It was brewing for quite a while. Some smoke, requisite ground rumblings and a few noxious gases emitted…and then bang, a full-fledged eruption.
It took perhaps the most listless performance of what is turning into a forgettable season—but last Wednesdays’ 60-minute zombie skate against the Islanders was the tipping point. Rangers coach John Tortorella had seen enough.
The terse expression on his face (OK, he always looks like that) was the first signal, and the exasperated sound of his voice was the last.
“The thing that’s unacceptable about tonight’s game [Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Islanders], and we’re trying to stay positive around here, trying to work our way through it, but when we play like that for 20 minutes in a game like this in a back-to-back situation, it’s unacceptable,” Tortorella said. “There has to be something done, and we’ll see along the way before [Thursday] night’s game. We’ll see where we go with them.”
New York Rangers' Marian Gaborik (10) celebrates his goal with teammates Vaclav Prospal (20) and Marc Staal (18) with Brandon Dubinsky (17) nearby during the second period of an NHL hockey against the Carolina Hurricanes game in Raleigh, N.C., Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. Rangers won 3-1.(AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)
Tortorella then angrily smacked a nearby chair and a Bobby Knight moment seemed eminent. “It’s just simply unacceptable how we started that game. I wish I could give you an explanation about it. I can’t,” he added.
The chair was spared and the combustible head coach turned and stormed out of the Garden’s interview room.
That the Rangers had decided to reenact scenes from the cult classic Night of the Living Dead against the Isles last Wednesday night was bizarre enough. The Tortorella post-game tirade only added to the sense of the macabre at the Garden.
While it wouldn’t exactly be accurate to say the team responded the following night on Long Island in a 5-2 win, they have certainly responded since, winning their last three and looking far more engaged in the process.
Perhaps no player has responded more strongly than goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who seemed to find his game last week against the Islanders and seems intent on hanging on to it for a while.
“Yeah, my confidence is back and so is the team’s right now,” Lundqvist admitted after the game last night against the Hurricanes, a 3-1 win in Carolina. “But we have to sustain it for a long period, not just a few games.”
The benching of veterans Wade Redden and Ales Kotalik didn’t seem to illicit much of a response against the Islanders last week as the Blueshirts looked shaky once again despite the win, but they have put together back-to-back solid road efforts against the Flyers (2-1 win Saturday) and last nights’ game against the Canes.
Redden and Kotalik were back in the lineup last night, as was the recently demoted Matt Gilroy. While Gilroy seemed to step right in as though he had never left, Redden had a few foggy moments and Kotalik was on the ice for the only goal by Carolina (now at a team worst -16).
On the positive side defensively, there has been a Michal Rozsival sighting as the beleaguered defenseman has emerged form a season-long funk to perform admirably in the last two victories. How about a 25-minute effort against Philly Saturday. The boo birds at the Garden must have been pulling their hair out as Rozsival has been under heavy fire at home of late.
Up front, Brandon Dubinsky is starting to look real comfortable between Marion Gaborik and Vinny Prospal. The trio popped both goals against the Canes and Dubinsky is developing a potentially explosive chemistry with Gaborik as their respective skill sets are a perfect match.
Artem Anisimov is also beginning to shine and the recent move to a line with the red hot Ryan Callahan and resurgent Chris Higgins has the young Russian skating with confidence.
The NHL schedule Gods have also been kind to the Rangers as they are in a stretch of games against Eastern Conference lesser lights. That run continues as the Panthers come calling on Wednesday followed by the struggling Islanders at home the 26th, the completely confused Flyers on the 30th then it’s a home-and-home with the dreadful Canes, New Years’ Eve and again on Jan. 2, 2010. It’s a potentially appetizing holiday menu for sure with lots of potential points on the table.
Any head coach will tell you it’s never a bad idea to time a tirade when the schedule offers up a few soft touches. Let’s see if the Rangers can string something together over the next two weeks. Their head coach is in no mood for a another performance of Dead Men Skating—that’s for sure.
ICE CHIPS
Super rookie Michael Del Zotto has hit a bit of rough patch. His -12 rating is the worst among defensemen on the team and his ice time has slipped the last week as a result—down to just over 15 minutes against Carolina. To his credit he hasn’t stopped skating carrying the mail most nights.
The recent Matt Gilroy demotion was certainly a surprise but you got the feeling from the comments made by Tortorella there was more to it than the fact Gilroy’s play may have dropped off just a bit. From the coach’s comments you got the feeling he and Gilroy may have had a not-so-rosy exchange at some point because Torts suggested the kid didn’t understand what they were trying to teach him.
“He has to learn about the game and I don’t give a damn if he’s a Hobey Baker winner or not. He wasn’t getting the message,” Tortorella had explained.
For a player that has exhibited the skating ability Gilroy has and who has played some fairly solid hockey to this point, any problems he may have experienced recently seemed like they would fall under the category “First Year Growing Pains.” Can’t imagine, with veterans like Redden and Rozsival struggling like they have, that Gilroy would have been sent down unless he and Tortorella had a nasty verbal exchange. The four games in Hartford seemed more like a spanking than anything else.
