New York Rangers Close To Getting Much Needed Reinforcements
The New York Rangers are expecting injured players to return in the coming weeks and are hoping it will help reenergize the team.
The New York Rangers got off to a scorching start to the 2016-17 season. They looked like a well-oiled machine in the early going as they were scoring in bunches and blowing teams out. But, an NHL season is a long one and there will be peaks and valleys.
The Rangers started the season on a peak, but have went into a valley. A reason for that has been injuries slowing down the Rangers high-power offense.
On November 20th the Rangers lost Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad had been acquired from the Ottawa Senators along with a second round pick in 2018 in exchange for Derick Brassard and a seventh-round pick in 2017. Through November 20th Zibanejad has been exactly what the Rangers had hoped for.
Through 19 games, Zibanejad registered 15 points, scoring five goals with 15 assists. He was +1 through those games, winning 53.7 percent of his faceoffs as well. He was performing at a very high level, but then he broke his leg in the shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
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After that the Rangers offense went into a bit of a funk. They were no longer scoring goals in bunches and their record reflected that. Through the first 19 games of the season with Zibanejad, the Rangers scored at least five goals nine times and compiled a record of 13-5-1.
Since then, the Rangers have scored at least five goals only two times in 18 games. While their record of 11-7-0 isn’t too bad, it is a far cry from what they did to begin the season and has caused them to drop in the highly competitive Metropolitan Division.
The holiday break that the NHL just finished up should help the Rangers. They looked a little tired as they head into the final days of 2016, as they were outscored 14-6 in the final two games by the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins.
"“It stings right now the way that our last two games have gone,” captain Ryan McDonagh said after the Wild game. “Obviously we enjoy family time and whatnot with Christmas, but at the end of the day, we’re professionals here. We want to take pride in our job and focus on what we can do individually to be better coming back here after this break.”"
The Rangers were able to get off to a hot start after the break. They defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3, coming back after falling behind 3-1. It was nice to get back on track, and they should be getting reinforcements soon to help keep the momentum going.
Zibanejad is expected back in mid-January from his broken leg. His return should coincide with the return of fellow injured player, Pavel Buchnevic. If both return without setbacks, and no other injures occur, the Rangers will be able to get their lines back in order to what they were the first 19 games of the season when they were on fire.
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That would be great news for the Rangers, and spell trouble for the rest of the NHL. They have been able to stay afloat despite the injuries and should be able to gain momentum once again when the injured players return to the lineup.