The New York Rangers are in the midst of their longest road trip of the season, and so far, it’s gotten off to a poor start. A loss to the last-place Calgary Flames was not the start the Rangers wanted, and they have now lost three in a row and six of their last seven. They have three games remaining on the trip against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Seattle Kraken. If fans remember, it was on this exact road trip last season where the team’s downfall truly began. If things keep going the way they are now, the Rangers could be experiencing some deja vu by the time this trip is over.
Recapping Last Season’s Road Trip
If you look at it with no context in mind, the Rangers going 2-2-0 on this road trip last season would not look so bad, and they came out of it with a 12-6-1 record. However, it was the way they played in their last two games on the trip that was the breaking point for general manager Chris Drury. They were outplayed and dominated by the Flames and Oilers; They lost 3-2 to the Flames, which you would think meant the game was close, but the Flames outshot the Rangers 49-29. They followed it up by getting kicked around by the Oilers and losing 6-2.
It was after this road trip that Drury sent out a memo to the 31 other teams saying he was open for business, and names like Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider were specifically raised as being available. What was supposed to be a wake-up call for the team turned into the players just giving up on the season, as the team lost 13 of the next 17 games and Trouba and Kaapo Kakko were traded over that span. Last season’s downfall began on this western road trip, and right now, this road trip has not gotten off to the best start.
A Loss to the 32nd Place Calgary Flames
After handing the San Jose Sharks their first win of the season in the game prior, the Rangers headed to Calgary to face a Flames team that had lost eight in a row and had yet to win a game on home ice (just like the Rangers). In a game that should have been a bounce-back from their previous loss, the Flames dominated from the opening minutes and won 5-1. The Rangers looked sloppy and like a team that didn’t give the Flames the respect they deserved.
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The Rangers’ only goal came from rookie Noah Laba, which was the first of his NHL career. That cut the deficit to 2-1, but the Flames took over from there, and the Rangers didn’t have an answer. The Rangers’ top players looked invisible, and once again the bottom six got the majority of the best chances (but they could not capitalize.) It was the game against the Flames last season that was the beginning of the end of the end, and now, the Rangers are hoping this season doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Rangers Need to Play Better as Road Trip Continues
As of writing, the Rangers are tied for last place in the Eastern Conference, but the Boston Bruins have played one more game, so they technically are last. It is still early enough for the Rangers to turn it around, but a turnaround needs to start now, and they need to turn this road trip into a positive instead of another negative that brings the team down. It starts tonight, when they face the Canucks in J.T. Miller’s return to Vancouver. It will be an emotional game for Miller, and he should turn that emotion into on-ice success. He has been very disappointing so far this season, with just two goals and six points in 10 games.
After tonight’s game, they will go on to face the Oilers. The Oilers shut out the Rangers when they came to Madison Square Garden earlier this month, so that shouldn’t sit well with the Blueshirts and they should be going into Edmonton looking for revenge. They will end their road trip with a game in Seattle against the Kraken; The Kraken have gotten off to a great 5-2-2 start, so it will be a good challenge for the Rangers to see if they can match up with one of the top teams in the league early on.
The Rangers are trying hard to put the disaster that was last season behind them, but with the way they have been playing over the past few weeks and with how they started this road trip, it’s hard to think that last season hasn’t carried over into this one. The feelings of deja vu from last season are beginning to kick in. They still have time to turn this road trip around, but if they don’t, this season could be over before it really begins.
