New York Rangers continue to lose
Fans are left wondering when the team will start winning
Photo courtesy of Jenn G/Flickr
Despite center Mika Zibanejad showing renewed focus and energy on the ice, the New York Rangers continue to struggle, extending their losing streak and leaving fans questioning when the team will turn things around
The New York Rangers (NYR) have had an awful start to the season. While the team looks better on paper than it did last season, the NYR are falling short. Many of the players are not performing to the best of their abilities, and it is showing.
While the team is not playing awfully, they are still being outplayed in every game. Since losing to the Minnesota Wild, the Rangers have been on a three-game losing streak. Frustration intensified when the Rangers lost to the San Jose Sharks, a team that had not won a game during the regular season before. The Calgary Flames, previously on an eight-game losing streak, also outplayed the NYR on Oct. 26. After embarrassing losses to two of the worst NHL teams, fans are left wondering if there is any hope.
Mike Sullivan, NYR head coach, has not proven to be the solution that the team needs. While he has an impressive coaching record, none of that has shown this season. Sullivan spoke on the Rangers performance during the Calgary matchup by saying, “We’re not at our best right now, and we’ve got to find a way to dig our way out of it…I thought tonight, the types of mistakes we made, they’re egregious, they’re really hard to recover from, and we gave them some pretty good looks as a result.”
There are some players who have been consistent this season, however. Left wing Artemi Panarin has proven beneficial for the team once again, taking smart shots and constantly putting in the effort. Although Panarin is not being assisted by his team. He is unable to perform at his best when his team does not pull their weight.
Center Noah Laba has also proven to be an asset for the team. He has the heart and the drive that the team has been missing, especially since fan favorite Chris Kreider was traded. Center Mika Zibanejad has been more present on the ice this season, seeming much more focused and driven on and off the ice–fans hope this will continue.
The New York Rangers defense has been a mess this season. They are failing to make good defensive plays and continue to let goaltender Igor Shesterkin do all of the work. While Shesterkin is a top goalie in the league, without the defense doing their job, he is unable to perform to his best ability.
The team has expressed a great deal of frustration in their performance during postgame conferences and their demeanor off the ice, but fans are not pleased. Captain J.T. Miller said, “There’s no excuses to come out flat…It just sucks. This is not fun right now and we need to correct the starts. It’s becoming a trend, so we need to fix this now. It’s a hard road trip, so we’ve got to be ready to go to start the game.”
Miller seems to be insistent that the team needs to “fix this now,” but on a losing streak such as this many fans are left wondering when they will fix it. The team is starting to look even worse—which many thought impossible—than they have in previous seasons. Leading up to the regular season, the Rangers looked competitive on paper—now, fans are worried.