On many nights this year, the New York Rangers' defense has been strong. But too often of late, the Blueshirts' defense has struggled, and Adam Proteau says that needs to change.
The New York Rangers started this season on a 5-0-1 tear, and fans in Manhattan were feeling like the Blueshirts were every bit the first-rate, Grade-A Stanley Cup frontrunner GM Chris Drury built them to be. But since that span, the Rangers have shockingly gone 7-6-0 in their last 13 games. And something that was a positive for them last season – their defense, which was the NHL’s seventh-best in goals-against per game – is starting to become a serious problem.
To wit: in four of their past five losses, the Rangers’ defense has given up five goals or more and been outscored by a total of 23-9 in those four defeats. Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been between the pipes in five of their past six losses, but the majority of the blame for the Rangers’ defensive deficiencies has to go to the defense corps as well as the Rangers’ forward group.
If you look at the Blueshirts’ ‘D’, you’ll see many underperforming assets. The top pairing of K’Andre Miller and Adam Fox is solid on paper and less effective in their actual play, while the second pair of Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba also should be better than they are. Meanwhile, the Rangers’ third pair is a carousel of sorts, with youngster Victor Mancini, Braden Schneider and Zac Jones moving around depending on health and the tendencies of coach Peter Laviolette. The defense doesn’t move the puck up the ice effectively, and nothing has changed from last season when the defense wasn’t good enough at key moments in the year.
The Rangers’ defense feels like less than the sum of their parts, and you can’t ask Shesterkin (who has a sterling 2.82 goals-against average and .914 save percentage) to bail them out time and again, every single game. They need better performances out of just about everyone on the back end, but they also need help from their forwards. There’s been too much play around the perimeter for the Blueshirts, and their veteran-laden lineup doesn’t look committed enough away from the puck to make a difference in the win/loss columns.
As per Puck Pedia, the Rangers currently have approximately $2.43 million in salary cap space. That may be enough to bring in an experienced defenseman, but it’s difficult to envision another team giving up a needle-mover on the back end. Drury has assembled a lineup that doesn’t have problems producing offense – they’re currently the league’s 11th-best team in terms of goal-for per game (3.42) – but keeping the puck out of their own net has been a challenge the Rangers are proving to be poor at.
Everyone is worried about Shesterkin’s contract situation, and rightfully so. But there should be equal concern, more or less, about the Rangers’ D-corps. Compared to Metropolitan Division rivals in New Jersey, Carolina and Washington, the Blueshirts’ defenders don’t measure up. You can be promising in theory all you want, but you have to follow through with consistently strong play in practice, and the Rangers haven’t been able to do that.
When the Rangers are playing strongly, their defense is crisp and careful, and it shows in the stats: in 11 of their 12 wins, the Rangers have limited their opponents to two goals or fewer – and in seven of those dozen wins, they’ve kept opponents to one goal or fewer. That’s a testament to Shesterkin as well as backup Jonathan Quick, but it’s also a comment on the team’s commitment to solid play in their own zone. When that commitment isn’t there, not even Shesterkin can steal games for them every night.
You need to see a more consistent defensive effort from the Rangers. And if you don’t get it, don’t be surprised to see them languish in the mushy middle of the Metro. The Rangers' goal right now should be crystal clear – smarter, stronger defense night in and night out – and if they fail in that regard, they’re going to be mired in the mid-tier until further notice.
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