A bunch of slumping star players proved to be contagious and ignited a team-wide collapse for the Rangers, who spent Christmas in the basement of the Metropolitan Division because of it.
The burden of this 4-12 plummet in the standings falls on the shoulders of many, inside and outside the locker room, but the embarrassment of one of the most dramatic 180’s from one season to the next is shared only by the players who are responsible for both.
As much as they felt the high of last season, the low of this season has been the type you can’t help but simmer in.
“It could be too many things [to explain],” Artemi Panarin said when asked what’s happened to the Rangers offense. “But we have extra weight on us. Everyone’s trying too hard, maybe. I don’t know. We’re just not relaxed enough or something, because I can promise, everyone on the team wants to win.
“Everyone works hard, but sometimes, if you don’t have confidence, you’re not in right place mentally. You just feel like everything is harder than it is. That’s what it looks like.”
This is the worst it’s felt inside the Rangers locker room since Panarin signed in July 2019 and expedited the organization’s rebuild.
“I think so,” said Panarin, who has taken a step back from his usual dynamic self in recent games. “But, no one is giving up.”
Last season, just before the holiday break, Chris Kreider was jumping into Mika Zibanejad’s arms after burying a behind-the-net feed from the Swedish center to secure a 4-3 win in overtime against the Sabres and give the Rangers a 12-8-1 record.
This season, Kreider watched from the press box as a healthy scratch as his team lost 5-0 to the Devils to fall to 16-17-1.
Head coach Peter Laviolette has evidently reached the point of sitting well-established veterans, and Kreider will certainly not be the last if the team continues to have its effort and heart questioned.
One goal in his past nine games and just one assist on the season are just a couple of reasons for Kreider’s designation to the press box.
The next could easily be Zibanejad, who posted zero shots on goal in a game for the fifth time this season Monday afternoon in Newark.
Zibanejad has registered just one point in his past eight games.
His most recent five-on-five goal was Nov. 19, and he is currently a team-worst minus-19 on the season.
Laviolette has not only started using him as a third-line center, but the second-year Rangers coach finally took Zibanejad off the first power-play unit on Monday.
Vincent Trocheck has started to emerge as a leader in the room in the absence of captain Jacob Trouba, but his on-ice play is nowhere near as ferocious as it was last season.
Filip Chytil has simply not had the same jump since returning from his injury scare in November, while Reilly Smith needed his own healthy scratch to find another gear in his game.
Then there’s Alexis Lafreniere, who completely faded to the background almost immediately after signing his seven-year, $52.15 million extension on Oct 25.
Players like Will Cuylle, Jimmy Vesey, Adam Edstrom and Sam Carrick have all regressed in the past few games as the team around them continues to sink.
The defense has been all over the place almost all season.
There are questions surrounding what exactly they are trying to accomplish in the defensive zone.
With K’Andre Miller on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, Adam Fox has buckled under a heavy workload.
His longtime D partner, Ryan Lindgren, has also weighed him down significantly in what has been a tough year for the Rangers’ 2022-23 Extra Effort Award winner.
Zac Jones has repeatedly looked overmatched, while Braden Schneider has done what he could while frequently switching partners and sides on defense.
It did not take a series of individual career years, however, to do what the Rangers did in their Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign last season.
Far from it, in fact.
Just like the Rangers’ new motto says: It Takes Everyone.
It does, but it also takes everyone playing as a team.
“We’re not where we want to be mentally, we’re not where we want to be record-wise, we’re not where we want to be anywhere,” Laviolette said. “It’s not what we’re here for. We’re here to win hockey games, and we’re not doing that right now.”
Source link
