New York Rangers: Another Late Penalty Results in Another Loss

After an excellent start to the 2010-11 NHL season, a 6-3 victory over Buffalo, the Rangers have dropped their previous three games, one in overtime. Each loss had one thing in common: a late, needless penalty (or penalties) that resulted in defeat.

The first loss was to the New York Islanders on Columbus Day, and was the result of multiple late penalties taken by some of the Rangers' better players. Top penalty killers Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal both took late penalties, when the Rangers were winning 4-3.

As a result of the penalties, the Rangers were losing, 5-4 and ended up losing 6-4.

The second loss came Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. After working extremely hard to get the game tied at three and bring the game to overtime, top penalty-killing defenseman Marc Staal took an interference penalty, which led to an overtime loss for the Rangers. Again, Marc Staal was a major part of the New York Rangers' loss.

Last night the New York Rangers took on the Colorado Avalanche. For the most part the Rangers played a very good game. They were playing well on defense, were forechecking very well and they stayed away from penalties for quite some time. 

Midway through the third period, with the score tied at one, defenseman Michael Del Zotto took a tripping penalty when took out an Avalanche forward by the knees. And, of course, the result of the penalty was a goal for the Avalanche, and a boost to their 3-1 victory.

Again, a needless penalty leads the Rangers to another loss. This looked like a game the Rangers could have won. Henrik Lundqvist played extremely well in net, the forecheck was amazing and the defense was pretty good. But the Rangers fell victim of the penalty game, and as a result they lost.

If the penalties were “smart” penalties, then there could be a decent debate on this topic, but the penalties were not even good. The penalties against the Islanders came from being over-aggressive and continuous hacking and slashing at the opposing player. Being aggressive is fine, but if it is going to lead to trouble do not be over aggressive.

Against the Maple Leafs it was a low sense of situation, as Marc Staal decided to crush a Maple Leaf forward who was in transition of chasing a puck that was rolling into the corner. According to Staal, he was not aware of this “new” interference rule, and he thought the puck was by his skates.

Well, he thought wrong. I will believe him, though, because interference calls do vary in different situations.

But the bottom line is that he had to understand the situation his team was in, and should have retrieved the rolling puck instead of taking the body.

Finally, in last night’s contest against the Colorado Avalanche, I guess you can Del Zotto's penalty a “common” miscue or mistake by a young defenseman, but again, he had to have realized the situation the Rangers were in, and the score that was attached to the giant score box above center ice.

The Rangers' penalty kill is known for being one of the better units in the league, even without their captain Chris Drury. But that does not mean they will kill off every penalty that comes their way. In Toronto they took a total of eight penalties. They killed the first seven during regulation, but could not kill the most important one coming in overtime.

The penalties must stop, and discipline must prevail. John Tortorella, the Rangers head coach, repeatedly states that his team must play with more discipline, and must take less penalties.

Well, Mr. Tortorella, what is going on? Teach your team not to take as many penalties as they have in recent games. If the Rangers cannot put an end to these late game mistakes, they will not be a successful team this season.

Thanks for the read, hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave your opinion below in the comment section.

(Note that opinion is in bold, this was my opinion on what has to be done, I would like to hear yours. Please do not give me a paragraph telling me how “wrong” I am. If I have learned anything from school, an opinion cannot be wrong.)