The Rangers uninspired effort against a the less talented, road-weary Panthers squad highlighted all of the serious problems that have plauged the team this season: no secondary scoring whatsoever, ineffective defense, an utter lack of grit and giving up soft goals.
But that's been true of pretty much every game the Rangers have played since the end of October. So here's a bold statement: this team is bad. They're not in a slump, they're not still putting together their lines and chemistry, they're not still learning a run-and-gun system that's totally unfamiliar to them. They play hockey badly, and lose most of their games.
The Rangers can't sustain offensive pressure, make countless turnovers in every area of the rink, and have literally no scoring outside of their top line. The players are not only struggling to keep up with opposing teams, they're also struggling to keep up with the pace of their own system. At this point in the season, some of the blame has to fall on Tortorella. Granted, benching players is difficult when the team is dealing with serious injuries to two of its top-six fowards, which also rules out sending veteran guys to Hartford. Instead, the system needs some tweaking.
From a fan's perspective, this is a bummer of a season. They're awful to watch and they don't seem to really care. Unfortunately, my roommate is an Islanders fan. Watching the Isles lose to the Blues the other night, I found myself thinking "I wish the Rangers played like this." And that's the biggest bummer of them all.
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