New York Rangers Must Achieve These Second Half Goals
There are a lot of things the New York Rangers need to do in their remaining 33 games to get to where they need to be before entering the playoffs. Here is a list of a few of them.
The New York Rangers have had an interesting start to the season. They are 31-17-1 in a season where they have had so many ups and downs. Regardless, not many people expected the Rangers, who looked to be on the decline after their quick playoff exit against the Pittsburgh Penguins last April to have 63 points through 49 games, good for 9th in the league.
In order for the Rangers to continue to impress and continue to be recognized in a year after they were written off, there are a couple of things that the team will have to do. What are they, you might ask? You will have to check out each slide to find out!
Win at the Garden
The New York Rangers have a huge advantage in playing at Madison Square Garden. Whether they are winning or losing, the Garden is always packed with red, white and blue wearing humans. Unfortunately for said humans, the Rangers have not been doing as much winning at home as they have in the past.
After going 27-10-4 at the World’s Most Famous Arena last season, the Rangers have really struggled, having already lost as many games in regulation in 16 less home appearances.
Holding a 14-10-1 in Manhatten this year, the Rangers have also lost 4 of their last 5 in that building. The Rangers need to figure out a way to avoid these slow starts that they so often find themselves falling into at home so they can keep the fans in the game from the start.
The fans also have a responsibility here as well; be loud and proud. Not many fans have the financial ability to make a trip to the Garden, let alone multiple trips a year. Make sure your loud and energetic and don’t boo your franchise players during their struggles. The only time you should boo your own team is if they are giving you a lack of effort.
Get a Defenseman
The struggles of the team’s defense have been beaten like a rented mule numerous times throughout the last two years. The team doesn’t need to go out and get a top defenseman. They would be better served to wait until the offseason to do that–I laid out an entire blueprint for the Rangers’ defense going forward right here.
What the Rangers do need to do is start the blueline remodel by bringing in a 2nd pair defenseman and shipping one of Marc Staal and Kevin Klein–preferably both–out at the deadline.
A guy like Cam Fowler, who many Rangers fans are up in arms about potentially acquiring, is a solid fit and could probably come to the Rangers at a reasonable cost for a young defenseman with puck-moving ability.
Whatever the Rangers do, though, they cannot go out and trade for Kevin Shattenkirk. They should do everything in their power to sign him in free agency when they won’t have to give up any assets to acquire him.
Stay Healthy
Of course, this is a key for success for every single team. The Rangers rank 18th in the league in man games lost to injury (132) but it seems like they should be much higher up on this list.
Now with the team’s second line of Rick Nash, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich back healthy, the Rangers will have quite a spark going forward. Marc Staal is inching towards a return–whether you want to consider this a good thing or a bad thing is completely based on personal preference–and Kevin Hayes is about 2 weeks away from coming back.
Once the rest of the roster is back ready and healthy, not only will it do wonders for the team from a skill and mental scope, but it will also make it easier on the team to make trades that would help them to improve and continue to exceed expectations.
Finding the Proper Combination on the Power Play
The New York Rangers power play, which once ranked in the top five in the league has fallen off. They have not scored on their last 14 attempts. This was one of the main reasons they dropped their last game before the All-Star break to the Flyers.
The unit that featured Nash, Buchnevich, Zibanejad, Clendening and Pirri was so dominant early on in the season that the Rangers probably should let them stay together in hopes that they all get back on track and get their chemistry back. Remember, Nash, Buchnevich and Zibanejad were all hurt long-term and Clendening has barely played. Once they get back in a groove, they could be dangerous.
As for the second unit…
The Rangers might benefit from removing Jimmy Vesey from it. The rookie appears to have hit a wall and has not produced much of anything for a while now. Putting a guy like J.T. Miller or Michael Grabner there in his place can do a few things for you.
Firstly, it would give you another element of speed that can help with your zone entries. Both Miller and Grabner are very good forecheckers and can force turnovers if the opposing team gets to the puck.
This is something the team needs to seriously consider forward.
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