N.Y. Rangers: Road Kill

From the desk of:  RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREAT

NEWSDAY/Tuesday

New York Rangers: Right on cue; the Blueshirts have fallen to ninth place and Vigneault cries wolf.

He's not even true to his own system.  In fact, he's a proven hypocrite.  Because there comes a time during ever regular season when even Vigneault realizes that his style measures up against similarly talented teams of the league, but just not against the bigger, more physical, and similarly skilled ones.

Remember this one?

This time, according to the above Newsday article, he feels the team isn't doing enough towards winning 50/50 pucks.  He might be right about that.  But that requires a measure of dirty work, and Vigneault, after all, likes to keep things clean.

But what about the 50/50 chance they get pushed off the puck in the offensive zone?  What about the less than fifty percent chance they lay a hit, or block a puck, in the defensive end?  

What about all their failures in the neutral zone?

He has no answer for that.  But he's the same person who'll tell you none of it can be solved with toughness.  It's about getting a pass off before the hits come.

Think about that ... before a hit comes.

The Rangers have now lost five straight road games, and six of their last eight games overall.  Moreover, they've been outscored 6-13 in three games during this present road trip.

And, why?

Henrik Lundqvist continues getting sub par efforts in his own end.  He lasted all of 16-minutes Tuesday night against the Ducks, allowing three goals on just seven shots on goal.  

When he's forced to carry the team night in and night out, that will happen.