LIKE OLD TIMES
For better or worse, Rangers summon up images of last season
I F GEORGE Carlin were alive and running the Rangers, these would be his two dirty words: “Last year.”
Because right from the start of training camp, Alain Vigneault, who is running the Rangers, made it clear that what happened in the past would stay in the past, the coach repeatedly stating, “This is a new team and this is a new season.”
Tell me something I don’t know. Of course it is. But it has always struck me as foolish for the Rangers — the core of which captured the Eastern Conference championship last season before falling in noble fashion to the Kings in the Stanley Cup final — not to use their run as both positive reinforcement and a reference point.
And guess what Marc Staal had to say following the Blueshirts’ 52 victory in Calgary on Tuesday that completed a threegame sweep through western Canada and extended the team’s winning streak to a seasonbest four games?
“The way we got out to the lead and then were able to defend reminded me a lot of last year,” the stalwart defenseman said. “I think we’re beginning to build our confidence, which is what winning does for you.
“We’ve been upanddown too much so far, we haven’t been as good defending leads as we need to be, but there’s a really good feeling developing here. I don’t like to refer to last year, but that’s kind of what it’s like.”
This team is developing its own character. But other than Brad Richards, Anton Stralman and Brian Boyle, there has been little change in key personnel. And the Rangers still will live and die on the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist; the work of the blue line Big Three featuring Staal, Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi; and a speedoriented, puck moving, transition game preached by Vigneault.
It has taken some time for this unit to find cohesion. Key injuries didn’t help. Neither did Lundqvist’s comparatively average play the first two months. Neither did McDonagh’s GradeC work with the C on his chest.
But The King was steadfast on this recently completed trip on which he surrendered a sum of three goals while, most critically, turning in key saves in key situations that allowed his team to breathe and gain its equilibrium when the balance had turned against the Blueshirts.
Lundqvist was sharp and aggressive, asserting himself at all of the right times. His body language exuded confidence: Beat me if you can. Beat us if you can.
McDonagh is finding his stride. Girardi is having an outstanding season. Staal is demonstrating night after night why it is essential for the Rangers to sign No. 18 to a contract extension as soon as possible.
The longer this goes, the closer Staal gets to unrestricted free agency, the more it is going to cost. Should he somehow be permitted to escape, the cost will become exponentially higher to this franchise.
Every other team finds the way to get these things done. Enough of the frontoffice procrastination. Enough of the nonsense.
Rick Nash has been at the height of his powers, largely carrying the team’s offense, a threat on every single shift. Relaxed, confident, healthy and supremely serene; that’s Nash. New York is now seeing the best there is from a marquee athlete whose star had dimmed his first two years on the Broadway stage.
Derek Stepan has elevated his game. Derick Brassard, currently sidelined with what is now a confirmed case of the mumps virus, has fulfilled his responsibilities as a topsix center. The Rangers’ best players are now the Rangers’ best players. Teams cannot succeed any other way.
There are, however, issues to be addressed. This is not, after all, a powerhouse. The playoffs are not assured. There are weaknesses that must be addressed.
The play of Dan Boyle, signed to fill the hole created by Stralman’s departure, has for the most part been frightful in the defensive zone and hardly impressive on the rest of the ice sheet.
Maybe Boyle came back too soon from the broken hand he sustained on opening night. Maybe he has not yet caught up. Maybe he’s not yet healthy. The Rangers had better hope there are legitimate explanations for his performance.
The Rangers could use another right wing. Maybe Anthony Duclair will return following the World Juniors. But that’s no slam dunk. And it’s sure no slam dunk that he would be able to contribute as a top nine in a playoff race.
There’s work to be done and not much cap maneuverability with which to accomplish it. General manager Glen Sather will have to be creative. And he will have to be proactive.
But in the meantime, the Blueshirts are beginning to hum. It almost reminds you of something. Ah, right: last year.
There. I said it. Now you — or Vigneault — can wash my mouth out with soap.