Dont push me, cause Im close to the edge
Im trying not to loose my head
Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

Jagr, Shanahan, Drury, Gomez and Straka have clearly gotten “the Message” from Grand Master Renney and are scoring furiously. They are a combined 13 points in the last two games. A total of 9 goals have been scored in the last two games. They had only 7 goals in four game previous to the Islander game.

I single these players out because, after all, they are being paid to put up points. Combine that with the scoring contributions of the youngsters and the defense and you have a prescription for success. The most encouraging thing is that they have 4 goals in their last 10 powerplay chances and have killed 9 of 11 penalties. Those are the kind of special team numbers you want to see. For a team that had been offensively comatose for the first quarter of the season, one wonders what woke them up.

Could it be that they are starting to gel? Yes, that would be the convenient answer.  But I think it goes beyond that. Some pundits would say that Jagr has awakened now that Straka is back. While that might be partially true, I think Jagr realizes that the personnel the Rangers have are here to stay and that it is he who needs to adapt. 

Straka has always been able to adapt his game and play with the linemates dealt to him. He executes the game plan and takes direction well. As a person, Straka is very highly regarded by Renney. If you watch Straka and Jagr closely, since his return Straka has been able to draw Jagr out of his shell and make him play a more North/South type of game. 

With Straka and Dubinsky, you have two hustlers and a shooter in Jagr. They can dump and chase and clog up the middle and let Jagr shoot. The difference is that Straka and Dubinsky are taking shots, too. This line is a triple threat. I take issue with those that say having Dubinsky on the top line is no solution to the Jagr chemistry experiment. It seemed  to be working well and Jagr was happy to work with the kid. It is working even better with Straka back. You can’t discount the value of keeping Jagr happy. A happy Jagr is a scoring Jagr.

Putting Hossa in Avery’s place with Shanahan and Gomez worked very well this afternoon. Hossa had a two point game. He hadn’t had a point in 19 previous games. Shanny may have had a slow start but he is getting consistently sharper with each game. He has five points in his last three games. Gomez has two.

Chris Drury had a three point game against the Islanders on Thursday and a two point game in Sunrise for a combined total of five in his last four games. Who knows how much steam Prucha, Drury and Callahan can develop with time. With the powerplay having more success, Drury and Prucha will put up more points.

So, there you have it. In these last two games every component of the Ranger’s game plan has been firing on all 12 cylinders. Now that the boys are finally executing, the coaches will be able to concentrate on devising strategies to capitalize on other team’s weakness and not worry about their players buying in to the game plan. (ie. soft corner dump ins when playing good puck handling goalies, coming out peddle to the metal on tired teams and pressing for more scoring and not sitting on leads).

Game strategy is the finesse aspect of hockey that we see so little of nowadays. I feel confident that is about to change. It may have changed already.

Posted under New York Rangers