Since the last State of the Rangers post, there has been a lot of good things surrounding the Rangers. The Rangers downright proved that their 9-2 November record was no fluke by going 10-4-1 in December and following the 3-2 win over the Flyers at the Winter Classic not only have the Rangers vaulted themselves to the top of the division, but have they climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference and at times, the top of the NHL. The Rangers have an uncanny ability to immediately bounce back from losses, re-right the ship and start another winning streak where the team for the most part has averaged about 10 days give or take in between losses.
With the Rangers being on top of the standings league wide, it has certainly garnered the attention of the "experts" to perhaps re-think where they stand regarding the Rangers. There are some out there that think they could have a cup run in them this year, but most are writing the Rangers off if/when they draw the Bruins in the playoffs, which isn't quite fair since the Rangers and Bruins have yet to play each other this season and it just so happens their first game is today. Boston is a scary team, however they are still human beings and thus beatable. Remember, the Rangers did beat Boston 3 out of 4 last year, with a Ranger team not as good as present and the Bruins on their way to a Cup championship, so that has to count for something. Now past the halfway point of the season, when the Rangers are at their best, I'm growing increasingly confident that Boston is the only team that can hang with the Rangers in a 7 game series (save for teams in Toronto and especially Montreal whom the Rangers for some reason have struggled with.) I'm very aware of the problems the Rangers have had with the Capitals in the playoffs recently, but when the playoffs come and if the Rangers were to draw the Capitals again, Tortorella won't have to motivate his players too much knowing the teams' recent failures against them in the postseason and the Rangers will be up to the task more than the previous 2 series' against them.
The Rangers have a 5-3 record since downing the Flyers at the Winter Classic three weeks ago, and since that game, its been terribly noticeable that the Rangers top 6 forwards haven't been contributing as much as they were in the 2011 calendar year. A lot of that is in part to a terribly struggling power play that has just ONE powerplay goal since Christmas and is 1-27 in that timeframe. I'm honestly at a loss of words for the struggles surrounding the power play. Brad Richards who was supposed to be the "savior" of the Rangers powerplay hasn't been putting up the points with the man advantage that we expected to see, and is below his career pace on the season concerning Richards' points production on the power play.
Again, the Rangers first game against the Bruins is today. The Rangers could fall out of first place in the East with a loss. Hopefully a game against the defending Stanley Cup champs in their building can jump start the Rangers, leave Boston with a win and get them out of their mid-season swoon.
Part 2 next week will feature whom, if anyone, the Rangers should acquire at the trade deadline to be the catalyst towards the Rangers next Stanley Cup Championship this June.
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