If there were any doubts that this Rangers team isn't playoff material, Tuesday night's lay down at the Garden should put them to rest. Artemi Panarin opened the scoring at 1:13 of the first period with his 30th goal of the season. From the ensuing face off on, the Calgary Flames controlled every facet of the game. They out-skated, out-hustled and out-chanced the Blueshirts over the next 58 minutes. The only reason the final score was 2-1 instead of 6-1 was because Igor Shresterkin refused to let his teammates get the ass-whoopin' they so richly deserved. At least someone showed up to play.
Not since they were blanked 5-0 by the New Jersey Devils on December 23, have the Rangers been so thoroughly dominated by another team this season. Stephen Valiquette's firm CSA Hockey tracks scoring chances for all 32 teams in the NHL and then computes the expected goals total for each team per game. The .6 expected goals total against the Devils and the .72 expected goals total against the Flames are among the worst in the league this season. According to Stat Boy Steven, the last time the Rangers had two games in which they were limited to 13 shots on goal or less was the 1998-99 season when they had three such games. Their record that season was a dismal 33-38-11 for 77 points.
There's no sugar coating this anymore. After a stretch of games in which the Rangers began to resemble a playoff team, they have dropped six of their last eight. And while two of those losses came in overtime, both were the result of blown leads in the third period. Yes, they have played better since the beginning of the year, but that's only because they were so brutal in December. The sad truth is that this a deeply flawed team. As Bill Parcels used to say, you are what your record says you are. And right now, the Rangers are barely above the .500 mark. Even if by some miracle they should make the postseason, the likelihood is that they would get swept by the Washington Capitals, which is ironic given that they swept the Caps last season.
Throughout the season, I have been hesitant to pin the blame for this calamity on Peter Laviolette. After all, this team had its best regular season in franchise history. You don't fire head coaches coming off that kind of success. And to be fair, it's not entirely his fault. The special teams have been anything but, the top scorers are underperforming and the goaltending has been inconsistent to say the least. Coaches can scream till they're blue in the face, but the last time I checked, they're not the ones wearing the jerseys. That would be the players, and after last night's performance, every one of them should be ashamed of themselves.
But fair or not, you can't fire all 22 players, even if at least half of them deserve it. You can, however, fire the head coach. It's obvious Laviolette has lost this team. When you can't even get up for a game with playoff implications, that is a direct reflection on the man standing behind the bench. Mike Keenan would never have put up with what we saw on the ice last night. Indeed, the Peter Laviolette of a few years ago would've blown a gasket. Something has to give. Even if Chris Drury has resigned himself to this team not making the playoffs, he cannot let this coaching staff return next season. Whether he does it now or waits until the summer, he must clean house.
But who does he hire as a replacement? After all, this will be Drury's third head coach in four years. Gerard Gallant took the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals in his first season, then underachieved in his second; Laviolette guided them to the Presidents' trophy in his first season before the bottom fell out in his second. Notice a pattern here? I'm starting to think Scotty Bowman would have a hard time coaching this group. If you're James Dolan, you gotta be taking a long, hard look at your front office. The man fired John Davidson AND Jeff Gorton on the same day because he grew impatient at the progress of the latter's rebuild. Don't think for a moment he wouldn't do the same thing to Drury.
That's why the next head coach of this team has to be someone that will hold the players accountable. If there is one legitimate criticism of Laviolette, it's that he's been way too loyal to his veterans. Last night was a case in point. After two very uninspiring periods by his top six, rather than start the third with the Carrick line, he went back to his top six. His explanation at the post-game presser was that he needed goals and those players were more likely to produce them. While technically correct, the message he's sending to his players, particularly the younger ones, is that some contributions are more valuable than others. It's this sense of entitlement that is mainly responsible for the way the Rangers have underachieved this season. When more than half your roster knows that no matter how badly they play, they will still get their ice time, it can't help but foster a sense of resentment within the locker room. Not to mention the fact that your worst offenders literally have no incentive to improve their level of play.
Say what you want about John Tortorella, there were no sacred cows in his locker room. You earned your ice time by how well you played. Period. Just ask Marion Gaborik. The star winger was benched by the former Rangers coach for the crime of failing to go down to block a shot. Can you imagine what Torts would do with and to these players? Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider would be in group therapy. I'll tell you one thing: the post-game pressers wouldn't be boring, that's for sure.
But in all seriousness, Drury has to hire a coach that will stop coddling this team. He has to find his Mike Keenan the same way Neil Smith did after he fired Roger Neilson. Some things are beyond your control as a head coach. Bad calls, hot goalies, but a lack of effort isn't. It is anathema to a well-run organization. Take a good look at the teams that are currently in the playoffs and they all have one thing in common: their best players are pulling their weight. It's not Laviolette's fault that Kreider is having his worst season as a Ranger; it is his fault that he keeps dressing him over someone else who might inject some life into the lineup.
The 2024-25 season is all but over. The time to start thinking about 2025-26 is now.
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