Does Shutting Down Gaborik Mean Shutting Down the Rangers?

Among the various things that went wrong for the Rangers in Vancouver on Tuesday was the main reason that the Blueshirts were defeated. That reason being that the Canucks did a spectacular job of shutting down forward Marian Gaborik. Almost every time Gaborik stepped foot on the ice, so did Canuck defenseman Willie Mitchell, who played with Gabs back in Minnesota. It was not only Mitchell, however, that keyed in on Gaborik, as it seemed like the entire defensive squad was collapsing in on the Slovakian forward, knowing that if he does not have room to make plays, it will limit the offensive chances for the Rangers greatly.

Many shots taken by Gaborik were either blocked or deflected. Passes were blocked and deke attempts were poke-checked. From a fan's standpoint, it is a very frustrating thing to watch, but I admire Gaborik for not letting it get the best of him and the fact that he was persistent and kept trying. The Vancouver club clearly did a lengthy amount of scouting and tape-watching on the Rangers offense, and most likely realized something that Ranger fans have been asking themselves for the last couple of weeks: Does shutting down Gaborik mean shutting down the Rangers?

In the National Hockey League, the home team always is allowed the last change, resulting in the match-ups that they want. For this reason, you sometimes see head coaches send out a line for the National Anthem, and then quickly switch it before the puck drops. Some coaches are religious to match-ups, while some do not care for the strategy all that much. The bottom line is, with a player like Gaborik on the ice, you need your best players out there to limit his opportunities.

With that being said, the Blueshirts are now 3-4-1 on the road. As I mentioned above, the home team gets the last change, so in that case, could teams matching up against Gaborik potentially be leading to the ugly record on the road? It is very possible.

Think about this. Two of the five losses have come without Gaborik in the lineup. Secondly, Gaborik has only scored in two of the three road losses he took part in, but registered points in every single one of the road victories. Both games that the Rangers were Gaborik-less, the team showed no offensive capability whatsoever. In the contests that the Rangers lost with him in the lineup, Gaborik, for the most part, was kept quiet.

It is obviously a disturbing problem among fans, and will eventually begin to nag coaches and players as well. Vancouver basically presented the entire league with an outline of how to shut down the Rangers in their 4-1 effort last night. New York will be on the road for two more consecutive games, so we must keep a close eye on how they cover Gaborik, especially Edmonton who plays a patented defensive style.

I know this may provide some concern, but there are ways for the Rangers to get around this dilemma. Much like the Jagr factor two years ago, when Gaborik has the puck, at least two players collapse to him. That means that at least one of Marian's teammates are open and not being covered. We know the skill Gaborik has in the passing department, so there is no reason why he should not be able to get that open man the puck.

In addition to this, just shutting down Gaborik is not as easy as it may appear to be. This guy has talent that very few players in this league posses. He has speed, soft hands, and most importantly, incredible hockey smarts. It takes a tremendous effort for a team to completely shut down Gaborik, and Vancouver rose to the challenge on Tuesday.

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