There's no sugar-coating it, the New York Rangers are struggling right now. On the heels of their fourth straight loss last night to the Winnipeg Jets, the Rangers are searching for some answers. Those answers just may come in the forms of Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, and most importantly Rick Nash. Their return to the lineup will come as a more than welcome addition as the team is sitting at just 8-8-2 overall.
At the start of the season the lack of depth on this Rangers roster was exposed. With the departures of key heart & soul players like Brandon Dubinsky (Blue Jackets), Artem Anisimov (Blue Jackets), Brandon Prust (Canadiens), and Ruslan Fedotenko (Philadelphia) the Rangers were left with a huge void to fill. Needless to say, when Nash went down with an undisclosed injury, McDonagh with a precautionary concussion issue, and Del Zotto with a bruised hip, we all knew the past few games were going to be a serious struggle for this club.
Today Rangers fans everywhere were able to breathe a sigh of relief when they got the news that all three of their key missing players had become probable for Thursdays game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It is going to be essential for Rick Nash to be the missing piece the Rangers are looking for to help right the ship on offense. Having Nash in the lineup creates a ripple effect. It takes the top defending players off of Gaborik and Richards, thus minimizing the offensive burden that has been put on those two to essentially carry the load (which they clearly haven't been doing too well). The Rangers will now be able to go back to rolling three consistent lines without much of a drop-off in goal scoring ability.
Being able to get McDonagh and Del Zotto back in the lineup is clearly a great way to stabilize a defense that has been reeling throughout this four game losing streak. Currently the Rangers are in 11th place (18 points) in the Eastern conference, with at least a game in hand on the six teams that stand in front of them in the standings. With 30 games left to play until the playoffs, the Rangers still have time to make this season a positive one. Five points is all that separates the 5th-10th seeds in the conference, it's not time to hit the panic button just yet.
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