New York Rangers: If It Ain't Broke, Fix It?

By now everyone is aware that the Rangers fell apart last night in Toronto, losing 5-2 after being up 2-0 with under ten minutes to go.  For more on that, check out my game notes from last night.

But after having a night to cool off after such a frustrating loss, maybe this loss should be put on the coaching staff.  After four impressive wins over the Blue Jackets, Penguins, Islanders, and Thrashers, why decide to change up two out of four line combinations?

Why experiment with Dan Fritsche on a line with Markus Naslund and Chris Drury when Nik Zherdev had been playing well with the veteran duo?  I'm pretty sure it was that line that scored the tying goal with under ten seconds to go against the Penguins.

Or how about getting Chris Drury out of his scoring slump with two on the Island? What about Markus Naslund, who was finally starting to play like he should, with seven points in the previous five games?

If it were me, I'd let Fritsche and Petr Prucha continue to battle it out for the third line wing spot alongside Dubinsky and Voros.  I'd at least wait until the Rangers lost a game or looked completely out of sync before messing with what was working.

We all know Pru never gets the chance to play on the top line the way Fritsche did last night.  At least give him the same opportunity to succeed, Tom.

Now, does Renney and the rest of his coaching staff keep the same lines for the Islander game at home on Tuesday?  Or does he, yet again, change up the line combos? My guess is either he keeps the line combos intact, or Fritsche comes out, Zherdev goes back to the top line, and Prucha gets a spot alongside Voros and Dubi.  But hey, what do I know?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?  The Blueshirts did the exact opposite last night, and watched a victory slip out of the palm of their hands.

What do you all think? 

More tomorrow...