True poetic justice would have seen rookie Chris Kreider score the lone goal in the New York Rangers 1-0 win in Game 3 as the replacement for the suspended Carl Hagelin. Well, the fickle finger of fate had the right school (Boston College) but the wrong eagle (Brian Boyle).

While Boyle provided the game’s only offense, it was The King who shined brightest among the Blueshirts. Henrik Lundqvist made 39 saves in posting his fourth career shutout, but none were bigger than the ones he made in the final minute. After stopping a sharp angle shot from the left wing corner, Lundqvist stoned Kyle Turris in front to preserve the victory.

There was some disappointment at not preserving the Game 1 shutout, but when you have a four goal lead in the third period it is always good to hold on to those shutouts when you really need them – like last night.

Fans have come to expect that type of dominating performance from Lundqvist. However, the same can’t be said about the roll Boyle is on. After struggling for most of the season to find his offensive game, Boyle is as hot as any player can be – scoring eight goals in his last 12 games, including one each playoff game.

Lundqvist is not surprised by Boyle’s run of offensive prowess.

“He’s doing all the things he’s been doing all year, but now he’s scoring some big goals or us,” Lundqvist explained to Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun. “And I’m not surprised. He’s a really skilled player. He’s been really hot in practise the last few weeks. We need guys to step up right now, and he’s doing that.”

Boyler was quick to pay back Lundqvist’s praise.

“Once again, as has been the story all year, No. 30 back there, the guy was unbelievable,” Boyle said to Dave Lozo of nhl.com. “He was the biggest difference, I think.”

Boyle is relishing his role as Ottawa‘s Public Enemy Number 2 (obviously, Hagelin takes the top spot).

“If I’m the villain to them that’s good,” Boyle admitted to The Canadian Press. “If I knew (I would score this often) I probably would have tried to do it a lot earlier. It’s been fortunate bounces.”

Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti were spot on when they said that no player has stepped up their play like Boyle. In a way, that is placing the Rangers in a Catch-22 situation. On a team with the likes of Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, and Ryan Callahan, your best skater can’t be Brian Boyle. It is a recipe for a playoff upset.

Yes, the Rangers do need secondary scoring – a problem they encountered throughout the season. However, they need to see production from their primary scorers as well. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if a couple of secondary scorers (like Brandon Dubinsky) followed Boyle’s lead.

One of those potential secondary scorers could be Kreider. Fresh off winning his second NCAA championship in the three years, the young forward did not look out of place as he is the first rookie to make his NHL debut in the playoffs since Lauri Korpikoski did so in 2008. Of course, Korpikoski had the advantage of playing 162 AHL games before making his NHL debut.

Kreider saw just over 11 minutes of ice time before giving way to Derek Stepan midway through the third period. Coach John Tortorella wanted to let the youngster watch up close how the Blueshirts defended their lead.

You had to wonder if it was going to be another one of those nights where the bounces were not going to go the Rangers way, especially after watching the puck pinball in the crease with 11 minutes left in the second period. Senators’ goaltender Craig Anderson and captain Jason Spezza combined to keep the puck out of the net.

Did anyone else wonder if that had been a Ranger skater scrambling to keep the puck out of the net that a penalty shot would have been called?

Perhaps Brendan Shanahan’s screwball logic when it comes to suspensions has me paranoid to the point of questioning every call and non-call. However, just because I am not paranoid does not necessarily mean people aren’t out to get the Rangers .

There is one glaring example that caught my attention. At least three times during the game, I heard a referee warn the Rangers to “watch the crease” and “stay out of the blue”. I never heard a referee offer the same warning to Ottawa – even after Zenon Konopka jabbed at Lundqvist. It was bad enough to warrant a response from Lundqvist who went after Konopka and then complained to the referee.

I know that Tortorella is persona non grata when it comes to the NHL and their “precious” officials, so it might be time for President/GM Glen Sather to come out of hiding and get in front of this “crease crashing” from the Senators because you can expect even more of it as the series progresses.

“We ran into a hot goaltender (Monday),” Anderson told The Canadian Press. “We just have to find a way to get more traffic and put a couple by him.”

In addition to dealing with the onslaught of bodies in front of Lundqvist, the Rangers will need to stop being so tentative with the puck in their own end. With about eight minutes or so left in the third period, the Rangers ran into a stretch of play where they just could not bang the puck out of the zone and were getting badly outworked along the boards.

Speaking of the boards, the Rangers definitely want to be mindful of the lively boards and glass at Scotiabank Place. More Blueshirts need to follow Daniel Girardi’s lead (as he did on the lone goal) and fire pucks towards the net with the intent of utilizing indirect passes off the boards and playing the caroms and bounces into scoring chances.

Another key to Game 4 is making sure they are able to contain Erik Karlsson. The Senator blueliner had 10 shots and a goal in their Game 2 win while combining for eight shots in their two losses.

The Rangers have been up two games to one in a seven-game series 18 times in their history, posting a 13-5 series record.

By the way, thanks to my wife Roe for coming up with the “Boyler Maker” headline. Just goes to show, behind every good man is a better woman!

The New York Rangers sixth consecutive overtime playoff loss did not stem from any change in momentum as a result of Ottawa’s two third period goals in Game 1. It also did not stem from Matt Carkner’s Hanson Brotheresque imitation on Brian Boyle. Rather, the loss came because the Rangers did not manage to maintain puck possession and a couple of bounces went against them in the 3-2 loss last night.

“There’s always a natural tendency where you end up defending. I thought we could have made some plays to try and keep some puck possession, but that’s what happens when you get into a little bit of that,” Rangers Coach John Tortorella said following the game. “I don’t think we’re that bad, it’s kind of a fluky goal that goes right through Marc (Staal), right through his legs and they bang it in. We were four minutes away from winning the hockey game and I still don’t think we played that poorly tonight, but I do think we need to continue to attack.”

Even the other two Senators goals came off bounces that went against the Rangers. Erik Karlsson’s bank shot that tied the game at 1-1 deflected off Michael Del Zotto and into the net. Ottawa’s winning goal also came off a fortuitous bounce after a shot from the point hit Ryan McDonagh and bounced right to Chris Neil.

A quick memo to the Blueshirts blueliners (especially Del Zotto) – nothing good ever happens when a defender is standing or skating through his own crease.

Bad bounces and possible momentum swings were not the story of this game. Instead, it is the way that the hatred between the two teams has been elevated exponentially.

At the start of the 3rd period, Joe Micheletti made a comment about how “tough” the game was. Honestly, Joe was downplaying the tone of the game. It was a chippy game that often turned downright dirty – a game just short of hand-to-hand combat.

And depending on how Brendan Shanahan handles the review of Game 2, Monday night’s game could turn into a WWE Battle Royale. It means nothing if Shanahan suspends Matt Carkner because he accomplished what he set out in Game 2. Quite frankly, if Shanny wanted to mete out punishment he would force Ottawa to dress Carkner and give him 20 minutes of ice time on defense.

Boyle addressed how he expects the intensity to pick up as the series continues.

“It’s going to get elevated every night,” Boyle told the Associated Press. “We have to keep trying to raise our game, raise our level of intensity throughout. I am sure they are going to do the same.”

As an aside, you had to love the way radio color analyst Dave Maloney characterized the Senators’ opening salvo in Game 2. The former Ranger captain likened Carkner’s hit and subsequent mugging to old-time Philadelphia Flyers hockey. Maloney went even further by saying that Carkner had no business being dressed for a playoff game.

Carkner’s thuggery is not the only action that Shanahan has to review. You know that he will be taking a long hard look at Carl Hagelin’s hit on Daniel Alfredsson – especially in light of the Ottawa captain missing the rest of the game.

We have seen that Shanahan is more concerned with the injury status of the recipient as opposed to what the offender has done. The Ottawa press is anticipating a one or two game suspension while the New York media expects Shanahan deals out one of his $2,500 fines to Hagelin.

My only question with the Hagelin-Alfredsson hit is why didn’t Ottawa draw a minor (or even a third-man in penalty ala Brandon Dubinsky) when two Senators went after Hagelin right after the hit?

Both Carkner and Hagelin have hearings scheduled for this afternoon. Tortorella didn’t think Hagelin deserved a suspension, but Torts said if Hagelin gets one then Chris Phillips deserves one for his high hit on Ryan Callahan.

The problem with handing out suspensions and seemingly basing them on injuries is that sometimes the only thing separating a player from getting a little banged up and suffering a serious injury is plain dumb luck or happenstance.

For example, Brooks Orpik drew no fine or suspension for his hit on Derek Stepan and the Rangers forward was lucky to have not suffered an injury.

Looking back at last night, the extent of Alfredsson’s injury was made worse because he suffered a concussion earlier in the season – thanks to former Ranger Wojtek Wolski.

The difference between the Stepan non-injury and Alfredsson’s injury was luck and happenstance. If a player deserves a suspension then he should get one whether the opponent is hurt of nor. You can base the length of the suspension on the result.

If Hagelin, or even Dubinsky for that matter, face disciplinary action then it could mean an early start to the Chris Kreider Era because the options are limited.

Unless Coach Tortorella wanted fight fire with fire, John Scott is not going to see any action in this series. Andre Deveaux could get the call if Torts wanted to add more muscle, but that would be a long shot.

The Blueshirts could dress a seventh defenseman and even move Stu Bickel up to play forward. But I doubt Steve Eminger is ready to play and I am not sure if it would be fair to expect Jeff Woywitka to give you any major minutes.

The pickings with the Connecticut Whale are slim. The three best options are Kris Newbury, Andreas Thuresson and Casey Wellman. All three are veterans of the Calder Cup Playoffs, but none of them have appeared in an NHL playoff game.

One other possibility would be to recall rookie center Jonathan Audy-Marchessault who turned an invitation to play in the Traverse City Tournament into a fine rookie season with the Whale as he scored 24 goals and 40 assists in 75 games. However, at 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, the rookie would be an inviting target.

Odds are it would be best to give Kreider his first professional action. With Game 3 being played in Ottawa, the spotlight would be lessened as would some of the pressure. Tortorella could start him on the fourth line with Michael Rupp and John Mitchell with Brandon Prust moving up with Ruslan Fedotenko and Boyle. Dubinsky could be moved to the first line and given a chance to return to the lineup with a vengeance.

As a whole, the Rangers just need to remember the style of play that got them to the top of the Eastern Conference. They need to return to their tenacity of their Game 1 forecheck while making sure they play smartly in their own end.

During an interview on ESPN radio earlier on Saturday, Maloney warned to Rangers to not get caught running around in their zone when the Senators are working their own forecheck. Maloney advised the Rangers to hunker down and maintain their positions rather than risk being caught out of position.

The New York Rangers found a solution to the “dreaded three-goal lead” curse – score another goal and stretch the lead to four goals. As a result, there was no repeat of Ottawa’s 4-3 come-from-behind shootout win. Instead, the Blueshirts finished off the Senators to take Game 1 of the First Round series.

Time for a “true confession” – how many flashbacked to that October 29 game when Brian Boyle extended the lead to 3-0? I have to admit that was the first thought that crossed my mind – especially considering my wife and I were at that game. My fears were eased once the Rangers managed to get through the rest of the second period with the 3-0 lead in tact.

I know some fans have expressed a concern that Ottawa’s two third period goals serve as a jumping point for a shift of momentum their way for Game 2. I do not see it that way.

It is far too early in the playoffs, and in this series, for two (more or less) meaningless goals to swing the momentum from game-to-game. Much like baseball has the cliché that momentum is only as good as your next game’ starting pitcher, hockey has a couple of corollaries to counteract the momentum theory.

In hockey, momentum is only has good as the play of your goaltender is at the top of that list.

In hockey, momentum swings are more common in-game than between games. Momentum can easily be derailed by a bad bounce, a chance deflection, or if you are the Pittsburgh Penguins, a missed call by an on-ice official.

Ottawa may very well win Game 2, but it will not be because of anything they did last night. It will stem from adjustments they make in between games. It will be interesting to see if one of Paul MacLean’s third period adjustments carries over to Saturday night.

Looking to change the momentum heading into the third period, MacLean rolled the dice and put his top three forwards on the same line (Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza). It did pay some dividends as that trio got the Senators on the scoreboard.

If MacLean keeps that threesome together, the Rangers game plan for Game 2 will be two-fold. Not only will they have to work hard to keep the top line from scoring, it will be even more imperative they make sure they shut down Ottawa’s secondary scoring.

Coach John Tortorella has to be happy with his team’s effort for most of the night. While Ottawa did carry the play and dictate the tempo at the start of the second period, the biggest concern should be the way the Blueshirts eased their foot off the gas pedal in the third period.

Much has been made of Tortorella’s timeout call in the second period as the Rangers were being pinned in the own end. Some likened it to the timeout called by Mike Keenan in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against New Jersey in 1994. While both timeouts did serve to shift the momentum of the game, they are not the same.

What gets lost in Tort’s use of his timeout is that he called after an icing call to rest his weary skaters. It would have been interesting to see if he would have used his timeout if the team didn’t ice the puck? During the regular season, Tortorella was more likely to use his timeout following an icing call rather than as a means of shifting or even stemming momentum.

Whatever the reason, the timeout worked like a charm because the Rangers got back to playing Ranger hockey.

“That is the way we have to play to win,” Ryan Callahan explained to the Associated Press. “We felt like we’ve been playing playoff hockey right through the season.

The Rangers pretty much followed their regular season blueprint for success to a “T” last night. They got Vezina Trophy style goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist when they needed it. Their big three (Callahan, Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards) are chipped in with goals and they got some timely secondary scoring from Brian Boyle (who continues to be en fuego). As usual, the penalty killing was superb and even the power play showed some life. While they didn’t score with the man advantage, it was the power play’s momentum that led to Boyle’s eventual game-winning goal.

Despite all the things that went right last night, there were enough things that went wrong that will allow the coaching staff to keep the team focused and prevent over-confidence from seeping in.

On both Ottawa goals, the Rangers were guilty of undisciplined hockey. On the first goal, the Blueshirts inability to get the puck deep forced a turnover at the Senators blue line and paved the way for Alfredsson’s goal. On the second goal, Marc Staal pinched in the neutral zone and got caught – thus leading to Erik Condra’s goal.

Those two miscues and the Rangers tendency to late their opponent’s dictate the tempo at times should serve as practice fodder for today.

Much of the Rangers problem with other teams dictating tempo, and their struggles in the second period last night, stem from the way their forwards drop down low to try and clog the shooting lanes. As a result, teams are able to sustain their forecheck and offensive pressure by easily utilizing their defensemen at the point. With the likes of offensive d-men like Erik Karlsson, Sergei Gonchar and Matt Gilroy; and wily veterans like Filip Kuba and Chris Phillips, the Rangers must be very wary of Ottawa’s point play.

However, all-in-all, it was a good night to be a Ranger fan. The Blueshirts series opening win helped allay some of the concerns over Ottawa’s success at Madison Square Garden and it provided the first glimpse that Craig Anderson is beatable after all. Prior to last night, the Ottawa netminder was 6-0 with a 1.13 goals against average against the Rangers.

As Ranger fans breathe a sigh of relief over winning Game 1 and not having to play on Friday the 13th, it also a time for Blueshirt fans to reflect back and celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in – wait for it – 1940. Talk about a championship having to last a lifetime.

April is the time when 16 fan bases start pouring over trends and stats in an attempt to plot out their road to a Stanley Cup victory – including growing the omnipresent playoff beard. The remaining 14 fan bases look ahead to the NHL Draft and wait for their fellow fans teams fall out of the playoffs.

For the New York Rangers and their fans it is time for them to file away the 2011-2012 regular season – from the opening games in Europe, the road trip from hell to the start the season, through the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference championships and beyond the losses to Pittsburgh and Washington to close out the 82-game playoff warmup.

The only thing that matters from the regular season is that the Rangers earned the right to home ice advantage through the Eastern Conference playoffs and beyond should the Vancouver Canucks miss the Stanley Cup Finals.

Some people tend to play down home ice advantage, but I am not one of them. If I have to play a seventh and deciding game then I want it played at Madison Square Garden. Looking ahead at the Rangers road to the Stanley Cup Finals, they are going to need that advantage at some point in the playoffs.

The same people who say home ice advantage is overrated are probably the same people who were looking ahead to a first round playoff matchup with the Capitals, Panthers or Sabres. Imagine their surprise when the Ottawa Senators ended up as the eighth seed.

Given all of the possible matchups, the hockey gods did the Rangers no favors by making the Senators the first step on the road to the Stanley Cup. Set aside the fact that the Senators won three of the four games (one in a shootout where the Rangers blew a three goal third period lead) this season. The strange truth is Ottawa might be the one team in the NHL that would relish playing a seventh game at the Garden.

Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun posted some very interesting numbers in games between the Rangers and Senators. Since joining the NHL, Ottawa is 23-13-0-1 at MSG and that includes an 11-2 record since the Lockout and 14 out of the last 17.

Conversely, the Senators are just 15-18-3 at home against the Rangers during the same time period.

Brennan also points out that Ottawa was a better road team (21-14-6) than a home team this year (20-17-4). In terms of the 16 playoff teams, Ottawa is the worst home team while placing 6 in road points.

As if history wasn’t enough to cause the Rangers some concern, a couple of omens loom against the Rangers. While Sports Illustrated picked the Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup, their April 16, 2012 cover features Henrik Lundqvist with the caption “Who Will Stop the Penguins? (This Guy Might)”.

Lundqvist, who is on the cover of the East Coast version of the magazine (Masters’ champion Bubba Watson is on the cover of the West Coast version, is the first Ranger to grace a Sports Illustrated cover in almost 13 years. Wayne Gretzky graced the cover of the April 26, 1999 edition in honor of his retirement.

As if battling the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx wasn’t bad enough, but Larry Brooks of the NY Post picks the Rangers to be celebrating with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes in June.

The Rangers main goal against Ottawa is to find a way to neutralize their top offensive weapons. Linemates Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek struck for four goals and an assists in the season series and Erik Karlsson, the leading candidate for the Norris Trophy, added five assists. The 6-foot and 180 Karlsson finished 11th in scoring this season with 19 goals and 59 assists – leading all defensemen in goals, assists and points.

In order to neutralize Ottawa’s Big Three, the Rangers must find a way to neutralize the Senators speed and finesse game. The best way to accomplish this task is to ratchet up their forechecking and taking every chance they have to put a body on Karlsson – especially in his defensive zone.
You can pull out all of the usual clichés, but the bottom line is that the Black-and-Blueshirts are going to have play lunch pail hockey in this series.

On the offensive end, the Blueshirts leaned on a Big Three of their own in the series against Ottawa. Brad Richards paced the way with two goals and two assists, Marian Gaborik scored three goals and Ryan Callahan chipped in a pair of goals as well. Derek Stepan matched Gaborik’s three points with a goal and two assists.

However, the Rangers have been at their best when they are getting secondary scoring. Brian Boyle elevated his play down the stretch of the regular season and the team will need veterans Brandon Dubinsky and Ruslan Fedotenko to do the same, while rookie Carl Hagelin channels his collegiate playoff experience while at the University of Michigan.

Coach John Tortorella underscored the Rangers need for secondary scoring while speaking to Andrew Gross of The Record following Tuesdays practice.

“That’s our team, we are a sum of your parts team. I think one of the biggest aspects of our success is playing as a team,” Torts told Gross for his Ranger Rants blog.

Defensively, the Rangers will rely heavily on their top blue line pair of Ryan McDonagh and Daniel Girardi. However, they are going to need Marc Staal to return to his All-Star form in order for the Rangers to have two solid defensive pairs to slow down the Senators.

As so often is the case, special teams will play a huge part in this series – especially with the Rangers needing to increase their physical play. If form holds true, the Rangers penalty killing units will more than hold their own. Their power play unit, well, that is a different story.

Much was made last season about the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup with an anemic power play that stumbled along at 11.4% – good for 14th among all of the playoff teams. By the way, the Rangers ranked 15th last year.

However, the Bruins power play woes were an aberration when it comes to winning the Stanley Cup in the post-Lockout years. Power play percentages are really a meaningless statistic. The more important number is your ranking within the league. For example, when Anaheim won the Stanley Cup in 2007, their power play percentage was 15.2. However, they were ranked 7th in the league. Since the lockout, and before the Bruins, the lowest ranked power play to win the Cup was Detroit in 2008 when they ranked 9th (18.9%).

While the Rangers 23rd ranked power play wheezed along at 15.7% during the regular season, the Blueshirts managed to end the year on a hot streak scoring eight PPGs in 27 chances (29.6%) during their last six games.

The Rangers power play is at its best when both players and puck are in motion. The problems arise when the power play gets stagnant and players are standing still. It is at that point that the Rangers spend more time facing the boards trying to recover the puck than they are facing the net and looking for shots.

In the end, the Rangers are going to go as far as the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist takes them. The one thing in his favor, and in favor of the Rangers, is that the team’s blue collar work ethic is ready-made for the battle that is the Stanley Cup playoffs. They are not an offensive team that has to make adjustments to tight-checking playoff hockey.

The Ottawa Senators are not going to be an easy out. Unlike the NBA, upsets are the norm in the NHL come playoff time thanks to the effect a hot goaltender can have. While Craig Anderson has the ability to steal a series, I see the Rangers prevailing in a hard fought seven game series as home ice advantage proves to be the difference in a seventh and deciding game.

After perusing the Internet to measure the pulse of Ranger fans following the Rangers losses to the Devils and Senators, I find myself in the same position that Kevin Bacon’s character did at the end of Animal House when the town of Faber is in riot-mode following the zany antics of those Delta Tau Chi rapscallions.

The funny thing is that anyone who knows me knows that I am probably the last person you would expect to be extolling a stance of “Remain calm, all is well!”

Even with the Blueshirts in the midst of a two-game losing streak (and three of their last four) there is still time to take a step back, pause, and realize it is not time to go into panic mode – even the losing streak continues with a loss in Chicago to the Blackhawks.

On the plus side, the Rangers have been nothing but reliable when it comes to the back-to-back games – as pointed out by Brett Cyrgalis in today’s NY Post.

“With Friday night’s game in Chicago, the Rangers will complete their 12th of 14 back-to-backs this season. Thursday night’s loss took their season record in the first game to 8-1-3 (3-0-0 at home, 5-1-3 on the road),” Cyrgalis points out. “In the second game, they are 8-1-2 (6-0-0 at home, 2-1-2 on the road). Since 2009-10, the team is 29-9-4 in the second game of back-to-backs, with a 15-3-1 mark at the Garden and 14-6-3 on the road over that span.”

Just as important to the Rangers and their fans is that the Chicago game kicks off the final stretch of the season that will see the Blueshirts play 10 of their final 15 games at home, including a seven-game homestand that begins Sunday night against the Islanders.

While the Rangers will be playing every other day, they don’t have to worry about travel and can probably get in a couple of really good practices – something the team needs in order to counter the ills that Coach John Tortorella has noticed of late.

“I think we are beating ourselves sometimes in the game and finding ways to lose,” Coach Tortorella said following the Ottawa loss. “We are just going to keep working at our game and trying to chip out the mistakes.”

There is an obvious physical fatigue that is affecting the Rangers play when you factor in the injured players (like Brandon Dubinsky and Michael Sauer) and the hurt players (too numerous to mention). In that respect, the Blueshirts are no different than any other team in the NHL at this point in the season.

In addition to the physical fatigue, it seems that the Rangers are going through a mental fatigue as well. The Rangers European Vacation and North American Tour to start the season made a long season even longer. Then when you consider that almost every win has been a life-and-death struggle, it becomes clear that the Rangers are a fatigued team.

It all points back to Tortorella’s idea that the Rangers are beating themselves and finding ways to lose. The plays that they were making earlier in the season have morphed into turnovers. The bullets that they were dodging because Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron were erasing mistakes are now turning into deflection and screened goals.

Of course, all of these bumps in the road are magnified by the Rangers inconsistent offense which is keyed by their moribund power play that is 29th in the NHL (just ahead of the Coyotes).

How bad has the power play gotten? Instead of concentrating on scoring goals it is if the Rangers are practicing “Primum non nocere” – “First, do no harm”. In other words, as long as the Rangers don’t give up a shorthanded goal it can be considered a good power play opportunity. A successful power play would be one where the momentum doesn’t shift to the opponent.

I have said it before and will continue to say it, the Rangers power play needs more movement of the puck and, more importantly, of the players. When the Rangers move themselves and the puck you get games like the one they had ion Philadelphia on February 11 when three power play goals powered the Blueshirts to a 5-2 victory.

In the end, the only way the Rangers are going to “right the ship” is by playing the way they have up until this point of the season. They have to outwork their opponents shift-by-shift. The Rangers are not a talented enough team to win on talent alone.

Marian Gaborik might have summed it best while speaking to Andrew Gross of The Record, “We just have to play better and support each other more in the neutral zone and play straight ahead. We have to play together as five.”

As nice as it would to have the best record in hockey – and thus have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs – it is more important that the Rangers get back to playing Rangers hockey. They are already used to playing tight checking playoff hockey. Now they have to get back to being that team again.

It looks like the Jeff Carter to the Los Angeles Kings deal might have produced a new, and surprising, face on the trading block. The talk is that the Kings are looking to move Dustin Brown. The Kings captain has two more years left on a contract worth $3.2 million. TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s opinion is LA likes him as a player, but not as their captain. While Brown is a RW, Coach Daryl Sutter has been playing the slumping Brown on LW of late.

Brown isn’t a big-time goal scorer like Rick Nash, but he is a solid two-way player who plays on the PP and PK and would fit like a glove into Coach John Tortorella’s system. I am not sure if Brandon Dubinsky is the right price in terms of what the Rangers should give up and in terms of what the Kings are looking for in return.

TSN’s Darren Dreger tweeted that the Kings would be looking for young defenseman and a secondary scorer. While Dubinsky fits the secondary scorer tag, I don’t know if the Kings want a prospect like a Tim Erixon or Dylan McIlrath.

McKenzie tweeted that the following teams might be in on Brown: “BOS, BUF, EDM, NJD, NYR, PHI, TOR, VAN are amongst teams with high levels of interest in Brown.”

ESPN’s Pierre LeBrunn mentioned the Rangers, Boston, Philadelphia, and Toronto as strong suitors for Brown. LeBrun writes that while the Kings really like Luke Schenn, that might be a non-starter for Leafs GM Brian Burke – despite Burke a big Brown advocate.

It is hard to see the Devils involved on Brown because there is talk they can’t fit Marek Zidlicky in their payroll structure so I am not sure if Brown would fit unless an equal salary went west. Besides, it appears that the Devils are more interested in adding a defenseman.

The question we need to consider is how does the Carter deal play into Rick Nash’s situation. Columbus cleared about $4.7 million in cap space by trading away Carter and Antoine Vermette and adding in Jack Johnson’s salary.

Columbus might not be done dealing, outside of any Nash movement, with rumors swirling that they might move Sammy Pahlsson (expiring $2.7 million) and R.J. Umberger ($3.8 million for next six years). If that is the case, there may not be an urgent need to subtract Nash’s $7.8 million.

Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch tweeted this morning that Montreal and Tampa Bay have inquired about Derick Brassard ($3.2 million).

However, if you are Nash do you really want to stay in Columbus as GM Scott Howson continues rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic? The Blue Jackets captain could force Howson’s hand by demanding a trade and limit Columbus’ ability to trade by invoking his no trade clause.

The most interesting point to note is that while Columbus is dumping salaries, they are doing among their forwards while running a nice tab among their defensemen. The Blue Jackets have approximately $15.7 million committed to their top four blueliners: James Wisniewski ($5.5 million), Johnson ($4.4 million), Marc Methot ($3.0 million), and Fedor Tyutin ($2.8 million).

In one way the Carter trade plays into the Rangers hands because President/GM Glen Sather can avoid dealing Chris Kreider by offering multiple forward prospects (Dubinsky, Christian Thomas, Michael St. Croix or even J.T. Miller) to Columbus make up for the loss of Carter, Vermette and possibly Nash.

On the down side for the Rangers, the Blue Jackets still need to bring in a goaltender to replace or, at the very least, push Steve Mason to pick up his game. With the Kings and Jonathan Bernier out, does Vancouver with Cory Schneider look to step in or does San Jose step up with one of their goaltending prospects and then decide to bite the bullet and move Logan Couture in a potential trade?

One player I omitted in my Rangers trade deadline preview was Buffalo Sabres center Paul Gaustad. The 6-foot-5 and 212-pound Gaustad will be an UFA at the end of the year and carries a $2.3 million cap hit.

While he is not going to solve the Rangers scoring problems (scored 12 goals in each of three previous seasons), he is a solid defensive player who does use his size and has the ability to play wing or center. However, Gaustad’s biggest calling card is his faceoff ability. He is winning 56.2% of his faceoffs this year and is coming a career-best of 59.8% last season.

As far as defensemen go, the two names I have seen mentioned are Chris Campoli and Shane O’Brien who are on opposite ends of the defenseman spectrum. While both have expiring contracts, Campoli ($1.75 million cap hit) is a mobile d-man who is not strong physically or defensively while O’Brien ($1.1 million) is a physical defensive d-man who is not a strong skater with little offensive game.

There are three other defensemen who should be available and offer up expiring contracts and might draw some interest from the Rangers.

Jordan Leopold ($3.0 million) is not a physical player, but he is a strong skater and has an offensive upside. Brett Clark ($1.5 million) is a mobile defenseman but not as offensive as Leopold. While Clark will block shots, he is not a physical player.

The one defenseman who does intrigue me is Carolina’s Bryan Allen ($2.9 million). While the 31-year-old often has battled the injury bug, he would bring much-needed size to the table for the Rangers. The 6-foot-5 and 226-pound Allen has no offensive game at all, but he is a decent skater for his size and has the ability to be a shutdown defenseman.

We might know sooner rather than later the direction the Rangers are choosing. This morning Dreger tweeted that the Maple Leafs are pushing the Blue Jackets to make a decision as early possible – with Saturday being a potential deadline. Dreger also wrote that the Rangers are taking the same stance.

It seems that both teams want to know the deal with Plan N (Nash) before deciding if they have to switch to Plan B (Brown).

Whichever way Sather decides to go, it will not surprise me to see him make a small deal or two to help the Connecticut Whale in their playoff push. Thise type of deals might not seem like much, but it was deals like that which netted the Rangers valuable parts like Stu Bickel and John Mitchell.

As the Rangers approach the February 27, 2012 NHL Trade Deadline (3pm EST) they must consider a couple of factors when determining their course of action.

Obviously, the conversation begins with the current salary cap situation, as well as future salary caps once the new CBA is completed. The NHL will be heading into unchartered territory that might not provide for amnesty buyouts like the previous lockout (See: Bobby Holik) and the new CBA might not be so forgiving in terms of burying salaries (and thus creating cap space) in the AHL (See: Wade Redden).

While the conversation begins with salary cap concerns, it does not end there. The Rangers are in a Catch-22 situation of deciding whether to go all-in and make a blockbuster move to acquire Rick Nash or do they stay the course and look to make a couple of smaller moves to supplement the Eastern Conference’s top team.

The biggest factor in this discussion revolves around which prospects, if any, the team would be willing to trade. After much trial and error, president/GM Glen Sather has resisted the urge to mortgage the future for short term gains.

Granted, acquiring Nash would be more than just a short term gain given that the Blue Jackets captain will not turn 28 until right around the time the Stanley Cup is awarded. However, the $7.8 million cap hit that Nash carries through the end of the 2014/2015 season does factor into the Blueshirts future.

Ryan McDonagh is a RFA at the end of the 2012/2013 season and Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, Daniel Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist are UFA the following season with Marc Staal’s contract up following the 2014/2015 season.

Even if the Rangers are willing to cross the salary cap Rubicon at a later date, the question becomes what do the Rangers give up for a player the caliber of Nash.

In almost all of the stories being written, Brandon Dubinsky’s name is often mentioned. While Dubi is a nice two-way player, Nash would be a major upgrade. Is Nash enough of an upgrade for the Blueshirts to include their 2012 first round draft pick? Given the depth of the Rangers organization and that the pick could be at the bottom of the first round, trading away a first rounder short not be a problem.

The biggest problem becomes do you include Chris Kreider in the deal. That is where Sather needs to draw the line. Kreider has the potential eventually to give you close to what Nash does and at a fraction of the cost.

If Columbus GM Scott Howson is going to blow up his franchise then he needs to swing for the fences and I do not believe the Rangers should play that game. If you could make the deal for Dubinsky, a first round draft pick and let’s say a J.T. Miller, then I would have to think long and hard about it.

For Howson, the problem with trading Nash at this point in the season is that a trade partner has to have salary cap space available or can easily create cap space. These types are trades are easier to make in the off-season when teams have expiring contracts, a mindset of shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic, and the cushion that allows teams to exceed the cap by 10%.

In addition, I value Dylan McIlrath almost as much as Kreider. While the Blueshirts defense corps is deep and talented, it lacks the physical presence and size that McIlrath brings.

Even if we push aside the salary cap quandary and the players/prospects decision, there is still one final factor to consider. Do the Rangers want to make a major move that would disturb team chemistry? Of all the trade factors to consider, this one might be the biggest and most difficult to judge.

Coach John Tortorella has built the Rangers along the idea of a true team concept with no one player more important than the other – except in the case of Henrik Lundqvist for obvious reasons.

On February 11, Daily News write Pat Leonard wrote, “GM Glen Sather is not expected to break the bank since the Rangers appear built for long-term success with a solid core, great goaltending and youth. This also is a tight locker room, so a trade that risks the team’s chemistry probably isn’t worth it to management.”

Leonard’s point is a valid one and it is one made by many Ranger fans. However, would a trade, or even two, really disrupt chemistry all that much?

In 1994, GM Neil Smith made the following five trades on deadline day.

• Phil Bourque traded from NY Rangers to Ottawa for future considerations.
• Peter Andersson traded from NY Rangers to Florida for future considerations.
• Tony Amonte and the rights to Matt Oates traded from NY Rangers to Chicago for Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan.
• Mike Gartner traded from NY Rangers to Toronto for Glenn Anderson, the rights to Scott Malone and Toronto’s fourth-round pick in 1994 Entry Draft.
• Craig MacTavish traded from Edmonton to NY Rangers for Todd Marchant.

While the first deals were more housekeeping than anything else, the remaining three trades involved significant players coming and going and represented a big gamble and restructuring of a team that was a major Stanley Cup contender – without seeming to do any harm to that team’s chemistry.

Would the Rangers have won the Cup without making those trades? We will never know, but the one thing we are certain of is that Smith’s gamble paid off in 1994.

Of course, the current team is very different from the 1993/1994 team. The Cup team was led by Mark Messier and contained enough veteran leadership to overcome any chemistry issues. This team is a lot younger and more inexperienced when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoff wars.

The Rangers have already gone down the rent-a-Cup path in 1994 with Smith gambling and dealing away younger talent for veteran/battle-tested players. The Rangers won the battle (i.e. the Stanley Cup), but it can also be said that they lost the war because of the infusion of young talent that was dealt.

The one thing to recognize is that Smith brought in role players to supplement his star players where Sather would be bringing in a star player, to more or less, supplement his role players.

Some have suggested passing on Nash completely with the hopes of signing UFA Zach Parise during the summer. I have heard this idea many times – skip on getting Player A via a trade or free agency because Player B will be a free agent next year. Inevitably, Player B doesn’t become a free agent. While this strategy would alleviate some of the concerns of the new CBA, it is a risky strategy because what happens if Parise is not on the market.

Of course being a cynical Ranger fan (yes, I know that is redundant), what happens if you do sign Parise? The Rangers have not had the greatest track when it comes to signing former New Jersey Devils (See: Bruce Driver, Bobby Holik and Scott Gomez).

In the end, I believe the only way the Rangers should bring Rick Nash aboard is if Scott Howson makes Glen Sather an offer he can’t refuse – and any offer that includes Chris Kreider and Dylan McIlrath can be refused.

The current and, more importantly, future salary cap implications should dictate how the Rangers proceed as they approach the February 27, 2012 NHL trade deadline.

According to CapGeek.com , as of February 21, 2012, the Rangers have about $6.0 million in cap space. However, Cap Geek points out that if the Rangers were to wait until February 27, then their cap space rises to about $6.9 million.

Here is how Cap Geek explains their calculations:
… if a team is listed with $10 million today and $25 million at the deadline, it could acquire Alexander Ovechkin’s $9.538-million cap hit today and not much more. But if it waited until the trade deadline, it could acquire Ovechkin, as well as Alexandre Semin ($6.7 million cap hit), Nicklas Backstrom ($6.7 million) and Mike Knuble ($2 million), because the sum of those annualized cap hits ($24.938 million) is less than $25 million.

Unless Columbus GM Scott Howson presents Rick Nash to the Blueshirts on a silver platter, the Rangers best course of action is to look to add players who have expiring contracts. Not only do they bypass any future salary cap implications, the cost for rental players could be less than the cost for someone like Nash.

The 2011/2012 Rangers are a different animal than the 1993/94 Blueshirts. The 1994 Rangers were, hands down, the best team in the NHL at the deadline while the 2012 team is not – no matter what the standings might say.

Even if you wanted to argue that point, there is one thing that can’t be argued. In 1994, Smith did not have to contend with a salary cap – something that Sather must be concerned with in 2012 and beyond.

The problem with trying to sort out the buyers and sellers is that 11 points separate the 15th place team (Carolina) and the 8th place team (Toronto) in the Eastern Conference.

In the Western Conference, only Edmonton (15 points out of a playoff spot) and Columbus (25 points) can be considered out of the playoff hunt with Anaheim eight points out.

With so many teams still envisioning themselves as playoff contenders, it is a sellers’ market – thus potentially driving up the price on the type of complementary players the Rangers would be looking to acquire.

Setting aside Nash, the two players who seem to draw the most interest from Ranger fans are Shane Doan and Ryan Smyth. Both are solid players who would fit well in the Rangers – both on the ice and off. Both players will be UFA at the end of the season so there is no salary cap concerns beyond this year and both players would fit under this year’s cap: Smyth’s full-season salary is $6.25 million and Doan’s is 4.5 million.

The problem with both players is they each have no-trade clauses and want to remain with their teams. Doan, the Coyotes’ captain, has spent his entire career with the Phoenix/Winnipeg organization. Smyth, who has played with four different teams since the start of the 2006/2007 season, has indicated a willingness to remain in his native Alberta.

The one ace up the Rangers sleeve is that Glen Sather was the Edmonton GM when the Oilers made the 6th overall draft pick in the 1994 NHL Draft. The Sather connection and a desire to win a Stanley Cup might be enough for Smyth to head to New York for the 2nd time in his career. Interestingly enough, the Islanders acquired Smyth from Edmonton on February 27, 2007 (in exchange for Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Meara and 1st round draft pick) – so history could repeat itself.

If Doan or Smythe prove to be outside of the Rangers reach, here is a brief list of names to keep your eye as the deadline nears, with their full-season cap hit listed.

BRAD BOYES ($4.0 million) – After posting 43 goals in 2007/2008 and 33 goals in 2008/2009, the RW/C has been a major disappointment scoring just 32 goals in the last 2 ½ years. Boyes will be an UFA at the end of the year and should be available for a relatively cheap price. Ranger scouts would have to really look hard to see if the 29-year-old has anything left in the tank.

JAROME IGINLA ($7.0 million) – The Flames captain is in the same boat as Doan and Smyth in terms of wanting to stay with his team. The major differences is that Iginla doesn’t become an UFA until after 2012/2013 so the Rangers would have to build his salary into their cap for next year and Calgary is the thick of the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. The 34-year-old is on pace for his 11th consecutive 30-goal season.

VINNY PROSPAL ($2.6 million) – The former Ranger just signed a contract extension so it is tough to read what Columbus is thinking. With them shopping both Nash and Jeff Carter, are the Blue Jackets looking to Prospal as a bridge to a new group of prospects or do they believe they can get more for him if he is signed for one more year. The advantage is that Prospal knows Tortorella and the team and would easily slide on to the first line with Derek Stepan and Marian Gaborik – allowing the Rangers to move Artem Anisimov to the second or third lines.

TUOMO RUUTU ($3.8 million) – Ruutu is on the wish list of some Ranger fans because he has, as Torts would say, “jam” to his game. Ruutu might not solve their goal scoring problems, but he would bring a “Sean Avery intensity” to the Blueshirts with a little more scoring. However, he does have one more year left on his contract and has had issues with injuries during the last couple of years. In fact, he is expected to be out at least three weeks with the dreaded “upper body injury”.

TEEMU SELANNE ($4.0 million) – I know some of you are rolling your eyes at the thought of the 41-year-old Selanne in a Rangers uniform. Just remember this, he would be third on the team in goals (19) and first in assists (33) and points (52) were he a Ranger now. Anaheim GM Bob Murray listed Selanne and Saku Koivu as untouchable as far as trades go. Then again he had to because both have no-trade clauses. Granted, Selanne is not the same “Finnish Rocket” he was in his prime and might struggle to score in the Rangers system, he still would add much needed offense – especially on the power play. Selanne is one PPG away from hitting double figures in six of his last seven seasons. The one year he didn’t score 10+ PPG was in 2007-2008 and he did score 7 in 26 games after he re-signed with Anaheim in January 2008.

If the Rangers are willing to look at a player who has a couple of years left on his contract, they might want to head down to Tortorella’s old stomping grounds in Tampa Bay and kick the tires on Martin St. Louis.

The 36-year-old winger has three more years left on his contract at a cap hit of $5.6 million. Since he signed his current deal as 35+ player, the Rangers could not get salary relief by sending him to the AHL. Given his production during the last few years, that might not be a problem.

St. Louis is on pace for 76 points and will represent the sixth consecutive season he has scored 76+points. He is also on pace for 26 goals and that would make it 11 consecutive seasons of 25+ goals.

Prior to this season and since becoming a regular with Tampa Bay during the 2000/2001 season, St. Louis has played 80+ games every season except two. In 2001/2002 he missed 26 games with a broken leg and he had his consecutive game streak broken this year at 499 when he suffered a facial injury near his left eye during Tampa Bay’s game day skate prior to their December 8, 2011 game against the Rangers.

Not only would the Rangers benefit from St. Louis’s speed and playmaking ability, he would give the Rangers another option killing penalties. Since he is well versed in all things Tortorella, he should be able to make a smooth transition to the Rangers – helped by fellow Lightning Stanley Cup teammates Brad Richards and Ruslan Fedotenko.

His biggest contribution would be a much-needed veteran influence/playoff proven player. In 63 career playoff games, St. Louis has 68 points (33 goals and 35assists) – including 20 points (in 18 games) last year and 24 points (in 23 games) while winning the Cup in 2004.

The Rangers Thursday night matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning had all the makings of a classic trap game. The Blueshirts were coming off an emotional (and controversial) loss to their division and geographical rival New Jersey Devils and face the task of back-to-back afternoon games against the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.

The overtime victory against the Lightning won’t earn the Rangers any gold medals in terms of style points, the win does strike gold in terms of the mantra of the late Al Davis who urged his Raiders teams to “Just win, baby.”

More than Brad Richards breaking a one goal in 12 games slump (on the same night that Scott Gomez ends his year-long goal scoring drought no less), more than the Rangers finally scoring a power play goal (the team’s first 5-on-4 power play goal in 14 games), the team made sure they didn’t enter a very difficult week with a two game losing streak.

Rick Carpiniello offered an interesting insight into the Rangers ability to bounce back this season and (up until now) prevent any long losing streaks from derailing their season.

“Not to be one of those Negative Nancys, but you wonder when this team will actually lose a few in a row,” Carpiniello wrote Friday morning on his Journal News Rangers Report Blog. “They haven’t deserved to have a losing streak, but, my gosh, every team since the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens (who went 60-8-12) has had a losing streak at some point, right? These Rangers haven’t lost more than two in a row in regulation all year, and haven’t gone more than two without a win since starting the season 0-1-2. It’s got to happen.”

There are a lot of words that can be used to describe the 2011/2012 New York Rangers – some of which can’t be printed or uttered in polite circles. However, when you take into account Carpiniello’s statement, the one word that can be used is resilient.

All teams and athletes, across the entire sports spectrum, have to learn to deal with and conquer adversity. It is a fundamental part of the makeup of championship teams and athletes.

In the Rangers case, their resiliency and ability to conquer adversity is imperative because, to use an old Herb Brooks saying, they are not talented enough to win on talent alone.

The Rangers “Black-and-Blue-shirts” mentality has not only endeared themselves to their fans, it also serves as the driving force for their resiliency and adaptability. The more roadblocks that are thrown at them, the harder the Rangers work.

Have to open the regular season in Europe, no problem. Lengthy road trip to start the season, check. Injuries to a defense corps forces Coach John Tortorella to give major ice time to players like Stu Bickel, Anton Stralman and Jeff Woywitka (all players who did not fit into the team’s pre-season plans), got that covered as well.

The best explanation for the Rangers’ resiliency might have come from someone who knows a thing or two about hockey.

“They have everything going in the right direction now,” Wayne Gretzky told Dan Rosen of nhl.com on Thursday. “They play hard and they play smart. They believe in themselves and each guy does his own job. They don’t have guys that try to do what they’re not supposed to do. On top of that, John is a tremendous coach.”

The back-to-back weekend matinees start a four game/six day stretch that sees the Rangers pay a return visit to Boston to take on the Eastern Conference’s second place Bruins on Tuesday night and concludes with a Thursday night game at the Garden against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Following this four game stretch, the Rangers face another trap game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 19 which is followed by straight Eastern Conference matchups before the Rangers visit the United Center for a March 9 rematch with the Blackhawks.

The Rangers season will not be made during this stretch, but they need to use these games to start shoring up some of the weaknesses in their games – inconsistent scoring and a sputtering offense. Interestingly enough, solving one of those problems would probably solve the other.

An interesting side note came from CBC.ca columnist Elliotte Friedman in his weekly column on Tuesday in reference to the Rangers and Wild trade. Minnesota sent forward Casey Wellman to New York in exchange for Erik Christensen and a conditional seventh round draft pick in 2013 in a deal that opened up a roster spot for Steve Eminger and provided some new blood for the struggling Connecticut Whale (who was in the midst of a 0-9-2 stretch).

The 6-foot-0/173 pound speedy Wellman was not the Rangers original target according to Friedman. Rather, the Rangers set their sights on 6-foot-2/199 pound physical forward Cody Almond, but Wild GM Chuck Fletcher would not relent. Friedman said that Rangers pro scout Doug Risebrough, former Wild GM, was the driving force behind the push for Almond.

Wellman becomes the first University of Massachusetts player to become a member of the Rangers organization since defenseman Thomas Pock (2003/04 thru 2007/08), who played 59 NHL games with the Blueshirts.

Depending on your point of view, and with all apologies to Charles Dickens, the NHL’s annual All-Star break comes at the best of times or the worst of times for the New York Rangers. For the first time since 1993-94, the Rangers reach the All-Star break in first place in the Eastern Conference and with the best points-per-game ratio in the NHL. Conversely, the Blueshirts plethora of skating wounded and injured players can use the time off to heal up for the grueling stretch run.

That grueling run to the playoffs sees the Rangers playing 35 games in the final 68 days of the regular season – including seven sets of back-to-back games (New Jersey to Buffalo, Philadelphia to NYR, NYI to NYR, Carolina to Tampa Bay, Ottawa to Chicago, NYR to Toronto, and Minnesota to Winnipeg).

In any other season, the All-Star break would end up being the Rangers Kryptonite as all of their momentum would be lost during the week off. However, this season should be different from most.

NBC Sports hockey analyst Pierre McGuire provided some insight into why this season might be different while speaking to Justin Terranova of the NY Post.

“[The Rangers] learned a lot last year by losing to Washington in the playoffs when they had a chance to maybe have more of an advantage in that series, but they dropped the ball late in games,” McGuire said while analyzing how the Rangers went from a life-and-death struggle for the playoffs last year to a first place showdown this year.

“I saw it happen to Chicago when they lost to Detroit in the Western Conference Finals and the next year they steamrolled their way to the Stanley Cup. Teams need to lose in the playoffs as a group and try to understand what went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The seven-day break is just another obstacle that has found its way in the Rangers path. From the team opening the season in Europe as part of a seven-game road trip to start the season through HBO’s coverage leading up to the Winter Classic, and then finally the Winter Classic itself, the Blueshirts have had quite an eventful first half of the season.

They have handled without major fanfare or excuse making – which is the way Coach John Tortorella approached the season from the very beginning.
“It is imperative that we handle everything properly, including the travel, the schedule, HBO and anything else that comes our way,” Tortorella explained to Larry Brooks of the NY Post in September. “We cannot complain about anything . . . and I’m including myself in that, as much as anybody, and maybe more so.
“With all the stuff that’s going to be swirling around us, our mental approach and ability to keep our focus on the right things is going to a huge, huge part of our season; even more than systems and the X’s and O’s.”

“There’s no doubt that excuses will be out there for anybody who wants to lean on them,” Torts added. “But there will be no excuses with our team.”
The theme of maintaining the focus inward on the team while keeping an “eye on the prize” is one that Tortorella emphasized following the Rangers 3-0 victory over Winnipeg preceding the All-Star break.

“The league is going to get better. The tempo is going to get better. I think it becomes a quicker game, but there’s also a grind to it, too. We cannot stop working on all parts of our game. We spent a lot of time on the details of it. We cannot stop trying to get better at that stuff because teams will pass you,” Tortorella explained.

“You look at the standings and a lot of teams win. If you don’t stay on top of yourselves and worry about the details of how we play and remain true to our identity, there will be some struggles. You never know where it goes from there.”

Rangers captain Ryan Callahan echoed his coach’s mantra following the Jets game.

“We’ve had a good first half now. It’s good going into the break knowing you’re sitting in first place. But at the same time, the hockey only gets harder from here,” Callahan told Josh Thomson of the Journal News. “Everybody picks it up a notch. We have to continue to do the same to have more success.”

The All-Star break gives GMs the opportunity to start laying the groundwork for the eventual trades that will take place in February leading up to the NHL’s trade deadline at 3pm EST on February 27. There is plenty of time for Ranger fans to contemplate possible trade targets. Heck, it is very possible that the Blueshirts might wait until the last minute before swinging a deal – and with good reason.

According to CapGeek.com , as of January 27, 2012, the Rangers have a little more than $3.0 million in cap space. However, CapGeek points out that if the Rangers were to wait until February 27), then their cap space rises to more than $5.4 million.

Outside of getting healthy and staying healthy, the Rangers biggest concern has to be reviving their moribund power play which is ranked 26th in the NHL. Imagine what kind of season the Rangers could be having if they had a Top 10 power play.

Many people have lamented that the Rangers biggest need is a player to QB the power play. The only problem with that thought is that the Rangers have had success without the prototypical power play QB.

During the first two seasons after the lockout (2005-06 and 2006-07), the Blueshirts had the 8th ranked power play with the “immortal” Michal Rozsival as the key man on the point. Yes, they had Jaromir Jagr but they also had a system that saw the team use a system that set up Jagr on his off-wing.

The Edmonton Oilers have the 3rd rated power play (21.3% to the Rangers 14.1%) and they do not feature a Brian Leetch-like player on their roster.

Rather than worrying about what the Rangers don’t have, the team needs to focus on using the players they do have within a simple system.

Without being asked a direct question about the team’s power play, Tortorella indirectly answered one of the power play’s biggest problems.

In the Winnipeg post-game press conference Torts spoke what the Rangers need to focus on in the second half.

“A big part of what I think we have to get better at are rebound goals. And before you get rebound goals, you have to shoot the puck on the net,” Tortorella explained. “We tend to look for the next play where probably the best play is being ready to shoot before it comes to you and to shoot it instead of trying to pass it.”

Factoring in Tortorella’s comments with some of my pet peeves, I have come up with a three-point plan that should improve the Rangers power play.

Point 1 – Movement. Far too often the Rangers power play stagnates as they play the puck around the perimeter looking for that perfect shot – which does not happen too much because puck movement has to be accompanied by player movement. Watch the Rangers power play and you notice that there are a lot of Blueshirts standing around.

Point 2 – Get in front of the net. Unless the Rangers find a way to manufacture the second coming of Al MacInnis and Bobby Hull, the team needs to create more traffic in front of the net. By the way, this point goes beyond the man advantage. The Rangers need to take more advantage of this strategy during five-on-five play as well. More often than not, pucks/rebounds will be sliding through the top of the crease and no Ranger is in front of the net. More often than not, you will see a Ranger at the side of the net along the goal line rather than in front of the net. Watch for this over the space of a couple of games and you will see why I am rapidly getting even balder .

Point 3 – Shoot the puck (On Net). Points two and three go along with Tortorella’s opinion; however, I take it one step further by emphasizing the “On Net” part. Some Rangers (Michael Del Zotto is at the top of the list) need to realize that sometimes less is more when they are shooting. The idea is to put the puck on goal, not through it. Sometimes the best pass is a shot on goal. And much like Point 2, this is a strategy the Rangers can employ during even-strength situations as well.