PLAYING UP
Rangers look to keep intensity against lesser competition
BRANDON, Fla. — The question for the Rangers now is whether they can keep their focus when they’re playing a team that’s not the best in the league.
Because the Rangers made it clear the main reason they finally came out of the gates clean and maintained their poise throughout a 2-1 overtime victory against the Lightning on Thursday night in Tampa, Fla., was because they were aware their opponent was dangerous. By keeping things simple and focusing on defense, they shut down the top two scorers in the league in Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, as well as the topscoring team in the league, with the best record.
“Without a doubt, it’s a step in the right direction,” coach Alain Vigneault said after his team’s practice Friday before traveling to Sunrise, Fla., where they will take on the substantially less intimidating Panthers on Saturday night. “Thought [Thursday] night, our compete level and our structure and execution was good. We need to follow it up. It was just one road win and we have to be real good [Saturday].”
The game against the Lightning was a glimpse of the successful Rangers of years past, when they played sound defense and were offensively opportunistic. Because it was exactly the opposite of the way they had played while getting off to such an ugly start to this season, it now stands as an example of what they need to do going forward if they want this 5-7-2 record to start leaning toward the other side of .500.
“Think we just played a smarter game,” captain Ryan McDonagh said. “Trying not to overextend ourselves and were creating some really good looks just by being in structure, staying close, not running around our zone much. It’s something we’ve been emphasizing here over the last couple weeks, so it’s good.
“Against a high-powered offensive team, we proved that can be effective for us.”
But now they take on a Panthers team that is 4-7-1, second to last in the Eastern Conference, and has given up 4.17 goals per game, second-worst in the league. The Rangers are going to know all of that going into the game, and whether it will adversely effect their focus still is a pitfall they have to show they can avoid.
Because any confidence the Rangers are carrying, now with their first road win and their first winning streak following Tuesday’s 6-4 comeback win over Vegas at the Garden, it’s not much of a foundation. The memories of all of their awful starts are fresh — giving up the first goal of the game on the first shot three times and the third shot another three times.
“There was a stretch there when it pretty much happened every game,” forward Kevin Hayes said. “It’s tough when it’s, ‘ Oh no, not this again.’ I think it’s too early for doubt, to be honest. We know what we have in the locker room, and we have some great players.”
The defensemen were supposed to be the one part of this revamped roster to improve significantly and should not have been a cause for concern. But almost to a man, they have started the season with substandard performances, from McDonagh to new addition Kevin Shattenkirk to the re-signed Brendan Smith.
But there were mistakes aplenty during their historically bad 1-5-2 getaway, and they hardly subsided for any length of time. But the game against the Lightning was tight, simple and almost inarguably their best overall performance of the season against the toughest opponent.
“It was a good wake-up call, measuring stick,” McDonagh said. “We had to be really sharp defensively. It doesn’t matter who our opponent is going forward. We can use this an example for us to keep building.”