HOUSE WORK
One of Alain Vigneault’s most common refrains is that there is no difference in the way his Rangers should play at home as compared with on the road. There is only the right way.
It just so happens that this season, the Blueshirts have played that way on a consistent basis when they are away from the Garden.
With Thursday’s emphatic 2-1 overtime victory over the Sabres in Buffalo, when Henrik Lundqvist was back to being the team’s backbone in nets, the Rangers’ road record improved to 18-7-0 overall, including wins in seven of their past eight and 11 of the past 13.
At the Garden, they are 14-11-1 overall, having lost two in a row, five of their previous six — while giving up a total of 21 goals — and seven of their previous 10.
So following a day off Friday, the team gets back to work with practice Saturday in preparation for Sunday afternoon’s home match against the Flames. (A nice preamble to Super Bowl, as well.) It’s the beginning of a four-game homestand against Western Conference teams — the Ducks, Predators and Avalanche follow Calgary into the Garden — every other day.
This is the time for Lundqvist and the Rangers to reestablish themselves in front of their home fans and let them know they’re not saving their best for the road.
“It’s been a staple here since I’ve been a part of this team. We’ve been tough to play here, and we usually feed off the energy of the crowd and have a good start,” captain Ryan McDonagh said the most recent time the Rangers were at the Garden, a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, which began by them falling behind 6-0.
The most notable difference at home has been the Rangers’ lack of ability to protect the front of the net. Or, more specifically, stop the opposition from having great chances in front of the net.
Just as it was in the loss to Columbus, it was most apparent in the 7-6 loss to the Stars at the Garden on Jan. 17, when the defense was physically there, but they were unable to stop any passes going through or shove anyone off the spot before they got a great look.
Of course, the struggles of Lundqvist haven’t helped. As he explained in Buffalo, his “A” games have been coming at a regular pace this season, but when he drops off a bit, it’s no longer a “B” game, but rather a “C” — if not worse. When that is the case, he needs his defense to be there for him, which it has not been at home.
Instead, the defense is there with games like the one in Buffalo, when he made a handful of key saves, but was hardly peppered with grade-A chances.
“I thought we defended really well,” J.T. Miller said after that game, when he set up Chris Kreider’s game-winner in the extra period. “From the defensive side out, I thought we made the plays when we had to [and] we were physical.”
Now it’s up to Miller and his compatriots to bring that back to the Garden. Having gone 32-18-1 through the first 51 games of the season, they were solidly in the first wild-card position, seven points clear of the second wild-card team, the Flyers, going into play Friday. They were 10 points clear of the first team out, the Maple Leafs.
And although the remaining schedule essentially is split, with 15 at home and 16 on the road, the month of February primarily will be spent with the Rangers sleeping in their own beds. Of the 13 games this month, only five are on the road, including one game apiece at the Islanders and Devils. It gives the Rangers time to reestablish themselves at the Garden before a month of March that is rife with travel — plus the stress of getting into postseason seeding.
“Right now, it’s not going the way we want to at home,” McDonagh had said. “We’re working on it here. We’ve got to continue to build on it and find a way.”