Henrik Lundqvist Should Not Be Blamed for the New York Rangers' Struggles

The Rangers are off to a very weak start this season with a record of 1-2-1, as opposed to the past two seasons, when the Rangers got off to extremely hot starts.

In 2008-09 they went 5-0 in five games, and last season they started 7-1 in eight games.

During those win streaks, everything was working for the New York Rangers: They were scoring goals, forechecking and back-checking, and their goaltending was excellent.

So far this season, the Rangers have had a good offense, a troubled defense and a goaltender who has been blamed for the Rangers' struggles.

Yes, the Rangers have allowed 16 goals this season (in four games), with 15 of them being scored with Henrik Lundqvist in goal (the other on an empty net).

But if you watch each goal allowed over and over again, you will notice that the goals were not a result of bad goaltending; instead, they have been the result of terrible defensive zone coverage and lack of insurance in the back end.

In other words, the defense has sucked for the New York Rangers, and superstar goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is taking the blame.

The defense is to blame for the Rangers' rough start to the new season.

The offense is doing fine; they have scored 14 times in only four games. Lundqvist has made at least 10 jaw-dropping saves this season and has kept the Rangers in the game whenever he plays.

That pins the blame on the Rangers' young, young, young defensive corps.

On defense, the New York Rangers have the following players: Marc Staal (23), Michael Sauer (23), Michal Rozsival (32), Dan Girardi (26), Matt Gilroy (26), Steve Eminger (26) and Michael Del Zotto (20).

The defense has an average age of 25 years old. That is a very young defense for an NHL team.

The Rangers defense consists of one rookie (Sauer), two sophomores (Del Zotto and Gilroy), two players with three to four seasons of experience (Staal, three, and Girardi, four) and two veteran defensemen in Rozsival (nine seasons) and Eminger (seven seasons).

That is an average of three seasons played amongst the Rangers defensive roster.

The defense is obviously on the younger side, and they are definitely prone to mistakes at such a young part of their career. With that being said, constantly making the same errors over and over again is not a good sign.

Whether the mistake is not picking up a player in the slot, or giving up the puck up to an opposing player in the defensive zone or maybe taking a stupid (costly) penalty, the fact that these miscues occur over and over again is something that must be addressed by the Rangers' coaching staff, and quickly.

If the Rangers cannot make it through three games without losing, and with this style of defensive play, how is this team going to make it through the season successfully?

The Rangers defense is downright horrid, and it must be addressed and dealt with by the organization.

A few suggestions could be hiring another coach to work strictly with the defense, or the Rangers could ask former great and current Hall of Famer Brian Leetch to give the defense a few tips from his playing days.

If Mark Messier is working with the centers, why not have Leetch work with the defensemen? That would work wonders for the New York Rangers and leave a lasting impression on younger players like Michael Del Zotto and Michael Sauer.

The blaming of Henrik Lundqvist for the poor start to the season must stop. He cannot play defense and goalie at the same time.

The defense must sharpen up and become better aware of their surroundings and what they are to be doing when the puck crosses their defending blue line.

The Rangers defense is young and their defenders have wonderful futures ahead of them, but the mistakes they make now must be addressed for their careers, and this season, to take flight.

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