So there were the Rangers, already down 1-0 in the first period to Nashville, when the Predators broke out of their own end on a rush that produced a hash marks-in breakaway from Rich Clune.
The fourth-line winger went to his backhand against Henrik Lundqvist, who for game after game and year after year has been able to bail out his teammates.
But not so much this season and not on this play, with Clune beating the netminder over his left pad at 17:52 for a 2-0 lead that proved too much for this band of Blueshirts to overcome.
“If you look back at all the years here, this is toughest stretch we’ve had as a group and for me personally,” Lundqvist said after the 4-1 empty-net abetted defeat left the Rangers empty on the nine-game homestand at 0-2-1. “I just have to dig deeper.
“I have to try to stay positive and work even harder.”
The Rangers scored one goal against Nashville third-string goaltender Carter Hutton two nights after scoring one goal against Washington third-string netminder Philipp Grubauer, so let’s stipulate that the club’s problems can hardly be laid at the King’s feet, even if they recently have been made of clay.
There are a myriad of issues with the Blueshirts, who Tuesday lost Ryan Callahan for a month-to-six weeks with a sprained MCL two games after losing Marc Staal to a concussion. But injuries are no excuse. Everyone has them.
Deep teams, mentally tough teams, find ways to overcome them. Deep teams, mentally tough teams, find ways to overcome adversity.
The Rangers have yet to define themselves as a mentally tough team. Fact of the matter is the Rangers have yet to define themselves at all.
And even as they have tried to transition from John Tortorella’s all-hands-on-the-defensive deck approach to Alain Vigneault’s attack style, it appears as if they are going to try to pull back to become what they were under the old coach in order to survive this stretch in which they have won three of their last nine (3-5-1) matches.
“I’m not quite sure we have the personnel to play the type of game I’d like to play, which is more offensive-oriented,” the new coach said after the Blueshirts had been limited to one goal (or less) for the 12th time in 32 games. “It’s a challenge scoring goals — I’m not saying we won’t get there — but right now it’s a big challenge, so we have to be [more] defense-minded.
“My job is to coach, analyze the personnel we have and put a system in place that best suits them,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to do now.”
The Rangers have no identifiable characteristic. Their work ethic was somewhat better in this one, but not exemplary.
“At the end of the day, the job wasn’t done,” said Rick Nash, who got the lone Rangers’ goal. “We all know what we have to do, but we need to do it with more desperation.
“We weren’t good enough to get the job done.”
They’re not especially skilled and they don’t have the size or strength to impose their physical will on anyone. Their search for a post-Tortorella identity has been fruitless thus far.
Now, after an offseason and training camp in which the players embraced liberation, they’re going to attempt to revert to some sort of defensive posture.
“We might have to win 2-1 and get back to that type of mentality,” Brad Richards said before Vigneault made his assessment. “We’re getting tested.
“We’re going to find out how much will and determination we have.”
There’s a lack of cohesion on the ice. The Rangers appear out of sync all over the rink, unsure, a half-step and a full thought behind in all three zones. It’s as much of a challenge for them to stay onside on odd-man rushes as it is for them to cover the front of the net.
Lundqvist has never looked for an excuse to explain away his uneven season during which he is 9-13-1 with the worst even-strength save pct. (.916) of his career. But the change in styles has no doubt had some impact on his game.
After four solid seasons playing behind a team that packed its own end, established a perimeter around the house and attempted to block everything in sight, the goaltender is playing behind a club that’s in between styles; that seems to be freelancing in its own end.
The Rangers wanted liberation. They got it. But they sure didn’t want this. And so back to 2-1 it goes, which is fine for now as long as they’re the ones who get to two.