It may sound dramatic, but in beating the Buffalo Sabres last night, the Rangers won their biggest game of the season thus far. A relatively boring game that was 1-0 heading into the final six and a half minutes of play, the Rangers actually looked like a halfway decent hockey team. Four goals, one in an empty net, were scored in those final six minutes, with Reilly Smith and Adam Fox sealing it for the Blueshirts.
Though the Rangers looked like a halfway decent hockey team, they were sloppy at times, matching Buffalo’s sloppiness for most of the game. For some odd reason, the ice in Buffalo is bad, which makes no sense but also likely contributed to the sloppy game. From a Rangers perspective, sometimes you just need to see one in the win column, even if it wasn’t a pretty or perfect game. We preach process, but sometimes you just need to see one go in the net.
Speaking of needing to see something hit the back of the net, how about goals by Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox? Both desperately needed something, and Mika looked as close to his old self as we’ve seen all season.
Fox at long last got the monkey off his back with his first goal of the season. There have been some ups and downs in Fox’s play this year, as he has had to carry the corpse of Ryan Lindgren around for most of the season. Fox is an incredibly gifted hockey player, and getting that first goal may have helped some sliding confidence that most of the Rangers are suffering from at the moment.
Speaking of Lindgren, he’s either still hurt or his game fell off a cliff. He was on the ice for both goals against, got caught chasing the play multiple times, and now teams target him defensively and on zone entries. It isn’t controversial to say he’s probably waiting for his name to be called in a trade, and that may also be getting to him. He just isn’t a fit in Laviolette’s system, and his injury history is making any contract he signs a big risk.
It’s said when a fan-favorite becomes the main whipping boy, much like with Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, but it’s the unfortunately truth with him now. He has literally bled for this team in more ways than one, but he simply isn’t that type of player anymore, the one that made him a fan favorite. Hopefully he rebounds, we all hope he does, but the writing has been on the wall for a couple of seasons now. It is best for him to be traded before he becomes he becomes the villain.
The Rangers have three games remaining before the true Cup contenders start lining up on the other side of the ice. Last night was something they can build on, and they need to find some confidence fast, or that seven game gauntlet of Dallas, Carolina, New Jersey, Tampa, Florida, Boston, and Washington will be a blood bath.
