Here’s one for you to chew on as the Rangers prepare for Tuesday’s match at the Garden against the Islanders that represents the first of three Battles of New York within 11 nights, two on Broadway sandwiched around the one Jan. 29 in the Big Ballpark in the Bronx:
Rick Nash, defined by his coach, Alain Vigneault, as an “elite player and difference-maker” following Sunday’s 4-1 victory over the Capitals, in which No. 61 scored his sixth and seventh goals over eight matches, ranks 119th among NHL forwards in average ice-time, getting just 17:16 a game — the smallest complement of his career since he was skating 13:57 per as an 18-year-old rookie in Columbus in 2002-03.
That number is more a reflection of Vigneault’s long-standing philosophy of distributing ice time than it is on Nash, who got 19:58 per a year ago in his first season as Ranger while playing for John Tortorella.
Indeed, Brad Richards, who is piling up time on the power-play point and who leads Blueshirts forwards with 19:24 per, is ranked 60th among league forwards.
The Blue Jackets, Senators and Panthers are the only three teams whose ice-time leaders among forwards average less time than the Rangers’ leader.
Vigneault’s approach in parceling time — Daniel Sedin ranked 73rd when he won the Art Ross Trophy in 2010-11 a year after his brother Henrik ranked 38th while leading the league in scoring in 2009-10 — is one of the reasons it is difficult to identify the Rangers’ top line through the 7-1-1 surge that has provided at least some temporary separation in the conference playoff race.
Another might be the coach’s reluctance to name the club’s top line. He deferred when given that chance on Sunday.
“I’m not sure from this group we have a [Ryan] Getzlaf or [Corey] Perry,” Vigneault said in referring to the Anaheim stars who generally skate with Dustin Penner on one of the league’s most formidable units. “I think what we have is three very good lines than can play good offensively and defensively.”
“We have a good balance. On any given night, one can be better than the other and it’s up to me to use them in the proper way and to get the most out of them.”
The Rangers have used the same combinations on their top three lines for the last nine games and the same combinations on all four lines for the last seven games after replacing J.T. Miller with Dan Carcillo on the fourth unit.
Derek Stepan has centered Nash and Chris Kreider. Brad Richards has been between Carl Hagelin and Ryan Callahan. Derick Brassard has centered Benoit Pouliot and Mats Zuccarello. Dominic Moore has skated between Brian Boyle and Carcillo/Miller.
And over the course of those nine games, the Stepan line has accounted for seven even-strength goals, the Richards line for six and the Brassard and Moore lines for four apiece.
Hence, the question: Are the Rangers getting an unusual amount of secondary scoring or is there not a primary scoring line to begin with?
It isn’t like goaltending, where if a team proclaims it has two No. 1s, it actually means it doesn’t have any. (Quick aside, back in 1977-78 when the Islanders had Chico Resch, Billy Smith and, briefly, a Swedish rookie named Goran Hogosta, legendary coach Al Arbour once proclaimed, “We have three No. 1 goaltenders!” Hogosta’s Islander career consisted of nine scoreless minutes in relief.)
Opposing coaches generally play their top defense pairs against the Stepan line as function of attempting to match against Nash. But Vigneault more often than not goes with the Richards combination to start shifts in the offensive zone.
Over the last nine games, the Richards line has been on for 57 offensive-zone draws, the Brassard line for 37 and the Stepan line for 31. Indeed, Richards is second in the NHL in offensive-zone start time (as opposed to the defensive-zone) at 69.1 percent, behind only the Coyotes’ Mike Ribeiro (73.1).
Again, Vigneault has traditionally operated this way, with the Sedins annually ranking among the top forwards in offensive-zone starts. The Rangers not only should get used to it; they have already done so.
The Islanders came into the Dec. 20 match at the Garden 1-9-4 in their previous 14 games, 9-19-7 overall and 11 points out of a playoff berth. They are 11-5 beginning with that night’s 5-3 victory and have moved within five points of a postseason berth with Monday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Flyers at the Coliseum.