Very little has gone right so far this year for the Rangers, from the injuries that have depleted the team’s attack to the surprisingly erratic play of Henrik Lundqvist and suspect work in front of him by the Blueshirts’ defensemen.
The biggest problem, however, is the team’s inconsistent effort, coach Alain Vigneault said.
“I do know that my teams compete, my teams play hard, and they’re hard to play,” he said. “We haven’t been that way, and it’s my responsibility to get us there.”
Vigneault said he has not been happy with the 2-5-0 Rangers’ effort in just two of their seven games.
When asked how they can improve on that, he simply said: “It’s just about being a professional.
“It’s not very hard to understand what I want,” Vigneault said. “It’s a matter of them putting the right compete level on the ice. If you do that, usually you’re in pretty good shape.”
The Rangers, it should be noted, echoed their new coach before his press conference, talking about giving maximum effort and not letting missteps get them down. Too often this season one bad play has snowballed, Ryan McDonagh said, one goal turning into two and three, one giveaway becoming an epidemic.
“If something bad happens, we’ve got to be able to respond in the right fashion,” the defenseman said. “We haven’t done that consistently enough. It seems like when we’ve given up a goal, we’ve become deflated and gone away from what we’ve done in the past to be successful.”
The Rangers hope this mini break, four days between games, will benefit them. On Monday, Vigneault put them through extra conditioning, and Tuesday’s practice wasn’t a typical early-season workout. Wednesday figures to be more of the same.
“We’re you’re 2-5, you need to find a solution,” center Derick Brassard said. “Our solution is working hard.”
The offensive issues are explainable, considering the injuries to top weapons Rick Nash (concussion), captain Ryan Callahan (broken thumb) and Carl Hagelin (offseason left-shoulder surgery) that depleted an attack not exactly prolific to begin with.
Nevertheless, the porous defense — the Rangers have allowed 29 goals, tied for third most in the NHL — is a departure from the stingy unit that hasn’t lost any pieces from last year. Lundqvist, who missed his second straight practice with what the team termed a “minor issue,” hasn’t had much help, and the all-world goaltender hasn’t performed well either, according to Vigneault.
The new system is an excuse neither the coach nor the players were willing to use on Tuesday. The Rangers, McDonagh pointed out, blanked the Capitals on Oct. 16 with that system. There have been too many breakaways and odd-man rushes, easy second and third-chances, and poor puck management out of the blue-liners.
“We have to take some of the onus there, have some pride and make some adjustments,” McDonagh said. “We’ve had a few games like the Washington win where we’ve proven we can play tough defensively and create offense at the same time. So it’s just a matter of finding that right execution and balance and confidence.”
Vigneault has seen that effort and execution in pieces, singular games and individual periods. It will have to happen more often for the Rangers to shake their struggles.
“There’s still some understanding on their part to put [it] together, but that being said, our situation right now in my estimation has a lot less to do with that and a lot more to do with us competing better, competing harder, and having a push when a push is needed on the ice,” the coach said. “For whatever reason, it hasn’t been there as consistently as it needs to be at the NHL level. Hopefully, we’ll be better, and that’s what we’re talking to our players about.”