Rangers' Rick Nash Must Start Producing Like a Superstar Soon in 2015 Playoffs

"He's getting smaller as the playoffs are going along."

Just how every professional athlete wants to be talked about on national television following a loss, right? This, however, was the assessment of New York Rangers forward Rick Nash by NBC hockey analyst Keith Jones following Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final Monday night, a 6-2 victory for the Tampa Bay Lightning that evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

I covered Jones when he played for the Colorado Avalanche, and he was always the go-to guy when I needed a good quote. (My favorite Jones quote was when he told me how he called Chris Chelios "Fonzie" or "The Fonz" for always yelling "Aaaay" at a referee in an attempt to draw a call).

"Jonesie," which of course was his nickname as a player (98 percent of all hockey nicknames must end in "-ie" or "-er"), really let Nash have it after the Rangers' blowout loss. It almost got to the point where you wanted to say, "OK, enough already! It was just one game!"

So, while it was a little too soon to throw Nash under the bus like Jones did, I'll buy into this sentiment: Nash needs to, you know, do something offensively, starting with Game 3 at Amalie Arena Wednesday night. 

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Nash has six goals in 51 career playoff games as a Ranger entering Game 3. That's well below his 0.47 goals-per-game regular-season average since he came to New York from Columbus in 2012. He had three goals in 25 playoff games last year for the Rangers, and took a good deal of heat from the media following their Stanley Cup Final loss to Los Angeles.

Nash was bothered by a suspected concussion much of the year, but since he was on the ice, he had to be judged just like everyone else.

This year, Nash had generally earned decent plaudits for his play entering the Eastern Conference Final. He had 25 shots on net in New York's first seven postseason games, for instance, though he converted on just one of them. He has scored just one other goal, though. It was a big one, however, in Game 6 in Washington to help the Rangers win that contest and, eventually, the series.

He's been quiet since. No points, no goals in Game 7 (despite six shots) against Washington and no points, no goals in the first two games against the Lightning. No player has more pressure on him entering Game 3 than Nash, whose salary cap hit is nearly $8 million, according to Spotrac.

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"He's not a star player. He's barely on the fringe right now," Jones also said of Nash.

Again, a little harsh. Let's give Nash another chance to prove himself in Tampa. But fans of the Blueshirts are getting short with their patience. If Nash comes up empty in Games 3 and 4, he's going to really hear it from the tough fans and media in New York.

After Game 2, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault alluded to Nash when he said his best players need to be better.

"Well, there is no doubt their top players had a very strong game," Vigneault told reporters from the podium, "and a couple of our guys didn't have their best game tonight."

Nash has to put up better numbers, period. I mean, even Benoit Pouliot scored two more playoff goals than Nash did last year for the Rangers. Martin St. Louis, at 38 last year, scored five more postseason goals than the younger, higher-paid Nash.

The Rangers are tied after two games of a conference final and have shown they can play well in big games on the road. This is not a time to panic. But the longer Nash keeps stringing zeroes across the scoresheet, as has happened the last three games, the tougher it will be for the Rangers to advance.

"That's the biggest concern you have as a Rangers fan going forward: Where are the goals going to come from?" Jones said on NBC.

That could be an especially important question against a Lightning team that seemed to really gain some confidence after Game 2.

"With as poor as the way we played in the first game, to come in here and take Game No. 2, to come back home, I think the whole thing swings for us as a group," Lightning star Steven Stamkos told NBC's Pierre McGuire on air after the game. "I know momentum isn't that huge, but this was a big test for us tonight, and we answered the bell."

Stamkos faced a ton of heat for his lack of scoring early in these playoffs. But he responded.

It's up to Nash to do the same thing.