by Steven Zeltser
Are the New York Rangers a better team than their place in the standing might suggest? Currently, they have 3 games in hand and sit 4 points
behind the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. When looking at this teams
performance this year you have to wonder why they are in this position. There are absolutely no good reasons for the Rangers to be where they
find themselves. What this season boils down is classic blueshirt underachievement. Their performance certainly doesn’t add up.
Let us start at the top. Even with all of the Garden Faithful questioning his leadership, team Captain Jaromir
Jagr has put together a pretty good season on the ice. Especially considering the seriousness of the shoulder injury he suffered in last
season’s playoff series against the Devils and the fact that he wasn’t able to give the injury proper recovery time and rehab. I doubt many fan
would have been disappointed with his current numbers if you had told them in September that he would have 24 goals and 77 points with over a
month left in the season. Which puts him on pace for 30 goals and 97 points for a season that was mostly played with him at less than 100
percent health. When taking a closer look at some of his other stats there are a few things that show the effect of last season’s injury. The
first is a big decrease in shots on goals. He is currently on pace for 315 shots, which is 53 behind last years total. Consider the fact that
his shot accuracy is down 5 percent from last year; the lowest it has ever been in his entire career. When you put that all together his
production on the power play drops significantly. Thus far Jagr has only scored six power play goals. That is a drastic drop from the franchise
record 24 he netted last season. I think its safe to say that his numbers have not been on par with what he has done over his career and what
Rangers fans have come to expect after breaking the single season goal and point record and writing his name into the Blueshirt record books.
All things considered, it was expected when the season started.
Petr Prucha’s production after a stellar rookie season is noticeable, but it’s largely due to his lack of time on
the PP where he scored half of his goals last season. Even so, he has remained a tenacious player, with potential who is fearless even with his
obvious lack of size. The free agent acquisition of Brendan Shanahan has contributed to Prucha’s reduced production. Shanahan has done very well
this season. His 28 goals, 14 on the power play have replaced the goals that Prucha scored there last season.
One of the main reasons that the Rangers are still fighting for a playoffs spot is the recent contribution of
Marcel Hossa. His acquisition may turn out to be one of the smartest pickup this management has made in the last two years. He is certainly
playing with a confidence and a drive for the net that nobody expected, except for maybe Tom Renney and his coaching staff. Hossa’s production,
at least of late, has given the team a different look from last season and has help them get some big points which are currently keeping them in
the race.
The franchise goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist has had an inconsistent season especially compared to his Calder
Trophy nominated season. However, it is unsurprising for a young goaltender coming into his second NHL season after basically carrying a team on
his shoulder the previous year to not live up to such high expectations. That said he has only improved as the season progresses.
Michael Nylander is on pace to actually improve his numbers from last season. While many fans are frustrated by
his reluctance to shoot he is actually on pace to tie his career high in goals. Prior to his recent injury, Martin Straka has been nothing short
of amazing this season. He has been so good in fact that the Rangers extended his contract instead of allowing him to become a free agent at the
end of the season. Straka has already surpassed his goal total from last year and is on pace to improve his total production over last season.
Taking nothing away from these two, Nylander’s and Straka’s increase in goal scoring can be attributed to Jagr’s tendency to pass more this
season due to the lack of confidence in his shot.
The defense has certainly been a sore spot this season. Their play in their own end has without question been
worse this season in comparison to last, but that is also partly attributed to Lundqvist’s performance as well. However, some will argue that
the defense has been worse which has lead to his drop off from last season. Even with these facts, the Rangers have only allowed 186 goals
against this season, which puts them in a tie with the Islanders for the 3rd fewest goals against in the Eastern Conference.
On the offensive side the blueline has been pretty much on par with last season. Rozsival has already increased
his scoring from all of last season, although his +/- is 30 points lower. Rachunek has done more than Tyutin was able to do last season in just
61 games this year. While Tyutin's production is slightly lower his play in the defensive zone has gotten better. He is a + 1 after being a -11
last season, but Rachunek has taken his -11 over.
While I would agree with most fans and say Malik has played poor this season and for the most part has been more
frustrating to watch, deserving every bit of heckling he gets from MSG crowds He is putting up similar numbers to last season. So while there is
a noticeable difference on the defensive side, which he is expected to excel at, the production from the blue line has not been worse than last
season. It is yet to be known what the addition of Paul Mara will do for their offensive output, but if he can be as good with the Rangers as he
was with the Coyotes last season he will help them.
When I look at the special team in comparison to the rest of the NHL the Rangers have not been bad. They are
currently ranked 6th in the NHL on the power play and 3rd in the East. They are right in the middle of the pack in terms of penalty killing
ranked 15th in the league and 6th in the East.
Taking all of this into account it’s difficult to understand why they have not been more successful. Perhaps they
have not lived up to the hard working reputation they seemed to embody last season, which has contributed to their inability to win some of the
close games as well as their ability to hold a lead. They have had a knack for allowing goals shortly after taking a lead. Even with those flaws
they have been able to beat some of the best team in the league only to fall short against some of the worst. Most will agree that they have had
a lot of unfortunate bounces this year which has to this point not balanced out for them. Anyone remember the high hard overtime shot by Martin
Rucinsky that deflected off the glass, off the goaltender and into the net last season? Those are the kind of bounces that might have made a
difference, but they just have not been there this season nor can they really be expected. The cliché is that you make your own luck and most of
the best teams in the NHL earn and get their share of bounces. When you look at the Rangers team it hard to understand why they aren’t better
then their record or place in the standing suggests.
