New York Rangers: Lack of Offense Could Doom the Team

In what was a boring game to watch, the shootout stood out the most Thursday night.

The Rangers won the shootout, giving them a 4-3 victory over the Kings last night at Madison Square Garden.

Don’t expect the Rangers to apologize for getting a victory they didn’t deserve. With that said, they shouldn’t feel good about themselves.

They can’t expect victories like that down the stretch. They have to earn it by playing better.

Last night’s score may indicate the Rangers scored often, but watching the game, they spent more time skating rather than shooting the puck or creating scoring chances.

The Rangers scored their goals by forcing the Kings to turn the puck over. That helps in winning games, but championships are won when the team is proactive with the puck.

One would think John Tortorella would have his guys to forecheck. After all, that was the Rangers coach’s speciality when he coached the Lightning few years ago.

The Rangers play like they don’t understand the terminology of his offense. They seemed confused when they have the puck. They skate in circles rather than knowing to find the open winger.

They did it again tonight, and that did not end up well. Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg shut out the Rangers.

Tortorella has been with team for a while now. He coached them for one full year last year. By now, they have to adapt.

It hasn’t happened. Maybe the system is complex for the players. When a team features Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury, they should be scoring their fair share of goals.

It was a problem last year, and has been a problem as of late.

When the Rangers had a nice run in December and January, they were scoring fine. What’s the problem now?

It may be just a slump, but that’s what happened last year at this time. It turned into a confidence issue after a slump. Before the Rangers knew it, they had to finish off strong to make the playoffs.

The Rangers had their playoff fate in their hands last year. If they beat the Flyers in the last game of the season, they would have made the playoffs. They couldn’t score in that game, so they were eliminated in the last game of the season.

The Rangers could be in that same predicament this year if they don’t get it together. They are the seventh seed if the playoffs start today. They shouldn’t be secure with the Hurricanes trailing by four points and the Sabres and the Thrashers trailing by six points.

There should be no way this team is regressing on offense. The guys learned the system for awhile. Either they are getting it or they are not.

At this point, they are not. They played like rookies playing their first hockey game last night. They didn’t know to get through defenders or crash through the goalie area.

In overtime, the Rangers were content just to play in the shootout. They knew they would get a point, so they would take their chances after the overtime game.

It worked for one night, but as the Rangers can attest, shootouts guarantee nothing. They learned that last year on a spring Sunday at Philadelphia.

They have to figure out fast. Maybe the goals by Callahan and Dubinsky will jumpstart them. That’s all the Rangers can hope for now.

There’s no question the Rangers are trying. They work hard at practice. Tortorella has them working in drills on a daily basis.

It comes down to what happens at games. It’s all about confidence and approach.

The team needs to be assertive. Maybe they need to stop being afraid of making mistakes. It has to start with the coach. Instead of berating or pouting, the coach should be coaching or encouraging the guys if things don’t go well.

That might rub off on the players. It can’t hurt.

Something has to give. If this team missed the playoffs for the second straight year, the blame should go on the head coach. He oversees everything. The talent is there, so it’s up to the coach to figure it out.

The Rangers can ignore everything that happened last night, but they better not be in denial either.