Talk Hockey

With the New York Rangers back from the All-Star break collecting three out of possible four points in games against the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres, one aspect to come out of both contests is the lack of consistent offense from their top-six forwards.

The Blueshirts have managed to scratch and claw their way atop the Eastern Conference standings with stellar goaltending from arguably the best tandem in the NHL in Henrik Lundqvist and Marty Biron —although Bruins’ head coach Claude Julien may have the strongest case against that. Also, their defense – without its key cog Marc Staal for a good portion of the first half and currently without Michael Sauer due to a concussion – has allowed the fewest goals in the NHL at 96 through 49 games played.

Its those two key traits about the team – along with their tireless work ethic forged by first-year captain Ryan Callahan – that will continue to keep the Rangers in every game. Head coach John Tortorella has instilled a defense-first, effort-based system that, along with the proper player personnel, has put the Rangers ahead of their development and given them a great chance to make noise come this spring.

The one area that needs improvement from the Blueshirts are the top-six forwards and their scoring production, with the two biggest offenders being Brad Richards and Brandon Dubinsky. Both players have dealt with their own specific struggles, sculpting their respective seasons.

Aside from some timely goals early on in the year, Richards has only two points (one goal, one assist) in his last ten contests as his scoring slump has seen other facets of his game sag. 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) through 49 games isn’t terrible, but when a 9-year/$60 million price tag comes along with those statistics, the expectations of being an elite playmaking center and power-play specialist certainly don’t add up to the current output.

The weight of living up to the induced-pressure of a big-time contract could be the ailment affecting Brandon Dubinsky as well. In the first year of his four-year, $16.8 million contract, Dubinsky has just five goals through 46 games played and has looked lost on offense for long stretches of the season.

To his credit, Dubinsky hasn’t allowed his miserable offensive season to affect other areas of his game as the Anchorage, Alaska native is relied on as a key penalty-killer and can still win puck battles along the boards down low.

The 133 goals the Rangers have scored as a team – 14th best in the NHL – is largely due to Marian Gaborik’s return to form this season, leading the Rangers with 41 points and 25 goals. Richards and Dubinsky are third and seventh in scoring for the Blueshirts, respectively. Not terrible numbers, but not what a team that has home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs as its goal needs in order to maintain its lead in the East with better offensive teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins gunning for first place.

Is there a simple fix to what’s wrong with both players? The answer is no. Does it help that coach Tortorella likes to play mad scientist with the lines in nearly every game? It can’t, but, in Tortorella’s defense, if the lines being deployed were creating chances or being productive, there wouldn’t be a need to tinker.

The bottom line is both Brad Richards and Brandon Dubinsky are huge pieces to the puzzle for the Rangers and need to be playing at a high level. The fact the team has won despite their struggles is a huge credit to the coaching staff getting the most out of its players along with a stingy defense and an even stingier goalie tandem.

But if the Rangers have aspirations of a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Marian Gaborik cannot be the lone scoring threat. Brandon Dubinsky and Brad Richards need to be the players they’ve shown to be in their careers. If not, the magical season the Blueshirts have been on could come to an abrupt end in April.

James Wrabel, Jr.
Hockey This Week
Follow James on Twitter @thewrage

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