As the Rangers continue to stay in the running for a Metro Division crown, the need to play a full 60 minutes is probably the biggest risk to getting it done. For most of the season, we’ve been seeing the Rangers take at least a 20 minute break. Generally speaking early in the season it was the second period, and lately it’s been the first period. This was a talking point on Live From The Blue Seats, which released this morning (go listen!)
When it comes to playoff time, the Rangers will need to play a full 60 minutes. It is great to see them storming back in third periods, and never out of a game. That is a mentality you need in the playoffs. But you also can’t give playoff teams a free 20 minutes to do whatever they please. It’s a recipe for disaster.
Igor Shesterkin is the wild card, and always will be the wild card. If he’s Hank-like, then the Rangers can win any game, despite how they play over the course of 60 minutes. If he has an off night, and he does have them, then the Rangers will get down big early. This holds especially true in first periods, when there isn’t enough time to dig yourself out of a 3-4 goal hole because you forgot the game started.
The good news is that the Rangers are on a roll, or at least it appears that way. The first period of rust from Tuesday aside, the Rangers have put together their best six periods in a row in their recent two game win “streak.” The Florida win was, by far, the best game of the season for the Rangers. The win against the Bruins was also solid, albeit with a rough first period that we should be willing to chalk up to rust after a two week break.
Sometimes it does take a while for a new coach, roster turnover, and a new system to have take full effect. The Rangers went from whatever it was David Quinn was trying to do, to a much more structured approach to the game. That takes time to adjust to, especially when it does appear that Gerard Gallant has more of a system approach with specific roles, and less of a “freedom to do what you want” approach. If that is the reason for the 20 minute lapses throughout the season, then perhaps the Rangers have finally conquered that challenge?
These 20 minute lapses are also a major player in their abysmal 5v5 numbers this season. There are many goal breakdowns where we look at the game flow and say “well the Rangers turned it on after…” or “the Rangers kind of took a nap during….” and it’s really impacted their single game numbers. When you string enough poor single game numbers together, you get poor overall results. This isn’t an exact science, and I haven’t looked at the period-by-period breakdowns (or know where I can even start to find those, but that’s a different issue). The eye test and logic suggests that this could be the case, though.
There are three things that we look for the Rangers to do during the last two months of the season:
- Address roster holes
- Be more consistent/better at 5v5
- Play a full 60 minutes regularly
It appears numbers 2 and 3 may be related. Thus if the Rangers are able to fix that while also addressing roster holes, they could turn heads in the playoffs. The need to play a full 60 minutes is paramount to the Rangers success in the playoffs. Excluding the rust filled first period, the Rangers have played five straight periods of solid hockey. There will be lapses, as no team is perfect, but that sets the tone for the rest of the season. Let’s hope they keep it up.
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