Although the Rangers might be hesitant to admit it, their early-season record has been somewhat dictated by their schedule.
Normalcy has been restored with the opening of the renovated Garden this past week, and Monday’s game against the Ducks at the Garden can finally be looked at without the context of all the surrounding influences.
First, the Rangers (6-7-0) had to deal with the season-opening nine-game road trip, preceded by a nonsensical Western trek during the preseason. Under new coach Alain Vigneault, the team struggled to find cohesion, and was embarrassed in consecutive games against the Sharks and Ducks, outscored 15-2.
After a home-opening loss to the Canadiens a week ago, the Rangers had won just three of their first 10 games.
“I think we came through a tough part of the schedule, but I wouldn’t call it ‘weathering the storm,’ ” Vigneault said before that Canadiens game. “I expect the team to play well and the right way.
“There’s not a road way and home way; there’s a right way.”
Since that disheartening 2-0 loss to Montreal, the Rangers have reeled off three consecutive wins against the Islanders, Sabres and Hurricanes, teams with the combined record of 12-25-7 as of Sunday, and whom the Rangers outscored 10-3. During the last two wins, it was Henrik Lundqvist in nets, the franchise goalie who seemingly has overcome his own early-season malaise, as well as a minor, unidentified injury that kept him from dressing for two games.
“I felt like the last few games, my focus has been good,” he said after beating Carolina, 5-1, at the Garden on Saturday. “I really try to focus on the things that I can control. It’s so important for the goalie to not get rattled or pay attention to things that don’t really matter.”
Vigneault is also rather happy he is beginning to see the real Lundqvist, the one that took home the Vezina Trophy two seasons ago and has carried this Rangers team for most of the past seven years.
“Hank was, in my mind, the best player on the ice,” the coach said Saturday, having given his team a day off on Sunday. “He permitted us to find our legs and find a little bit of rhythm. We had a couple of breakdowns, but he did what a goaltender is supposed to do and he made some real big saves.”
Lundqvist was helped out Saturday by a hat trick from Derek Stepan, and two goals from Carl Hagelin.
Returning for the Islanders’ game on Tuesday at the Coliseum after offseason shoulder surgery, Hagelin has been a wonderful boost of energy and speed for the Rangers. Playing on a line with Brad Richards and Benoit Pouliot, the team that once seemed awfully shallow up front now has a semblance of offensive depth.
“Hags’ speed definitely helps us,” Vigneault said. “When he scores the way he does [Saturday] and backing down their defense the way he does, it’s so important to the team having success and winning games.”
So now, Vigneault, Lundqvist, Hagelin and the whole crew gets another look at the Ducks, a team who on Oct. 10 in Anaheim, in the fourth game of the season, were up on the Rangers 6-0 after two periods and finished the game with the same score. After the Ducks, the Blueshirts play host to the Metropolitan Division-leading Penguins on Wednesday, and after that, there will be a better picture of the real Rangers team, finally not viewed in the context of the schedule.