So low that when thinking about tomorrow night’s home matchup against the Islanders, it’s tough to think of the Rangers as favorites.
Before another Alex Rodriguez press conference/interview engulfs us all for the next few days, let’s quickly talk about the sinking ship that has become the New York Rangers.
Last night was another demoralizing loss for the Blueshirts, falling 2-1 to the Blues. It was the team’s eighth loss in its past nine games. And a one-time assured playoff spot is slowly slipping from their grip. And perhaps more importantly, even if they hold onto a playoff spot, how far could they advance playing like this?
The Rangers are tied for the fifth seed, but their lead over the ninth seed has stumbled to five points over the Hurricanes and six points over the tenth-place Penguins. The Islanders actually did their rivals a favor by beating Pittsburgh 3-2 in a shootout yesterday, so the Penguins gained only one point on the Rangers.
Here’s a couple of disheartening quotes from last night’s AP Rangers story.
“You see when they score a goal, we totally lose our composure and start running around,” Henrik Lundqvist said. “It takes a lot for us to bounce back from a goal because everybody gets so tight.”
And from Blues goalie, Chris Mason.
“The second half of the game, I thought we just totally dominated,” Mason said. “We didn’t give them anything in the third period, especially.”
This isn’t exactly the Red Wings we’re talking about. These are the 55-point, 13th in the Western Conference St. Louis Blues.
This Islanders game tomorrow night could be a focal point of the Rangers season. The last thing this team needs is a loss to a far-inferior rival at home to continue their awful skid with the fans chants of “fire (coach Tom) Renney” and “fire (GM Glen) Sather” ringing out in the Garden.
Is Sean Avery the answer? It’s a question that deserves to be answered and at least it is better than the enigma this team has become.
ELSEWHERE
Dodgers: No deadline for Manny
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti told SI, the team has no deadline on signing slugger Manny Ramirez, at least not right now.
“I wouldn’t say there’s urgency as of today,” Colletti told the Web site. “At the same time, it could become (an issue) — not as of today, though.”
The Dodgers players report tomorrow to their spring-training complex, so who knows when they will feel rushed to sign Ramirez.
“We continue to talk,” Colletti said. “I wouldn’t say we’ve made progress. Hopefully, the conversations will lead to progress.”