A-Ha!

I've been saying it all along.

Seriously... I knew it.

What is the question that has frustrated the Rangers and their fans all season long? Well, it has to do with that good old Shots On Goal (SOG) statistic.

Here, lets look at the past 3 games:

• How can the Rangers get 32 shots on goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs (the league's worst defensive team), and only score ONE freakin' goal
• How do you fire off 41 shots against the Florida Panthers, and, AGAIN, only cash in one time?
• How do you only out-shoot the Colorado Avalanche 30-24, yet outscore them 6-1?

The answer, ladies and gentlemen, is very basic. 

Ready.... here it is:

The Rangers do not shoot to SCORE.

Now I know what you're thinking. This seems very contradictory and confusing when one considers the basic strategy/purpose of a hockey game. Usually, a hockey team would want to propel the puck towards the cage with the grand purpose of scoring a goal, so that their team may be awarded a "point", if you will.

While New York's skaters were able to deceive the average hockey fan into thinking that they out-chanced their opponents in each tilt, the Blueshirts actually had FEWER quality scoring chances than their opponents in MANY of the games in which they out-shot their adversaries.

Instead of working harder to create "quality" chances, the Rangers were merely slapping lazy pucks toward their opponents' nets from bad shooting angles such as the side boards or other spots outside of the faceoff circles. While these pucks are marked off in the box score as Shots On Goal (SOG), rebounds and second chance opportunities were a rarity because shots from such angles are so easily handled or kicked aside by NHL caliber goaltenders.

While bad-angle shots can sometimes be effective by surprising a goalie (as has happened AGAINST Henrik Lundqvist several times this season), such a ploy only works if 1) you have people going to the net for rebounds, and 2) the opposing goalie is actually surprised by your shot. Neither of these requirements were in the NYR gameplan.

Now when the Rangers DID manage to create a "quality" scoring chance, they had a different issue:

They don't shoot the puck hard enough.

Ranger forwards, Scott Gomez most notably, repeatedly find themselves walking down the slot with the pill just feet away from enemy goaltenders, but instead of picking a corner and ripping a wrister past a backstop, they are more concerned with merely getting a puck on net, and adding to their SOG totals. 

Why do you think Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, or even Philadelphia's Jeff Carter score so many goals? Because when they shoot, (and they shoot often), they shoot quickly, they shoot hard, and the shoot to score. 

So John Tortorella watches his new team lose it's first two games under him, having scored 2 goals combined in those two losses. Because Torts is a very bright man, and a great hockey mind (just like me), he spots this team's Projectile Dysfunction, and then he takes action in the team's next practice.

What does he have his squad do, you ask? The most simple of hockey shooting drills. 

the CW11 (the channel the NYR-Colorado game was broadcasted on for some reason), gave a great video performing this simple drill at their practice.

Henrik/Valiquette are at the top of their goal-creases, laying on their left sides (thus taking away the bottom half of the net), with their pads stacked, and their blockers (both goalies wear their blockers on their right hand) in the air. The goalies are not allowed to sit up during this drill. They lay still, allowed to move only their blockers, and lift their stacked leg pads in the air.

Meanwhile, Assistant Coach Jim Schoenfeld stands in the corner with a bundle of pucks, and slides one at a time into the high-slot/hashmarks area, where a Ranger shooter breaks in from center ice, and attempts to one-time it up high past the lounging goaltender.

SO simple, yet SO effective. The Rangers were certainly picking their corners on Saturday night.

Speaking of which.. here are a few

GAME NOTES

- Despite the score, Henrik Lundqvist made some great saves in net tonight, including two ridiculous stops on two separate 2-on-1s. These are saves that KEPT this game out of reach when a goal may have shifted some momentum. And the Rangers know all too well what can happen with a few quick goals (I.E. Montreal, Washington).

-Hank has now allowed 2 goals or fewer in 9 of his last 15 games. The problem? This was only the second time that he has won in those 9 games.

-The change in the dynamic of this team has been apparent since Tortorella's first game in Toronto. The new system has Ranger players skating harder on the forecheck, punishing more bodies, and creating more turnovers. Watch how the 3rd forward, and especially the defense jump into the rush with much more frequency than was allowed in Renney's defense-first strategy.

- Torts also really has his players going hard to the net, something Tom Renney was very apprehensive about doing. Tonight at least 4 of the goals were a direct result of Rangers buzzing around the enemy net.

- Scott Gomez SHOULD flourish playing in Tortorella's system. Scott now has the green light to take the puck end-to-end and attack the net, while being A LITTLE less mindful of his d-zone responsibilities. Gomer certainly looks more comfortable on the ice right now than he has all season.

-Brandon Dubinsky was born to forecheck like mad and work the puck down low in the offensive zone. He is not a checking-line center, he is a second-line center. He is skating harder, and better, than he has since the departure of Jaromir Jagr.

- I'm not yet sure where Nik Zherdev stands in Torts' mind. Z will, clearly, be given an opportunity to showcase his offensive creativity. However, the first time he attempts a toe-drag around a forechecker just inside the NYR blueline, we may never see him on the ice EVER again.

- Petr Prucha should have been in this lineup from the very beginning. PP did not fit into Renney's system. He fits right in with JT.

- Can we clone Ryan Callahan?

- Wade Redden has been better of late. Not great, but better. Wade has been borderline steady, and sorta solid, and has shown signs of masculinity on the blueline in the past few games. Good for him.

- I'm happy that the team showed some grit and toughness on their own turf at the end of the game when Colorado started to get a bit chippy. I LOVE when Prucha gets in their to mix it up with the big boys. That kid can do it all.

While this win was certainly a step in the right direction for the Blueshirts, we must again keep in mind that this effort was put forth against a pretty crappy Avalanche squad who stand in last place in the Western Conference. Their next game, against the Islanders, would be much of a measuring stick, either. What it can do, however, is give the Rangers their first 2-game winning streak since January 27th, and maybe some confidence.

The 4+ days between games will definitely provide Tortorella with an opportunity to install his full system into a team that is still transitioning under their new coach. 

With the trade deadline set for Wednesday afternoon, the question remains whether or not the team that Torts is working with right now will be the same set of players available to him when they plays the Islanders on Thursday night. One has to believe that Glen Sather will make some kind of splash at the deadline, not to mention the impending re-arrival of Sean Avery onto Broadway.

(you can catch me and my Sin Bin radio team giving instant NHL trade deadline analysis on Wed. starting at 2:30 on Comradio.psu.edu)

The problem for Sather is that he is so cash strapped by the salary cap, that most moves involving any big-name players are going to be very difficult to pull off. The long term deals that he has signed some of his under-achieving players to are going to be very difficult to move, and may handcuff him at the deadline.

My (Basic) Trade-Deadline Advice to G.M. Glen Sather:

1. Untouchables: Lundqvist, Staal (I want to put Nik Zherdev on this list... but I wont)
2. Team Needs: Top 6 winger, PP Quarterback, Hard-hitting defenseman
3. Target: Smyth (COL),  Antropov (TOR), Kaberle (TOR), Tkachuk (STL), Bouwmeester (FLA)
4. Unload: Rozsival, or Redden, or Gomez, or Drury (one of these big contracts).
5. Do not mortgage the future. Do not trade more than one 1st round pick, and preferably none this year.

Your move, Mr. Sather.

-Rif