WASHINGTON — There is the defensive zone, the neutral zone and the offensive zone, in all of which the Rangers have struggled through their first five games.
But the myriad breakdowns all over the ice through the dreadful 1-4 getaway are a function of the comfort zone the Blueshirts just have been unable to find in making the transition to Alain Vigneault from John Tortorella, and trying to do so on the fly out West.
“I don’t know how instinctive it is yet,” Brad Richards told The Post following Wednesday morning’s skate here in preparation for the match against the Capitals. “There are definitely differences in the system from Torts to Vigneault, and even if they’re not major, it takes some time until you’re able to incorporate them into your game and respond instinctively.
“But even with that, there are some basic mistakes we were committing on the trip that just should never happen, no matter what team you’re on or what coach you’re playing for,” the alternate captain said. “Looking at videos the last couple days, we saw the number of times we gave the puck away and gave up good chances.
“Sometimes when you’re in the middle of something, you don’t realize how bad it is until you look at it.”
So read it and weep: The Blueshirts not only had been outscored 25-9 overall before facing Washington, but by an even more staggering 16-4 at 5-on-5 and 19-4 at even strength. Seven players are minus-five or worse, and that group includes presumptive linchpins Derek Stepan, Marc Staal and Dan Girardi (all minus-seven) as well as Ryan Callahan (minus-six) and Ryan McDonagh (minus-five).
Richards, who has recorded four goals and has been the club’s best player by a considerable margin, referred to changes in the Rangers’ neutral-zone defensive posture as an explanation — but not an excuse — for the widespread breakdowns in coverage against the rush.
“Basically, there’s a difference in when we pressure the puck in the neutral zone,” he said. “With Torts, the forwards went to the puck right away and the defense read off that.
“Now, it’s more that we want to push the puck into the middle and form a triangle where we push out and read off that. There’s an adjustment there, and if there’s a delay in reacting and the difference because of that is four or five feet, it may not sound like a lot, but it is,” Richards said. “You give up way too much ice and the other team can crisscross and create chances.”
After spending 21 of 25 days on the road before finally returning to New York in the wee hours following Saturday night’s mildly encouraging (but not for Martin Biron) 5-3 defeat in St. Louis, the Rangers were able to catch their breath and talk it out in the familiar surroundings of their own practice facility.
“The overall message that we have to embrace is that ‘Hockey is hockey,’ ” Richards said. “We’ve been doing so many stupid things with the puck, turning it over at the worst times — 95 percent of our trouble has come from that.
“We’ve got to take care of the puck, chip it in, get on it, and manage the game. In the opener in Phoenix, we tied it 1-1 and then we turned it over like seven times in the next minute,” he said, referencing the season-opening 4-1 defeat. “You do that and you lose. That’s been a staple through my entire career in the NHL.
“We’ve had stretches like that straight through, although I do think we were better for most of the game in St. Louis. We were getting in on them and making them turn. Their D felt the way our D has felt all year.”
If there was comfort in spending time at home, there is also relative comfort to facing a familiar foe such as the Caps. Western teams have bullied the newly formed and lamentably named Metropolitan Division, winning 19 of 24 intra-party meetings (19-4-1).
“Some guys on our team haven’t been west very much at in their careers, let alone the last couple of years,” Richards said. “If you haven’t been through it, maybe you don’t know how San Jose and Anaheim are going to come at you hard.
“You don’t know their tendencies. You get back to the East, and you know a lot more about your opponents. You know their penalty kill and power play, you remember how you scored against their goaltender,” he said. “Still, you have to perform, you have to execute.
“Look, we’re in San Jose, it’s 9-2, the attempts are something like 40-10 or whatever [55-20 at one point], and if you can’t figure out that you have to do something different, we’re in way more trouble than I think.”