WHEN the Rangers reacquired Alex Kovalev just over two weeks ago, pretty much the first thing everyone wanted to talk about was the goal he scored in Game 6 of the epochal 1994 conference finals against the Devils, one properly regarded as one of the most critical in franchise history. That, of course, was the “We’ll Win Tonight” Mark Messier game. And the goal Kovalev scored late in the game’s second period brought the Blueshirts back within 2-1 to set the stage for The Captain’s third-period hat trick for the ages and the ride down the Canyon of Heroes that would follow.
Of course everyone wanted to talk about that night. It was in the past. Now the only canyon facing the Rangers is the Black Hole into which they’ve fallen, the one that swallows up teams that are steering toward a sixth straight season without a playoff game. That’s no fun to talk about.
The Rangers got a point last night by tying 3-3 in New Jersey, their third draw in three games this season against the Devils – against whom they’re 2-18-12 in their last 32 meetings – but that’s not really the point, even as one Ranger after another insisted the tie set the team up for the 16-game stretch drive that includes nine games at the Garden, where they’re three games under .500. The point is, the Rangers lost a point to eighth-place Tampa Bay, and lost another day and game to seventh-place Boston, which is next up tomorrow night at the Garden.
And the point is, on a night where Kovalev was overflowing with energy, flying early, and competing in a building where he has traditionally brought his “A” game to the rivalry that has gone so stale, Glen Sather never saw fit to double-shift this weapon of destruction, never saw fit to get Kovalev on the penalty kill, where his speed can dominate. Rather, Kovalev – who admitted to feeling fatigued out west last week but who said he felt much better last night – got a routine 18:27. And rather, Sather awarded 19:28 to Messier, the most ice time of any Ranger forward.
When the game had ended, when Sather was asked general questions about his team, whom he thought had played well – the usual tough, probing inquiries – the GM-coach started talking about Messier, about how much stronger he’s getting. Messier did well last night, no quarrel with that. He set up Brian Leetch – absolutely masterful – for the goal that tied it 2-2 early in the third. And he did well on the PK, too, helping his team kill all five Devils power plays with which they had to contend. But in heaping time on No. 11, Sather necessarily diminished the ice available to Kovalev, who was primed to break out, who broke the Devils’ trap as a one-man transport convoy, who was primed for a big performance.
“I felt I did have energy that wasn’t there last week, but I didn’t want to go running around. What sense is that?” No. 27 said. “It’s not playing in New Jersey that makes a difference for me. I just want to try and play my game.”
Kovalev has not yet taken over as a Ranger. Some of it is owed to fatigue. But some, too, is owed to a sense of protocol. Kovalev is in a room filled with marquee names. He’s trying to fit in on a team where it often seems like 1994 Forever.
Except the only place that matters: the standings.