The grind seems to have caught up to the Rangers. That’s the only semi-acceptable explanation for the team’s inability to come up with a representative effort in Thursday’s 4-1 defeat at the Garden to a Flyers team weighed down by an eight-game losing streak (0-6-2) while outscored by 23 goals.
There was a lack of precision, a lack of energy and a lack of will in this one as the Rangers dropped their second straight in regulation for the first time since Jan. 18-20 and their third in the last six games.
They are straining for the finish line, straining to lock up both first place in the East and in the Metropolitan Division that would, A) grant the Rangers home-ice advantage for at least the first three rounds of the tournament; and, B, and equally as important, would avoid a first-round matchup with Tampa Bay.
This is all in jeopardy now. The Rangers are three points ahead of both the Hurricanes (in the Metro) and the Bruins in the East, with both of those clubs having three games to play as opposed to the Blueshirts’ two.
The Rangers still have control of their own destiny with a magic number of four points. If they defeat the Islanders at home on Saturday and the Senators in the finale at the Garden on Monday, they’re in. If not, they will need help. This is the consequence of losing this week to the Islanders on Tuesday and the Flyers in this one.
“We’ve put ourselves in a tighter spot so these are two big games coming up,” said Jacob Trouba, who lent some physicality to the effort but continued to struggle with his puck decisions. “We’ll treat them accordingly.”
These two defeats followed an extended stretch in which the Blueshirts weren’t 24-5-1 so it is not as if the sky has fallen in on them. If fatigue is a factor, that can easily be remedied between the end of the regular season and Game 1 of the playoffs that is expected to be played either next Saturday or Sunday.
Head coach Peter Laviolette said repeatedly that he did not plan to experiment over the final week of the regular season, so no opportunity has been lost in that regard. There never was a plan to rest players for rest sake. That hasn’t changed.
But the Rangers haven’t been sharp at five-on-five for a while. The power play has been clicking, scoring seven goals in the last four games, but the club has scored only four goals at five-on-five in that stretch.
The Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Jack Roslovic unit was “Silent Night” quiet in this one, two games after Roslovic watched last Sunday’s match against Montreal in street clothes. The Blueshirts need more from No. 96 — more battle level, please — in that spot or else they will be obligated to try Jimmy Vesey up with the BFFs again. That messes with the four-line balance, if there really is such a thing.
Speaking of deadline acquisitions, Alexander Wennberg has been fine in filling that third-line center’s role with responsible 200×85 foot play, but the Rangers need much more in the offensive zone from the Swede. With the Wennberg-Will Cuylle-Kaapo Kakko unit struggling to produce, there’s just too much of a burden on Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin (who got his 47th on the power play against Philly) and Alexis Lafreniere.
You know what one-line teams do in the playoffs?
They lose quickly, that’s what they do.
Trouba has been having issues since returning on March 30 from a lower-body injury that had sidelined the captain for 11 games. Exacerbating the problem is that partner K’Andre Miller has backslid and lost the traction he seemed to be gaining late in this disappointing season.
Since Trouba’s return, the pair has been on for one goal for and nine goals against. That equates to minus-eight at five-on-five in seven games. If Laviolette were prone to experimentation to experiment, Saturday at home against the Islanders could be a good time to get another look at Miller with Braden Schneider. But that would go against the veteran coach’s form.
Remember when Matt Rempe brought energy, combativeness and a swagger to the mix? Better yet, remember when Rempe was in the mix for more than one game every three or five and provided the team with an identity that countered generations of typecasting?
Neither do I.
