Vincent Trocheck calls out Rangers after abysmal 5-0 loss to Devils
While it seems that the New York Rangers have had multiple “rock bottoms” this season, a 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils heading into the holiday break really feels like the bottom of the barrel amid a stretch of 4-13-0 in the last 17 games.
Now below NHL .500 for the first time this season at 16-17-1, the Rangers are staring down the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. Judging by the players reactions to this most recent defeat, things are about as bad as they can get on Broadway.
One player who has really stepped up as a leader since New York shipped out former captain Jacob Trouba has been Vincent Trocheck. His message after Monday’s loss was simple.
“We’ve gotta show more heart,” Trocheck said postgame. “We should be embarrassed.”
It was Trocheck who put his heart on display and tried to get things going for the Rangers early in the first period. He did so by dropping the gloves with Paul Cotter, something he doesn’t do particularly often.
“I’ve never pre-planned it,” explained Trocheck. “But when we’re in a hole like this, I tried to get the guys going a little bit, yeah.”
While the Rangers have elected not to name a captain following the Trouba deal, if anyone has put their hat in the ring through their actions in the last two weeks, it’s Trocheck.
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Rangers look to turn things around after break, ‘It’s time to figure it out’
Unfortunately, the Rangers never got going after Trocheck dropped the gloves. Poor defensive play, mental mistakes, and bad special teams play allowed the Devils to run away with the game. Two separate instances of too many men on the ice penalties both resulted in power play goals for the Devils. It is mistakes in this form that cannot be acceptable, especially when the team finds themselves in a stretch like this.
Not only were the Rangers shut out, but it is the second time they have been shut out in just six days, as they were shut out 2-0 by the last place Nashville Predators Dec. 17.
After starting the season 12-4-1, the Rangers have gone 4-13-0 in one of the most remarkable drop-offs in recent memory. How this happened is still a mystery, but what remains certain is that the Rangers are running out of time to figure things out. Teams not in playoff position by the holiday break have just a 20 percent chance of making the cut. That’s not where the Rangers thought they would be less than two months ago, but here they are.
The Rangers will have four days off before facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 28, followed by the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers two days later. Things will not be getting any easier for New York in the coming weeks, so they’ll need to hit the reset button over this holiday break.
“We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror here and come back really hungry, because this is just not winning hockey we’re playing right now,” defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “It’s miserable for us. It’s miserable for the fans. It’s time to figure it out.”
It’s uncertain what comes next for the Rangers. They traded their captain, they traded Kaapo Kakko, and now, after Peter Laviolette scratched Chris Kreider against the Devils, the team showed little-to-no response. Will another veteran player have to sit out a game? It seems that no matter what happens with the team, the results stay the same.
At the end of the day, it’s another example of a team that lacks urgency at a time when they need it most. If the Rangers want any chance of making the playoffs, something needs to click in that locker room, and fast.
“We know (urgency) needs to be there,” continued Lindgren. “Why we’re not playing with it? I don’t know. We certainly know we got to turn this around in a hurry. We got to figure it out.”
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