The Rangers scored once. The Coyotes, five times. Steve Valiquette hardly put in a clutch performance, but the team has an obligation to play well in front of their back-up goaltender as much as they’re expected to be a wall in front of their starter. The team has been porous with Lundqvist between the pipes, and they continued to be for Valiquette.
Phoenix embarrassed the Rangers at home and put on a clinic. Here we had one of the worst teams in the league and the lowest scoring Western Conference club, yet there was no sign of their struggles on the Garden ice. The only team struggling was the home side, which has become the Ranger usual. For anyone not to see that there are fundamental faults in this club is for them to be wearing blinders. If Rangers hockey is the only brand of hockey you’ve yet been able to watch this season, I am sorry. There is still great hockey being played in this league, with much of it happening in the West. Detroit is fun to watch. They’ve proven that, with prudent management, a team can thrive under the cap. They should be the blueprint by which other teams build their clubs. Check out Ross McKeon’s column for more on their staggeringly consistent success.
Rangers fans deserve better than what they’ve been getting. Being satisfied with two straight playoff years following 7 years without an appearance is like being satisfied with gruel after being starved for nearly a decade. Sure, it’s better than nothing, but filet mignon it ain’t … and the kind of hockey played in New York should be the choicest cut. It isn’t.