With Flyers coach John Stevens getting let go in Philadelphia earlier in the week as the team sputtered to a 13-11-1 start, you had to wonder if his Rangers counterpart John Tortorella might have looked over his shoulder for just a second.
When you consider Flyers brass certainly feel they have one of the Eastern Conference’s better clubs but watched in frustration as they struggled out of the gate at around .500, the situation seemed eerily similar on Broadway.
While no one is calling for Tortorella’s head just yet, the patience level of GM Glen Sather has to dipping to dangerous levels as the Rangers have looked generally uninspired after a 7-1 start.
New York Rangers' Ales Kotalik, right, of the Czech Republic, climbs over the boards in front of coach John Tortorella during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Two spirited efforts over the weekend in games at Buffalo (2-1 win) and at home against Detroit (3-1 loss) represent the first time since the beginning of the year the team put in consecutive solid, 60-minute efforts. While the two games hardly constitute a turnaround, Tortorella appeared far less disgruntled Sunday night than he has the last few weeks.
“We worked hard this weekend,” he said in the aftermath of the tough 3-1 loss to Detroit. “But you’ve got to find a way to win this one. Too thin a margin for error. You got to fight through it and find a way to score that second goal at 1-1. They did, we didn’t.”
At 14-14-1 the Rangers are currently on the outside looking in with regard to the playoffs, though the season is just over a third of the way through. Lots of hockey still to be played and their 29 points have them just five points out of the fifth spot in the conference.
After giving 18 goals in the previous three games the Rangers tightened up defensively and in front of the net against both Buffalo and Detroit and played much more physically than they have all year.
Hartford call-up Ilkka Heikkinen looked okay in the limited ice time he received as the 25-year-old Finnish defenseman looks like yet another solid puck handler. However, with Wade Redden expected back by the weekend Heikkinen’s cup of coffee is probably empty, though there are some in Rangerland that might prefer the club refill it.
And speaking of young blue liners who happen to be solid puck handlers, Michael Del Zotto is simply turning into one of the best passing defensemen in the league. He has sprung several forwards for breakaways lately with crisp, tape-to-tape passes from his own end with the laser to Chris Higgins against Detroit a thing of beauty. Though his plus/minus has dipped to a troubling -9, the 19-year-old continues to look like the real deal game in and game out.
Dan Girardi has stepped up his game of late and Marc Staal seems to be coming out of what was an early season funk for him, so Tortorella has be relived that his blue liners appear to be getting it together.
Despite the improved play you still get the feeling a deal for a physical, veteran defenseman is in the offing.
Up front, Sean Avery is getting back to doing what he does best, which is barreling around the rink looking for bodies to hit and Chris Higgins has apparently awoken for his season-long coma and has been skating with a renewed confidence.
Chris Drury also appears to be rounding into game shape after his concussion issues. Getting Drury back to the level of play the team expects from him will be a huge key for the Rangers the rest of the way. Brandon Dubinsky’s return (closer to Christmas) won’t hurt either.
While Marion Gaborik and Vinny Prospal struggled a bit this weekend, Tortorella didn’t seem to help their situation by continually inserting different players alongside the pair. Against Detroit alone the coach tried Artem Anisimov, Higgins and Avery on his top line over the course of the first two periods. He finally settled on Higgins in the third period and should perhaps consider that solution as an end to the experimenting. Higgins may be over his Broadway jitters and seems like a good fit with the Rangers’ dynamic duo.
Perhaps even more encouraging than the teams’ improved overall play is the reemergence of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, a player Tortorella referred to as, “the backbone of this hockey team.” Lundqvist looked sharp in both games, despite giving up a tough one late to the Wings that cost the Rangers that game.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier in the next week as the team now heads to Chicago Wednesday to face the impressive Blackhawks before coming back home on Saturday for a rematch with the Sabres, and then it’s Atlanta at the Garden on Monday.
“No easy games in this league anymore,” Tortorella noted of the schedule ahead. ‘You just have to go right back at it. I know the work ethic will be there.”
It’ll need to be as in an Eastern Conference this tightly bunched the margin for error, as Tortorella pointed out, is razor thin.
ICE CHIPS
After getting shutout over the weekend, Gaborik has points in 22 of his 26 games this season but has only scored one goal in his last five.
The freefall for Ales Kotalik continues as the forward is now seeing fourth line duty and often looks completely confused in his own end. His ice time is down considerably and Tortorella seems at a loss describing his play lately. How do you spell “trade bait?”
While Anisimov continues to show flashes of potential offensively, if someone in the organization doesn’t tell this kid to skate with his head up it is going to be separated from the rest of his body. The hit he absorbed from Red Wing defenseman Brad Stuart on Sunday was a classic example. Too many more of those and the young Russian will be putting his jersey on backwards.
