As of this writing, the New York Rangers have two more games to play before their bye week and before the NHL All-Star break. They will play a back-to-back before the break, playing the Vegas Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 26, before traveling to Ottawa to face the Senators on Jan. 27. After that game, they will not play again until Feb. 5. This upcoming break comes at a great time for the team, which has been struggling as of late. They lost their game to the last place San Jose Sharks, blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period before eventually losing in overtime. This break will allow the team a mental reset, and hopefully they will come back ready to finish the season on a strong note.
A Mental & Physical Break From The Game
The Rangers are 3-5-2 over the last 10 games, and since the beginning of December, they are 13-11-2. While they are still in first place in the Metropolitan Division, they are far from the team that started the season 16-4-1. The team’s overall game has slipped since the start of December and nothing has been done to change the mistakes they have been making game after game. Players like Mika Zibanejad, K’Andre Miller and Igor Shesterkin have been playing well below how they played over the past few seasons. Something has changed from the beginning of the season and the Rangers have not been the well-structured and defensively sound team they were three months ago.
This break will allow the players to get a physical and mental reset and some of these players look like they need a break. They have been making key mistakes over this stretch of games and many of these mistakes are ending up in the back of their net because the goalies haven’t been making the saves they were earlier in the season. The Rangers have allowed multiple goals in under three minutes 21 different times this season. This is a trend that has hurt the team all season, and when it has happened as much as it has for the Rangers, it can truly impact the overall game they are trying to play. Hopefully this break will allow them to rest their bodies and minds and they can come back and start figuring out what’s gone wrong and how to fix it.
Underperforming Players Need A Reset
As mentioned earlier, players like Zibanejad, Miller and Shesterkin have all been underperforming as of late. They are not the only ones. Alexis Lafreniere, while not underperforming per se, has been snake-bitten for the majority of the season. He currently has 11 goals this season, but he should have many more if he could just bury the grade-A chances he’s been getting. He has also gone through stretches of at least 10 games of not scoring a goal. He hasn’t been bad, he’s just been unlucky. For Zibanejad, his game is nowhere near the level that he has played at before. He has one goal in the last 12 games and eight points over the span. While he is assisting on goals, his lack of scoring is hurting a team that has had problems scoring goals over this rough stretch of play. The Rangers need him to wake up and find his game and if that means taking his friend, Chris Kreider, off his line for a long period of time, they need to do it.
Related: Rangers’ Recent Struggles Exposed in Loss To Sharks
Shesterkin has been very disappointing overall this season. His numbers are way down from the season when he won the Vezina Trophy, and they are even way down from last season when he was playing average hockey for most of the season. He currently is 19-11-1, with a .901 save percentage and a 2.82 goals-against average. He seems to have lost confidence in himself to win the big games and to make the big saves. While he is going to the All-Star Game, the break will give him time to focus on how he can improve his game and how he can help the Rangers win down the stretch.
Update On Filip Chytil
Filip Chytil has returned to New York after spending most of the past month back home in Czechia. He has been working with a personal trainer and even skated with Jaromir Jagr during his time back home. With him now back with the team, they can use this break to see how he is doing themselves and to see if a return to the lineup is possible before the end of the regular season. While they obviously don’t want to rush him back, it is a good sign to see that he made progress while he was away and hopefully, he will feel good enough and be cleared to return to game action.
Getting Chytil back into the lineup would be a huge addition for the Rangers. His presence has been missed and it would give the team its three top centers back, as he would likely slide into the third-line center role behind Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. He would add more speed and scoring to the lineup and would be a massive upgrade over guys like Nick Bonino and Barclay Goodrow. If he is healthy enough and gets cleared to return, the Rangers are going to be a much better team with him back in the lineup.
The Rangers have had an overall good season. However, their play since the start of December has been very lackluster and they have not gotten the results they wanted. This break gives them time to relax and reset and when they come back together for that first practice, the players should be more focused and energized and hopefully it gives them the spark they need to finish the regular season on a strong note.
