Wrong side of the net, Khudobin.

This past week kind of embodies what it’s been like to be a Rangers fan the past few years. They had a stellar showing against some weak competition after calls for the team to go on a run through a soft portion of the schedule. So far, so good, right? We always have that little seed of doubt, due mostly to runs of maddening inconsistency and lingering concerns about the results matching the #fancystats or the eye test.

As I was kicking around ideas for a post for today, I realized there are some interesting concepts floating around the team, but no prevailing narrative since we are all kind of holding out breathe to see if this team has really turned the corner after injuries and inconsistency. So, you get a thoughts post…

  • I know Chris touched on this yesterday, so I’ll keep it brief. Rick Nash is just a beast. He is one of my favorite players to watch, and I’m glad he has been able to prove all the naysayers wrong this season. Incredibly impressive so far.
  • Speaking of Nash, did anyone notice the disappointing prospect for disappointing prospect swap between Chicago and Columbus that sent Jeremy Morin to Ohio for Tim Erixon? I always worried that Erixon would be the piece of that trade that made Rangers fans cringe. Obviously, he is still young and could turn into a quality player, but doesn’t seem to have anywhere near the ceiling that he once did.
  • I went to look at Martin St. Louis’ stats with the eye test telling me he had slowly cooled down over the past few weeks. Turns out, he still has 4 points in 6 December games, albeit with only 1 goal. Sneaky sneaky, Marty.
  • I feel like people haven’t talked enough about Kevin Hayes’ development. Not only is he playing at almost a .5 pt/gm pace as a rookie, he has played all over the line up and his combination of size and puck control has been a nightmare for opposing defenders. His decision making (shoot v pass v carry) leaves a little to desire, but that’s nitpicking for a guy with 26 games of NHL experience.
  • If Pheonix continues its sell-off, is anyone interested in Keith Yandle? Obviously this would be contingent on Marc Staal moving on, but the 28 year-old American is signed through 2015-2016 at a pretty reasonable $5.25m cap hit. Just a thought.
  • I feel like Henrik Lundqvist is starting to find his consistency again. I like that he stepped up and said he wants a long run of games to find his form. I think AV does a great job of balancing Hank’s workload with Talbot, but if Hank isn’t where he needs to be, he needs to play. He has looked much better (when he’s not playing against Tampa) over the past few weeks, and I feel like ever since he signed his new contract, people are squinting real hard to find signs of decline with every bad game. He’s fine.
  • Staying on the Hank subject for a minute. Consistency is bred from stability in front of you. Getting into a routine. Now, this is not to say a goaltender is not expected to perform regardless of who his defense are and how they are deployed. However, communication and anticipation are key to consistent, elite success at the NHL level, and if you have rotated defense pairing who are unfamiliar with each other and unfamiliar with the goaltender’s expectation for their in-zone execution, it’s very difficult to find consistency. With the d-corps stabilizing for more or less the first time all season, I would be willing to wager on a Hank-like run to Vezina consideration.
  • This mumps thing is ridiculous. I don’t want to talk about it any more.
  • Tanner Glass is still an awful hockey player. Not even his faux-hawk deserves to be in the lineup. It seems like AV has somewhat (fingers crossed) gotten the hint. Mumps notwithstanding.
  • So, how disappointed are we going to be in the Rangers drop even one point of this home and home with Carolina? After spanking Vancouver and Calgary, how can we justify laying an egg against a brutal Hurricanes side?
  • Looking ahead, after Carolina, the Rangers have a huge (as far as December games go) against the Caps, followed by three more soft opponents in Dallas, Florida –oh, wait, they aren’t god awful this year- and Buffalo, before heading out to the west coast again. Time to turn those games-in-hand into points in the standings.

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