GROWING PAINS
The New York Rangers are in rebuild mode, and it’s starting to wear on veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist,
The New York Rangers knew this season would be peppered with a fresh set of challenges after trading away several veterans last season, bringing in a new coach and pivoting toward a rebuild with several young players.
And after a 3-7-1 start, there were encouraging signs as the team surged with a 9-1-1 run, buoyed by vintage performances from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, timely goals and a resilient young defence. But now, with the Rangers going 34-3 in their past 10 games, the frustration is starting to build. And after a third straight extratime loss at home last weekend, 36-year-old Lundqvist, who has vowed to stay a Ranger despite the rebuilding process, appeared to have had enough.
“Mistakes are going to happen — I make mistakes — but we can’t accept not being ready to fight,” Lundqvist said after a 37save performance in a 4-3 overtime loss on Sunday to the Vegas Golden Knights. “The position we are in, you have to battle every night. You can’t lose your focus like we did.”
The loss to Vegas was only the latest collapse at home. The Rangers had squandered 3-0 leads in their two previous games at Madison Square Garden — a shootout loss to Winnipeg on Dec. 2 and a 4-3 overtime defeat to the Arizona Coyotes that was capped by a goal from former Ranger Derek Stepan. The Rangers beat Anaheim 3-1 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday and are on the road against the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Lundqvist himself has been solid, if not spectacular, in his 14th season. He recently moved into seventh on the career NHL wins list, and is four away from tying Terry Sawchuk’s 445 victories for the No. 6 spot. But the trials of playing with an unproven, inconsistent squad led Lundqvist to call out his team- mates Sunday.
“We need to push each other and demand a lot from one another,” Lundqvist said. “At the same time, it’s important you’re not finding excuses. This game is so much about the mind and how you recharge after wins and losses.”
The dropoff has been even more disappointing after the Rangers had seemed to be absorbing lessons from their new coach, David Quinn. They were dominant at home in rolling off seven wins in a row from Oct. 23 to Nov. 21, and Quinn was smiling like a proud parent after many of those games.
But their play on the road has been a stumbling block. The Rangers are 4-9-2 away from home, and that fragility seems to be bleeding into games at the Garden and chipping away at the young team’s resolve.
“We talked about what our problem is,” Quinn said after practice earlier this week. “You’re in the National Hockey League. You can’t play 20 minutes and expect to win a hockey game. It can’t be for the reason we had last night. There was a lot of purposeless hockey.”
Quinn has been tasked with integrating young talent into a squad still led by veterans, like 31-year-old Marc Staal on de- fence and Mats Zuccarello, also 31, up front. They have received solid contributions from Mika Zibanejad, who leads them with 28 points, and Chris Kreider, who has a team-best 15 goals.
But Quinn has used 19-yearold forward Filip Chytil in each of the Rangers’ 33 games, and centre Brett Howden, 20, has appeared in 32. Lias Andersson, the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, has also had significant playing time. Howden has been a bright spot with four goals and 10 assists, and Chytil put together a five-game goal-scoring streak in November but has cooled since. Andersson has just one goal in 18 games and has struggled at times.
Quinn has, for the most part, exhibited firm patience with his squad — perhaps a result of his six years coaching at Boston University before joining the Rangers — but he has not been afraid to bench players.
“Being a great teammate isn’t going out to dinner and having a bunch of laughs,” he said. “Being a great teammate is knowing where your four guys are going to be when you’re out there — working hard for each other. We’ve done that at times, but too often we haven’t done that, which has put us in this position.”
Staal, a veteran of 12 seasons and almost 800 NHL games, is often paired with 23-year-old Neal Pionk and acknowledged there would be inevitable growing pains this season. “With any young team and young players, you’re going to have inconsistencies,” Staal said. “It’s about managing that and finding ways to play consistently.”
Staal recalled his early years with the Rangers, when seasoned veterans like Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury led the team. He is trying to employ a similar mindset while playing alongside younger teammates like Tony DeAngelo, 23, and Brady Skjei, 24. Both have been healthy scratches as they try to find the right groove in a new system under Quinn.
“You watched the way those guys handled everything,” Staal said of his mentors. “You learned what it takes.”
Whether the Rangers can adjust with an evolving defence group — which is now missing the injured Kevin Shattenkirk — will become even more crucial as the season grinds on and the younger players learn to slog through the middle months. Quinn, though, would not blame youth for the Rangers’ struggles. Instead, he echoed Lundqvist in trying to explain the collapsing leads and inconsistencies.
“I think it’s mental,” Quinn said. “We’re not confident enough. We have to figure it out. We have to get better.”
“It’s important you’re not finding excuses. This game is so much about the mind.” HENRIK LUNDQVIST NEW YORK RANGERS GOALIE