Stop me if you’ve heard this before, the Rangers were shutout at home. This is the fifth time they have been shutout at home, tying a franchise record and became the first NHL team in almost 100 years to be shutout in 5 times in their first 7 home games. This loss was special though, as it also ended the Islanders streak of three years without a win at MSG. The Rangers are setting the wrong records and ending the wrong streaks while playing at MSG, and you have to wonder how much of this is in their heads.
It’s difficult to articulate positive thoughts for last night and the start of the season. This kind of scoring ineptitude hasn’t occurred in almost 100 years. Fitting, I suppose, that this would happen to the Rangers during their centennial season. At some point no results needs to bring about change. Chris Drury made the decision to move on from certain players, and build this team to play Mike Sullivan hockey. With every player is currently in the worst shooting percentage slump of their careers, it’s looking like a bad choice.
At some point, you wonder if Henrik Lundqvist is going to have to talk with Igor Shesterkin about how to manage a team that can’t score, and you can’t help but feel bad for Shesterkin too. One goal and it’s been pretty much game over for the Rangers on home ice. The body language disappears after one goal against, and the Jekyll and Hyde act on the road vs home has really come to a head at this point. This is a poorly constructed team coached by one of the best in the business. It’s just difficult to strong together wins when the margins of error are paper thin.
All of this is definitely in the teams’ heads. There’s a solid chance a returning Vincent Trocheck doesn’t even fix what ails them. We might just be looking at a team that is better on paper than the results in the standings. There’s two schools of thought from a season like this so far, do you try to move on from big ticket assets and bring in a youth movement, or do you continue to tinker, and really press this core even further?
Another question: What are the expectations going forward? Is thinking the Rangers could legitimately contend in the East an asinine thought? Was too much stock put into JT Miller and others, thinking a bunch of 32 year old forwards could still bring their A games that they brought in their 20’s?
It’s only game 16 of 82, but this is the point in the season where the separation begins with who’s good, and who’s going to more than likely miss the playoffs. If the Rangers can’t win at home, they are dead on arrival thinking they could compete for the postseason.
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