NHL

Ryan McDonagh: ‘Hockey gods are testing’ Rangers

It will be well into 2014 when the true character of this year’s Rangers team will be clear for all to see.

Because for at least the next month, the Blueshirts will be weathering the unfortunate storm through which all good teams must pass — that of injuries and of looking back on bad losses, the same pressure cooker that either defines a team as a contender or crushes it under its weight.

“The hockey gods are testing us,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said after Wednesday’s practice, one where the work began in earnest to remake this team into a more conservative and defensive group, tailored more to the strengths of the current roster as seen by first-year coach Alain Vigneault. “We’re putting it upon ourselves here the last couple games, not playing the way we’re capable of. Testing our will and determination is fair to say, for sure.

“There’s no question that we have that determination and we want to be successful as a group. It’s just taking a little second to be patient, and be a little more patient in our game on the ice and not try to force things.”

Whether because of past injuries, present injuries, or just a misconception of some of the players, this group is not the one Vigneault imagined himself taking over when general manager Glen Sather handed him the keys back in June. He came in wanting to roll four lines, create all sorts of offense, witness the splendor of Henrik Lundqvist in goal and, most importantly, distinguish himself from the staunch defensive ways of his predecessor, John Tortorella.

But Wednesday, Vigneault’s team took the practice ice for the third different time this season without its captain, Ryan Callahan, who suffered a second-degree MCL sprain in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the toothless Predators and will miss the next four-to-six weeks. They were also without alternate captain and stalwart defenseman Marc Staal, suffering his second concussion of the past three years in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils, sidelining him indefinitely.

And as Lundqvist prepared to start his fifth game in a row for the first time this season on Thursday night at the Garden against the Blue Jackets, he will try to crawl his way out of what he called on Tuesday “the toughest stretch we’ve had as a group and for me personally.”

“Injuries combined with our record can tell us a lot about our group and how we respond,” said Vigneault, whose team is 15-16-1 and opened its nine-game homestand by going 0-2-1. “I’ve been in this game a long time, and as far as work ethic, practices, off-ice work, this group works as hard as any group I’ve been associated with.”

After Tuesday’s game, Vigneault spoke about not having the personnel to play the way he wants, which is more “offensive-minded.” On Wednesday, he had his team taking part in partial scrimmages and had his defensemen focusing on reading the play and trying to be more conservative.

“When you look back on some of our games, we were in real good defensive position and that led to our offensive chances,” McDonagh said. “So that’s a little adjustment we’re working on, a different mind-set.”

It’s really the mind-set of the old coach, whose snickering might or might not be audible all the way from Vancouver, where his team has won five in a row after its 5-2 loss in the Garden on Nov. 30. Regardless, the Rangers of Vigneault now have a large mountain to climb, and this is the way he is choosing to go about it.

“For now, we’re going to focus on trying to play a little tighter and then you build and get a little confidence,” Vigneault said. “Then this group should be able to play a good, tight game.”