Peter Laviolette can’t keep going like this and expect Rangers to change
Will Cuylle did not get a second of power-play ice time through the Rangers’ pair of man advantages and Will Cuylle did not get on the ice after Igor Shesterkin was pulled late in Monday’s 2-1 Garden defeat to the last-overall Blackhawks.
But Mika Zibanejad got 2:37 on the power play and Mika Zibanejad was one of the six on the ice for the final 2:09 in which the Blueshirts recorded one shot on net and had three attempts blocked, two of them by No. 93.
There is no intention to make Zibanejad a scapegoat, but if the Rangers expect things to change, if Peter Laviolette expects things to change from his perch behind the bench, then the head coach might want to do something differently.
For it is time — well past time, actually — for Laviolette to distribute ice time wholly on merit and not on reputation. By the way, it was Cuylle who scored his team’s lone goal — and shorthanded, don’t you know — by going to the slot to bury a rebound after PK-partner Sam Carrick drove to the net and forced Arvid Soderstrom to make a pad save.
Cuylle’s goal was his 10th of the year, and first that did not come at five-on-five. On a night when the Rangers barely touched a soul, Cuylle led the game with eight hits in 14:00 on the ice. He is fourth in the NHL (300:00 or more) with 18.66 hits per 60:00.
But on this night on which the Rangers were uninspired and could get nothing going that even resembled a push, Cuylle got the eighth-most ice time among forwards.
If Laviolette wants change, the head coach will have to be the change.
This is not about turning Zibanejad into a scapegoat. His level of desperation has increased over the last week, but not necessarily his execution. He does look like a shell of himself, and not only at the offensive end where there have been a series of misfires and mistakes with the puck.
Zibanejad’s five-on-five production has been an intermittent issue over the last five seasons. But even when No. 93 was enduring one of his goal-scoring droughts, he was also superior at the other end of the ice, where the center took on so much of Chris Kreider’s defensive-zone responsibilities.
You could always count on Zibanejad to emerge with one of the club’s highest goals-for percentages. When matched against the opposition’s top guns, the Rangers generally did come out on top in best-on-best.
But Zibanejad’s game has slipped without the puck and in the defensive zone. His turnover/giveaway behind Shesterkin’s net led directly to Tyler Bertuzzi’s goal in front at 8:10 of the first period to give Chicago — losers of five straight entering the contest — the 1-0 lead.
The Swede has been on for 3.85 goals-against per 60:00 at five-on-five. Last year, it was 2.21 and two years ago it was 1.86 GA per 60:00. It’s never been higher than 2.88 GA/60 throughout No. 93’s career. He has been on for 12 goals for and 21 against, which equates to a 36.36 goals-share. Last year it was 54.12 and two years ago it was 60.00.
Laviolette has to stop defaulting to Zibanejad. Laviolette also has to stop defaulting to the first power-play unit. Yes, the Blueshirts had gone 6-for-12 coming into the match, but it was evident that they could not make a pass and could not get to the inside on their first try. The second unit — with Cuylle, with Alexis Lafreniere, with Zac Jones — should have gotten the second try. They did not.
GM Chris Drury said on Saturday that he would like to allow the team to catch a breath and to consolidate. But after this homestand through which the Blueshirts went 2-3 facing Montreal, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Chicago, there is no time to waste.
There is something lost in translation from the time the club meets in the room and goes onto the ice. The best of intentions become something unrecognizable.
“We’re all fired up in here before each game. We want to turn this around more badly than anyone,” Ryan Lindgren told The Post. “We want to do whatever it takes. We’re ready to go.
“But then it’s tough to say what happens, these last couple of games we’ve thought it’s been a little better and we’re going in the right direction but then this one tonight, it just doesn’t seem like it’s going our way.
“We have to change things ourselves and be better.”
Zibanejad has not been close to his best self but neither has Chris Kreider, neither has Vincent Trocheck and neither has Adam Fox, not really even close to that.
But if change is not coming from the outside via Drury, then it must start with Laviolette. Same old, same old is just old, and it hasn’t even been close to being good enough.
