The Rangers, reeling a bit with a 1-4-1 record, return to action Sunday against the Senators. Ottawa comes in off of rallying for a 3-2 overtime win over the Islanders on Saturday. But the win might have been costly, as Kyle Turris might be lost long-term after getting tangled up (choose whichever rodeo term you like) with Casey Cizikas and having his leg bent backwards.

For New York, the issues that many others and I have been harping on for weeks shown no signs of remediation. Thursday, after playing what might have been the best game of the season against the Islanders the night before, they sleep walked through a 2-1 loss to the Avalanche. Indifferent play, silly mistakes, poor own zone coverage and an inability to create chances all were on full display against Colorado. They finally showed some signs of life late, but it was too little, too late to prevent the defeat.

If you look at the two goals surrendered, they provide a pretty good sense as to the issues. On the first, Tyson Barrie began the sequence with a clearing pass from the defensive zone that Jack Skille, stationed by the red line, tapped to Chris Wagner. The reason that Wagner was able to get into the offensive zone so freely was that Ryan McDonagh got caught pinching and was flat-footed in center ice. With Mats Zuccarello deep in the zone and unable to get all the way back in time, despite a heck of an effort, it led to the 2-on-1 and goal. The defense not in the right spot and a goal results, where have we heard that before?

The second goal might have been worse. Initially, as Carp wrote and Dave Maloney pointed out, we likely were railing on Kevin Hayes for turning over the puck at the offensive blue line. That’s accurate but the reason why he was put in that position is the key. Marc Staal did a lousy job of reading the play. As Carp wrote, “Maloney pointed out how the Avs were lined up across the blue, and how Marc Staal had to therefore fire it into the zone. Instead, Staal sent an ill-advised pass to Hayes, and it was also a bit behind Hayes, putting him in no-man’s land. The turnover was not on him. Could he have busted it back harder? Probably. Did that matter on that particular goal? No, it didn’t.” Make the simple play, don’t put the forward in a bad spot and you live to fight another day. Instead, bad read, bad play, bad goal to Matt Duchene and now it’s 2-0, which with the way the offense has been recently seemed like 5- or 6-0.

The goal by Oscar Lindberg was nicely, but it was window dressing with 50 seconds left. When things were going well, we spoke of how the Rangers’ high shooting percentage was a function of not just throwing pucks at the net but aiming for shots in high danger spots. Now, they seemed to have reverted to just hoping and praying pucks go in and putting the puck towards the net. This is a fine strategy as long as it’s coupled with creating high likelihood of success chances, as they did before.

Unfortunately, as we have seen, when the team has the puck in the offensive zone, more times than not, as pointed out in the blog comments, they either A) refuse to shoot, B) miss the net, C) try one of those cute wide shots hoping for a redirection or a big hop off the backboards. In years past, the cycle was a strength, now, even when that occurs, they end up with what was written in the prior sentence. That inability to either maintain the puck or create good chances is another reason why the team is so low in power play chances.

Defensively, we have been all over the first six, save for possibly Kevin Klein. McDonagh, Staal, Dan Girardi, Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle all have drawn our ire. Some more than others, but none of those five have been immune or not deserving of criticism. In the beginning of the year, excuses were made for McDonagh, Staal and Girardi due to their shortened off-season and inability to really train due to the injuries. That might have been a passable excuse two months ago, not now. However, as pointed out, not all the blame can sit on the blueliners.

It’s true the own zone coverage has been a mystery. But, the forwards are just as much to blame. If a D-man hands off responsibility for a player or an area, the forward has to assume that responsibility. As we have, that has far from been the case. Either the forward is not there at all or fails to mark the player properly, leading to wide open gaps in the zone, resulting in dangerous scoring chances and shots. In the blog comments, it was pointed that this is really where Stepan is missed, but it’s broader than that.

Chris Kreider is lost. Confidence breeds scoring and scoring breeds confidence, it’s the catch-22 of hickey and sports in general. Right now, Kreider is not scoring and has no confidence in his game. When Stepan was there, you could presume and assume that he would make up for any possible defensive defiiciences. Now, to fix CK20, my view is to restore his game to what he did when he first came up and how Torts utilized him. Have Kreids go up and down the wing and use his speed and size to create. He is thinking too much on the ice. This is one reason why I believe scratching him is not an option. Certain players will pick up tips from the press box. In Kreider’s case, the last thing we want is him thinking more on the ice and worrying about positioning. If Stepan wasn’t hurt, you could tell Kreider go up and down the ice cognizant that Stepan would be there positionally. With him out, to me, Lindberg may be the closest facsimile, since he is good in all three zones. I don’t believe Brassard is that type of player, so maybe this switch gets CK20 going, it’s worth a shot.

I will get more into the D in another blog, but I have made my view on how Yandle should be used repeatedly. That view of letting him use his talents and generate off the rush should be feasible with Dylan McIlrath in the lineup. I am not ready to pull the plug on the Yandle experiment, especially with the trade deadline three months away. Bring up Brady Skjei, who tallied a goal Friday night in Hartford's 4-3 SO win and now has a point in 4 of the last 5 and 6 of the last 9 (2-4-6). Let him soak up the experience of being with the team and possibly get him into a game to really get his feet wet.

For Saturday’s practice, Vigneault juggled his forward lines yet again, moving Lindberg between Kreider on the left and Rick Nash on the right. He also moved Kevin Hayes out of the middle to take Nash’s spot on the left side of the line with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello. I know several suggested Lindberg with Zucc, as they had chemistry the other night in their shift on the ice. If this switch doesn’t take, go Kreider-Lindberg-Zucc and Hayes-Brass-Nash. Hayes is not a top-two line center, as I have said repeatedly, he is better on the wing, which is why this move makes sense.

However, with Stepan out, the aforementioned move of Hayes to wing might not be one I made now, since it hutts the third line too much. Because, now, you have Jarret Stoll between Tanner Glass and Viktor Stalberg and J.T. Miller-Dominic Moore-Jesper Fast as the fourth line. That edge in the pivot on the third line is lost, as Stoll is not an offensive player. With Stepan out, I would have gone Miller on the second line and have Hayes on the third line. Emerson Etem is now back in chateau bow wow, unless he is still not 100% percent, though I think it’s the former. Don’t be surprised if Adam Tambellini or Brian Gibbons get a shot on the Western Canada trip. If the top-six stays as is, go Tambellini as the #3 center since he has offensive upside.

The first key is getting a win tonight to end the losing streak and go into the trip on a positive note.

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