The Rangers play down to their opponents, and that is a concern

Through 13 games, the NY Rangers sit in a comfortable spot. They are currently 6-4-3, and their 15 points has them third in the division. Predictably, the Hurricanes are ahead of them, as are the surprising Devils. While the position in the standings isn’t a concern, what many have noticed is the Rangers play down to their opponents. While not a problem yet, it is something to watch, as it leads to bad process.

It’s a bit early in the season to induce panic. The Rangers haven’t played to their ceiling yet, which is being able to skate with and beat the good teams while dismantling bad teams. The Rangers aren’t perfect, and bad games will happen, but it does seem the Rangers have had bad games against bad opponents far too often this season.

The Rangers play down to bad teams – a trend that needs to stop

While the good news is that the Rangers have great possession metrics, an indication they should be seeing better results, they haven’t gotten there yet. The goaltending until recently had been subpar, but is correcting itself. The shooting rate is almost half of last year, and that will take time to get back to normal. These are certainly inputs into a perceived slow start.

But the other input is, simply stated, the Rangers play down to bad teams. Even if you want to give them a pass for David Quinn’s Super Bowl against San Jose, there are plenty of other examples. The game before San Jose, the Rangers allowed Anaheim to keep the game close, despite putting up 6 goals. They then got blown out by Columbus the next game.

Arizona kept it close to finish up October, Carter Hart nearly stole one for the Flyers immediately after, and then the Red Wings beat them in overtime last night. The Boston game notwithstanding, seeing as Boston is the best team in the league right now, that’s six games where we have concrete examples of how the Rangers play down to bad teams.

Schedule presents prime opportunity

Before the last two games, the Rangers were starting to heat up. They had a strong wins over Dallas and Philly (Carter Hart aside, the Rangers dominated that game) sandwiching playing down to Arizona. But they were still wins.

As much as we want to, and around here, will continue to do until there are more games under their belt, chalk things up to poor shooting luck, the fact that the Rangers play down to their opponents is something to watch. Next up on the NY Rangers schedule is the Islanders, a playoff bubble team, but after that it’s Detroit, Nashville, Arizona, Seattle, San Jose, LA, and Anaheim. None of those teams will be relevant come April.

That’s seven games in a row that the Rangers should win. But that’s also seven games where we may see the Rangers play down to their opponents. One concern is leaving points on the table, but that is more a result of bad process and poor preparation for these games. It’s similar to being a backup goalie, you have to be prepared and have the right mindset. They got up for Colorado, and not much else.

After 10 games it’s something to watch. After 20 games (they are at 13) it becomes a trend. If this trend continues, and the Rangers play down to their opponents over those seven games, then something needs to be done. There is no simple answer, of course, as it is a combination of player prep and coaching message.

There’s only so much overall good process can do if the Rangers don’t get the points they should. They’ve already left too many points on the table. It’s not panic time, but it is also not exactly a comfortable situation.