Torts Crossing The Line(s)--Rangers Dump Opener In Leafs' Lap

Frustrating return home last night for the New York Rangers, who jumped out of the gate with their best period of the season only to see their efforts crumble internally under the pressure of a better, more offensive Toronto club; frustrating for the fans who shelled out, on average, more money for a ticket to the freshly renovated Garden; frustrating for the Blueshirts themselves, who are collectively struggling to find offense, put together a solid 60 minute effort, and build on last year's gritty blue-collar identity which from what I've seen this year is severely diluted, if not completely lost, amidst soft fore-checking pressure, lackluster puck control and what seems like a different line combination every shift; lastly, and I know this may not be popular, but I think it's frustrating for the coaching staff who would probably love to keep the lines consistent but have their backs up against the wall with a group of forwards who are not executing the game plan, reverting to rookie mistakes, taking ridiculously undisciplined offensive zone penalties, and not, for the most part, scoring.

The problem is, what do you do? I know what Rockin' Ronnie Duguay would prescribe:



*artwork by Randi Fusco

And maybe Duguay is right. Torts seemed to think so in his post game, stating there are lot of guys struggling with confidence, but he also said that asa team we are mentally and physically soft. It was an honest assessment from the coach who defended his players by not slighting any one individual and saying that we'll work through this as a club. But is the way the coach works through problems a help or a hindrance to the Blueshirts?

14 different line combinations were used by the Rangers last night in a desperate attempt to create some offense. It could be argued that even when things are seemingly going well, Torts shuffles up his lines too much. It's hard to grow a garden when the seasons change every few minutes instead of every few months. It's going to take some time with this club. The coach has admitted it, the players have admitted it. Why not TRUST the assessment and let the lines grow a little, even if they fail for a while. I don't think the chemistry is the problem, we have almost the same group of guys we had last year and they all want to win--I think the problem is the players themselves. Keep them in more of a routine of linemates and force them to be better, not only culpable in postgame interviews, but from shift to shift.

Look at the defense, for example. We lose Staal unexpectedly but the D combinations have stayed fairly regular and the individuals have, for the most part, risen to the occasion. Keep the offensive lines fairly regular and push better individual efforts out of everyone. At least then you can't put any blame on "confusion" or a "muddled" approach. If we fail, we fail as a players.

WORKIN' THE POINTS

Secondary Scoring
Last year the issue was Gaborik. The team had guys come out of nowhere to put up career goal-scoring numbers and carry the squad while Gabby was struggling and everyone said, if #10 was in form this team would be unstoppable. Now Gaborik IS in form, consistently the best Blueshirt on the ice, and making the individual effort to drive to the net and create chances, but no one else is scoring. The pressure on Lundqvist and Biron to be perfect every night mounts and in all honesty, aside from the 4 goal 3rd period explosion in Vancouver, Hank and Marty have stolen 2 wins for their club with outstanding play, a shut out and a 27-28 save performance, respectively. Last night The King was off. It happens. Shots squeezed through him that normally don't, and he was caught out of his net twice during scrambles in front that fortunately didn't result in goals. But the team couldn't pick him up, even though he did what he could to pick up the team by stopping not 1 but 2 breakaways from the league's leading scorer Phil Kessel.

Boyle? Anisimov? Dubinsky? Stepan? Callahan? Richards?
Of course I'd like to see more offense from all of these guys, but what is more irksome and troubling to me is the puck control. Where is it? Last year Cally and Dubi could keep a puck in the offensive zone for minutes at a time, even if it was just them on the shorthand, this year--if they get it deep at all--they are one shot and out. Richards is clever but not consistently dynamic, a few times he's only narrowly avoided having neutral zone passes picked off when he's the last guy back on the PP breakout He is at his best on the perimeter: behind the net, in the corners and at the point, but we're simply not controlling the puck enough in those areas, having trouble most times even dumping it deep (cue the Anisimov giveaway last night off a rush, that led to a disheartening Leafs goal).

Eric Christensen
I know fans were ready to leave him at the bus stop in Northern Alberta, or anywhere along the way, but I've always liked him even though he's inconsistent and massively underwhelming--the thing is, he is one of the few Rangers who can be a game changer. His twisted wrister is so dangerous that he can take a seemingly harmless play and turn it into a Red Light rally from almost anywhere in the offensive zone...but he only has 1 shot this season! He is probably only in the lineup in case we go to a shoot out, which we've only done once so far, and he missed. And not on a deke either, which kills me.

Come on EC. When are you gonna release the beast on us??

*artwork by Randi Fusco


Fighting
I thought the tides turned for us right when Newbury got his ass pummeled to start off the 1st period. He took about 30 punches to the dome in a span of 15 seconds. I like Newbury a lot, and this isn't a critique of his toughness or his pugilistic skills, but during a home opener it's frustrating as all hell to have the only fight of the night be a one-sided affair that built momentum for the road team. Nobody else wanted to get involved I guess. Not too cool.




The good news is that it's early in the season--October--and we have a nice home stand to get used to the new ice, new boards and, as will likely happen, new linemates. Afternoon battle against the struggling Senators on Saturday. Let's get after it!