New York Rangers Defense is key During Injury Bug
Every team in the NHL must overcome injuries during the course of a season, but the New York Rangers are buried under a mountain of key losses.
The New York Rangers are in desperate straits. Every game of late has resulted in another key forward being added to the injury list, with the most recent casualties being key scoring winger Rick Nash and mid-season pickup Matt Puempel.
Both injuries occurred during the Rangers’ recent tilt with the New York Islanders. Nash suffered a groin injury, while Puempel was the victim of a high crosscheck from Islanders’ forward Brock Nelson. They join a lengthy list of Rangers currently out of the lineup or playing through injuries, including key offensive producers Mika Zibanejad (leg), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Michael Grabner (personal) and J.T. Miller (knee).
Nov 21, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault (L) instructs his team during a timeout against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period at the PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The result is a sore test of what many considered to be the Rangers’ biggest strength early in the season: offensive depth.
What started as a high-octane scoring offense, pushing the pace of play and asserting itself with a competent power play for the first time in years, is now a shell of itself and has gone 2-for-17 on the power play in the last five games—including 0-for-6 in the loss to the Islanders.
With a tough road trip looming, including a matchup against the perennial Stanley Cup contender Chicago Blackhawks, the Rangers are desperate for a more effective transition game and power play.
Head coach Alain Vigneault has a tough task at hand, with a veritable jigsaw puzzle of forwards to piece together into a competent lineup, including AHL call-ups Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen.
Perhaps the best solution to the issue is killing two birds with one stone. During this month-long stretch of deteriorating play, young puck-moving defenseman Adam Clendening has languished in the press box. Though Vigneault has only inserted Clendening into the lineup seven times this season, he has performed well: 3 assists, 4 shots, 60.7% 5v5 Corsi for. Clendening is a smooth skater who has shown a talent for both moving the puck up-ice and for running the point on the power play.
Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
If Vigneault elects to insert Clendening into the lineup, but sticks to his usual predilection for more trusted veterans, he can have his cake and eat it, too.
The Rangers can run a lineup of 11 forwards and 7 defensemen for the next few games, at least until one of Nash or Buchnevich is healthy enough to return to the fold.
With the Rangers’ recent struggles in both the win column (4-5-1 in their last 10 games) and on-ice play, getting Clendening into the lineup at the expense of a depth forward like Hrivik or Oscar Lindberg might be the best course of action while their key goal scorers and playmakers recover.
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