1. The 15-3-2 record’s significance is that, barring a stunning reversal of fortune, the Rangers should not have to sweat out a playoff race down the stretch.
Having accumulated 32 points entering Monday’s match at the Garden against the Predators, the Blueshirts would need 66 points over their final 62 games to equal Pittsburgh’s 98-point total as last year’s Eastern eighth-place qualifier.
But anyone operating with a dose of reality who has watched the Rangers should understand the record seems like an optical illusion.
All of the pride, resourcefulness and professionalism within that room will not be enough to sustain even a semblance of this success unless the team addresses myriad pockmarks that are growing into craters.
2. Their play in the defensive zone, with and without the puck, is reminiscent of the first couple of months of Alain Vigneault’s tenure behind the bench as defensemen and forwards alike struggled to adjust to the incoming coach’s system.
Then, there was a legitimate explanation for breakdowns. Now, with all six defensemen having been here last season, there is no excuse for the blown coverages, turnovers and giveaways that have plagued this team as matter of routine.
The Rangers yield good ice on a whim. The front of the net always seems wide open. Point A-to-Point B has become a maze. Indeed, the Blueshirts’ play in their own end is threatening to turn Henrik Lundqvist’s castle into a brokedown palace.
No one is absolved of blame here.
3. At the other end of the ice, the Rangers’ inability to get to the net is reflected by their embarrassingly low and league-worst 47 manpower advantages that translates to 2.35 power plays per. Calgary has both the second-fewest number of power plays (56) and second-lowest per game (2.67).
The Blueshirts have drawn two power plays or fewer in 14 of their 20 games, including two apiece in each of the last six matches, though that does not take into account the penalty shots drawn by Chris Kreider in Tampa Bay on Thursday and in Florida on Saturday.
As if that isn’t telling enough about the Rangers’ penchant for playing on the perimeter and dipsy-doodling all over the place in their never-ending quest to win the world championship of tic-tac-toe, it doesn’t tell the whole story because while the Blueshirts aren’t getting to the net, they’re on a parade to the box.
Over the last six games, the Rangers have had 12 PPs (plus the two penalty shots) while shorthanded 23 times (plus Reilly Smith’s unsuccessful penalty shot on Saturday), for a discrepancy of either minus-10 or -11, depending on your calculation. Of course, one doesn’t need to be Einstein to know that each is rotten.
Moreover, the Rangers finished Saturday’s schedule tied with the Jets for the worst negative discrepancy in the NHL at minus-20 (not counting penalty shots), New York at 47/67 and Winnipeg at 68/88.
4. Imagine what the ratio would be if referees actually called Jarret Stoll for holding every time he commits that infraction. It appears as if Stoll could get a job in the NFL as a defensive coach teaching players to wrap up the ball-carrier. It has to stop.
5. Once again given the opportunity to nail down a top-six spot, J.T. Miller hasn’t been able to do it. Miller plays hard and with enthusiasm, but neither the production/mindless blunder nor risk/reward ratio is bearable.
6. Watching Viktor Stalberg the last few weeks is a reminder that there is usually a pretty good reason why a player with an NHL pedigree (and especially one with size who can skate) spends half a year in the AHL, as the winger did last season with Nashville’s affiliate. Of course, that’s also why that player is available to sign as a free agent for $1.1 million for one year.
General manager Jeff Gorton is somehow going to have to come up with a winger to play with Kreider and Derek Stepan. It is unrealistic to expect Pavel Buchnevich to fill that role if he does come to North America following the end of the KHL season.
7. Over the last two weeks (during which the Rangers have done essentially nothing but win, mind you), the Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello unit has recorded eight of the 14 even-strength goals scored by club forwards. Each of the other three units has a sum of two. Paging Kevin Hayes.
In other words, if this column had as many productive lines as the Rangers, it would be one sentence long.