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TORONTO – The effects of the five-game unbeaten streak the Rangers were able to string together earlier in the month have all but dissipated. The positive energy, the bonding, the climb up the ladder in the standings – gone and wasted.
For in the aftermath of last night’s 3-1 defeat here to the Maple Leafs that extended the Blueshirts’ newest losing streak to three games, Ranger players second-guessing themselves, grumbling about their play and very, very depressed.
They were that, and exactly where they were two weeks ago today – nine points out of a playoff spot, but now with a shrinking schedule in front of them that has only 10 weeks and 31 games to go before the season ends.
“It’s definitely a step back for us,” said Mark Messier. “We had beaten three pretty good teams [Philadelphia, Toronto, Carolina] and then we didn’t play well enough to beat Carolina at home on Wednesday, and then we slipped again the last two nights.”
Messier, who, if you can believe this, skated with wingers Jeff Toms and Brad Smyth last night, was the subject of conversation before the game when a few members of the media asked Glen Sather whether he believed The Captain should be rested. The GM turned the question around.
“If Mark’s not doing the things to carry this team, how about [Adam] Graves doing something, stepping forward, scoring goals and doing the things he’s paid to do?” Sather said. “And Petr Nedved, there’s another guy [who] has to step forward.”
Messier has gone 16 straight games without scoring a goal, getting two assists since Dec. 20. Graves, who skated as a fourth-line center last night between Sandy McCarthy and Eric Lacroix, has one goal and four assists in his last 17 games, two goals and five assists in his last 27, three goals and six assists in the last 38. Nedved, who committed a defensive-zone coverage blunder that contributed to Toronto’s third goal, has scored once in the last eight games.
“I know,” Graves said softly after the game. “I know I have to score goals and play better.”
The Rangers weren’t awful last night. But the fact is, they played a fairly hum-drum game against a fairly hum-drum team that had won six of its previous 20 and had scored seven goals in its last five matches. The Blueshirts even generated some scoring chances against Curtis Joseph.
But the Rangers did not go hard enough to the net – they were awarded only two power plays, one late in the third when Toronto was caught with too many men – and they did not battle hard enough in the trenches and they were not sharp on their own odd-man rushes and did not maintain defensive zone discipline when most necessary.
Other than that, they were perfect.
Nedved was outplayed decisively by Mats Sundin, who put forth his most tenacious and imposing game against the Rangers in two years. And while Nedved, Jan Hlavac and Radek Dvorak had some fancy shifts, they passed up numerous shots in an attempt to make the perfect, extra pass. When it works, it’s beautiful to watch; when it doesn’t, it’s grist for further review.
“Goals are scored in front of the net,” said coach Ron Low, who simply doesn’t have enough capable players at his disposal. “I sometimes wonder if our guys know that.”
Theo Fleury knows it. He’s been fighting his way to the net all year. Mike York – one goal in his last 17 games – knows it. It was York driving to net that provided the distraction and screen on Joseph that allowed Fleury to score from above the hash marks at 9:10 of the third to bring the Rangers within 2-1.
Sergei Berezin had given the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 19:29 of the first, beating Kirk McLean – excellent in his first work since Dec. 27 – from the right circle. After a scoreless second, Darcy Tucker extended the lead to 2-0 after Smyth watched him come 15 feet off the right wing wall before blasting away from the circle.
Fleury’s 29th exactly three minutes later brought the Rangers back, but Tucker salted it at 14:03 by going to the front and beating McLean unopposed after taking a centering feed from Sundin.
“We had five men back, they had two men in the zone and nobody picked up Tucker,” Low said. “Petr turned right out of the slot.”
The Rangers are 4-10-1-1 in their last 16, 5-13-2-1 in their last 21. While they’ve kept the goals-against down over the last three weeks, they’ve stopped scoring. Indeed, the Blueshirts have gotten to three in only four of their last 14 games.
“At this point in the season when goals are hard to come by, you have to shoot the puck and go to the net for rebounds,” said Messier. “You’re not going to make a lot of passes through the box or through the slot for goals.”
Still, even though the Czechmates were guilty as charged last night after a first period in which Hlavac recorded seven shots on net, it was rather amusing to hear someone ask Low whether he’d considered sitting the Czechmates last night after they’d passed up shots to make passes.
Who on Earth would Low put out there?
So now Atlanta comes to the Garden tomorrow night. Then Wednesday, in the final match before the All-Star break, Montreal. The Rangers simply must win them both.
“We’re not going to quit,” said Low. “Quit is not in the equation.”
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Brad Brown returned to the lineup in place of Rich Pilon (foot) after missing 10 games and did fine paired with Brian Leetch. Lefebvre returned and played a sturdy match while Tomas Kloucek took a seat. Manny Malhotra was scratched a second straight night.