The Rangers have done a good job this year of competing against and holding their own against superior teams even if the results haven’t always shown it. Refereeing aside, the Rangers may have been the better team against the Caps; they beat the champion Blackhawks and took a decision over Boston. Then there’s the other side of the Rangers. They dropped a stinker to the Isles, gave up one to an inferior Toronto side and had poor showings against Atlanta and Carolina. This inconsistency is to be expected from a young team that is going through a transition year but at some point progress needs to be seen.  With the struggling Edmonton Oilers due at the MSG on Sunday the team needs to put in a dominant performance.

The team needs to show that they can not only play chipper and put up good effort against better opponents but at some point this season they need to show they have the ruthlessness to put weaker opponents to the sword. The Rangers have a lot of upside and a lot of players who they will be looking to as the core going forward but some of these players need to show they can take a game by the scruff of the neck and lead their team to victory. For as well as Ryan Callahan has played offensively this year he still has periods (like recently) where he doesn’t contribute for games at a time. He isn’t alone as there are plenty of names on the roster that need to show (offensive) consistency. It’s been encouraging to see Brandon Dubinsky’s new found offensive consistency and Artem Anisimov’s ability to play consistently throughout the year (despite the goalless stretch prior to the Sabres win). Now we need to see these players take over against the Oilers. The Rangers youngsters need to show they can take the next step and not just be part of a collective.

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