasn’t in the defensive and goal area, that’s for sure. With no games until Thursday against Carolina, there better be some trades happening soon. This team needs to be blown up.