NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It has taken some time, but maybe it can be said declaratively at last this Rangers team is assuming the identity of its new coach.
The difference was glaring on Friday afternoon at the Centennial Sportplex practice facility, where Alain Vigneault reinstated an old tradition, the fathers’ trip — which will take place Saturday in Nashville and Monday in Tampa, and for which the Blueshirts patriarchs abounded.
Yet more importantly, now with a healthy lineup, what can begin is the transition out of the defense-first culture established by former coach John Tortorella — who had cancelled the family event in his four-plus-year reign — and on to a place where offense is embraced.
Even if Thursday night’s 3-2 win against the Stars in Dallas wasn’t exactly a breakout offensive performance, by scoring two 5-on-5 goals — the first two scored in four games — there was some confidence to be gleaned, for sure.
“We’re having a challenging time finding the back of the net, but we’re there,” Vigneault said. “I have to believe with the work our guys are doing, and the way we’re playing, that we’re going to have a lot more nights like [Thursday] night rather than previous times when we have had trouble finding the back of the net.”
When Vigneault took over for Tortorella, it was supposed to be not just a change in culture, but a change in philosophy. Instead, through the first 22 games with an even record of 11-11-0, the Rangers are statistically very similar from years past. Before Friday night’s games, they were 12th in the league in allowing just 2.46 goals-per game, and were 27th in the league in scoring 2.09 per game.
“I think anybody that’s following our team right now knows that we’re pretty stingy as far as giving up opportunities,” said Vigneault, just before acknowledging the fact that Thursday night his team had given up 23 first-period shots, and was in the game only because Henrik Lundqvist stopped them all. “[Thursday] night was the first time that I felt for a period it got a little bit away from us. … You need that quality goaltending to help you find your game. Right now, for whatever reason, I think our overall game is good.”
Vigneault has also been helped recently as his team has gotten significantly healthier. First, he got back Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin, and then on Tuesday in a 2-1 loss to the Bruins at the Garden, he got Rick Nash back after a 17-game absence due to a concussion.
Nash scored his first goal of the season on Thursday, and is seemingly not too far away from the height of his world-class abilities. He also knows scoring goals can be an infectious thing, just as it could have been debilitating to his team when they weren’t finding the back of the net.
“I think guys sometimes start second-guessing themselves, start trying to pass instead of shoot when the shot is there,” Nash said. “Confidence comes, then the shots will start to come back and they’ll trust their instincts.”
Vigneault joked after the game about his inability to limit Nash’s minutes — something he realized later he had done rather well — but did notice that after six weeks without a game, Nash still doesn’t fully have his legs under him.
“A couple times I saw him coming to bench, and he was puffing a little bit,” Vigneault said. “So you can tell, conditioning-wise, he’s still going to need a couple more games, a couple more practices, than he’s going to be real good.
“He’s a dynamic player. Every time he’s on the ice, you think something is going to happen.”
The same is starting to be said about this Rangers team — Vigneault’s Rangers team — as well.