NEW YORK, NY – The past two weeks have offered an intriguing insight into just what the future New York Rangers may look like. Besieged by the kind of injuries that’d passed the Blueshirts by in seasons past, the Rangers young core of Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal were asked to lead the team forward minus the likes of Marian Gaborik (separated shoulder), captain Chris Drury (broken finger) and alternate captain Vinny Prospal (knee). The team had two glaringly obvious options; sink, or swim. One of the biggest issues regarding the young Rangers has been consistency – most pertinently, a severe lack of. Growing pains are to be expected and understood, after all, the Blueshirts are one of the youngest teams in the National Hockey League at this point. Callahan, Dubinsky and Staal are just the tip of the iceberg as far as Broadway’s youth movement’s concerned; young centres Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan boast quick starts to a young year, whilst the Blueshirts defence corps consists almost entirely of Ranger-drafted, home-grown talent in Staal, Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy and Michael Sauer. Evgeny Grachev, Chris Kreider and Ryan McDonagh are still to come. Eight games into the absence of their big-ticket stars, the Rangers have managed to forge a reasonably strong 5-4-1 record off the back of some even stronger performances from their young pretenders. The team, for the most part, is working as one – and working hard. The defacto first line of Dubinsky, Anisimov and Callahan has been exceptional throughout; Callahan, the Blueshirts alternate captain, leads the team with 11 points in ten games, whilst Dubinsky and second-year centre Anisimov have nine and seven respectively. They’ve operated off the back of a strong forecheck, hemming the opponents D into their own end and keeping them there for minutes at a time. The Rangers began their fortnight with a trio of gutsy, hard-fought wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils respectively. The Blueshirts outworked all three teams on the forecheck and blocked all manner of shots in their own end. Ruslan Fedotenko and Anisimov scored in Toronto to give Martin Biron his first win in Ranger blue, the former Flyer making 24 saves in a 2-1 debut victory, whilst they were opportunistic in riding Henrik Lundqvist’s 35 saves to a 3-2 win in Boston the following night. Success on foreign ice hasn’t been the issue for the Blueshirts thus far, but they’re continuing distaste for points on home ice has. Outside of a deserved 3-1 win over the rival Devils on October 24th owing to goals from Callahan, Dubinsky and defenceman Michal Rozsival, the Madison Square Garden ice has been somewhat of a problem for John Tortorella’s team. The Rangers are a solid 4-1 on the road, but a disappointing 1-3-1 at home, with lethargic defeats to the Atlanta Thrashers and Colorado Avalanche providing a swift carry over from last seasons barely .500 record. They performed far better in a proverbial track-meet against Carolina on Friday night, but still came out pointless in a 4-3 defeat after Hurricanes rookie Jeff Skinner bested Lundqvist twice in the second period. One of the biggest factors for the Rangers solid start has been the form of Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, Dan Girardi and Rozsival. Boyle, boasting as many goals in ten games as he had in 71 last season, attributes his vastly improved skating to the off-season work he did alongside former Canadian figure-skater Barb Underhill. The former Boston College player has coped fantastically with increased minutes owing to consistent performances in all situations and he scored his fourth of the year in Toronto on Saturday night, glossing over a stunning 36-save shutout for goaltender Lundqvist in a 2-0 win that halted a brief two-game losing skid. Lundqvist racked up his 25th shutout in Ranger blue, passing the beloved Mike Richter for fourth on the teams all-time list. Callahan again showcased his fledgling leadership as he notched a second period penalty shot in Toronto to give the Blueshirts the breathing space they needed to get across the finish line. The 25-year old Rochester, NY native intercepted a weak cross-ice pass from the Leafs’ Dion Phaneuf before being tripped by Phil Kessel as he skated in on J.S. Giguere with barely a minute to go in the period. The Rangers alternate captain picked himself up, dusted himself off and beat Giguere with a neat backhand-forehand move to lengthen a personal four-game goalscoring streak. He leads the Blueshirts with 11 points, 41 shots and 37 hits on the season. Callahan embodies each and every single characteristic that a team needs to win. His work ethic’s infectious, his fearless penalty kill on par with anyone in the league and his dogged determination in the offensive end creates as much for his team-mates as it does himself. It’s these traits the Rangers are currently showing in the absence of their star scorers and it’s these same traits they’ll need to continue to show long after they return. The Rangers face the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks at Madison Square Garden tonight as they begin a period that sees the Blueshirts playing 16 games in 29 days. It’s a tough schedule that offers little respite for a thin squad as they prepare to face the likes of Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh and Boston in an extremely difficult November. Contact the author – alex.nunn@prohockeynews.com
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