Disecting the Turnaround

It was the rival Islanders who essentially turned things around for the Rangers about two weeks ago when they came in and embarrassed the Blueshirts on home ice. It brought out some problems that needed fixing immediately, caused the players to gather and have their own private meeting, and changed a part of the coaching philosophy of John Tortorella. Since then, the Rangers have won four straight and have not come out completely flat again in a game like they did to start that one.

Henrik Lundqvist has rose to the occasion, only allowing five goals in the past four games. Chris Drury has stepped up with three goals in four games. Marc Staal has been leading the defense in ice time, as well as Michal Rozsival; both have been solid in their own zone. And then you add Gaborik's nightly scoring to the mix and somehow this club is finding ways to win consistently. Since that 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Isles, it seems as if everyone has stepped it up a notch and has been playing better hockey.

I think it is a combination of many factors when you look at the Rangers recent success. First off, the scratching of veteran defenseman Wade Redden and winger Ales Kotalik sent a very strong message in the locker room and amoong teh players. Not to mention John Tortorella took the time to put the situation in black and white for everyone, stating that he will no longer be honoring "titles" or "contracts" when forming his lineup. It will solely be based on performance and execution.

The other factory very well may be the shame of these players when they had their home fans literally boo them off the ice against a rival team that they should be playing close games with. The score may have only been 2-1, but it felt like it should have been 5-0 with the way the Blueshirts played. The effort was absent and they knew it, the fans knew it, and obviously the coaching staff knew it (see Tortorella postgame conference). That is most likely the cause behind Henrik Lundqvist and Sean Avery deciding to hold a meeting with their teammates just one-on-one. Clearly there was some deep soul-searching going on behind closed doors and it has some of these guys looking sharper than they have all season long.

Within the four-game winning stretch, the Rangers have outscored their opponent 14-5, which is pretty good considering they were outscored 49-31 in the month of November. Goal scoring evidently has been a tremendous difficulty this season, but as you can see, once players beyond Gaborik begin to find the back of the net the Rangers automatically become a better team and have a better chance of winning. It is not too complicated, but as we have come to know, is not that simple either.

So it will be the Islanders on home ice again tonight. In a game were the Rangers will have a chance at winning five straight, it could also be looked at as a measuring stick. You know the Isles are going to have the exact same mentality they did the last time they entered the Garden earlier in the month, and that will be to outskate, outshoot, and outplay our Rangers right from the opening face-off. Instead of sitting back and weathering the storm, the Blueshirts need to have the exact same gameplan the Islanders do. Get that quick goal and build from there. We will see if this team has what it takes to capture five straight wins like they did back in October when they reached seven in a row. For some reason, I think they do.
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