Imperceptibly, then gradually, the Rangers’ attention to detail was slipping. You could see it, more on the defensive side of the puck, but also in decision-making with the puck that started to skew the risk-reward quotient the wrong way.
But the Blueshirts outscored their own mistakes. They were resourceful and talented enough to overcome mounting breakdowns in discipline. They won and they won and they won, six out of seven in fact, while ascending to the top of the NHL even playing below the standard they had established earlier in the season.
Until the Blueshirts crashed Tuesday in Ottawa. Until they were unable to camouflage their mistakes in a 6-2 defeat that seems to have been accepted as a cold reminder that despite the results, the team needs to dial it back up before the schedule resumes with a back-to-back that opens in Washington on Saturday before the formidable Kings come to the Garden the following night.
“We understand we haven’t been at our best, we talked about areas we can improve and what’s been different this last little stretch versus the major chunk of the year,” Jacob Trouba said. “You’re not going to go through the whole year playing great, you’re going to have ebbs and flows through the season.
“It’s not going unaddressed but it’s also, we’re in a really good spot, we’ve put ourselves in a good spot and there’s no need to overreact. You address the situation, see it, understand it, make the changes and get back to where we want to be.”
Again, even though the Rangers had been living dangerously over the fortnight, they weren’t paying for it. That probably led to a sense of false security.
“I think that’s human nature, when things are going well, when you’re at the top, you can begin to look for things you can do to make it a little bit easier,” the captain told The Post. “Do you really have to finish the hit, do you have to skate that extra bit?
“That’s a lesson that we hopefully will learn now. We don’t want this thing to continue and play a little bit of a looser way. I think we’ve been less detailed in all three zones. We’re not going to be successful long term playing this way. If we had to learn that the hard way, hopefully we’ve addressed this right now.
“Part of that is on the leadership group, part of that is on everyone in the room to recognize that this isn’t our best hockey right now,” said No. 8. ‘Let’s turn the page and get back to what makes us good without having to lose more than one game.”
A correction is required, but not an overcorrection. A reaction must be forthcoming, but there is no need for an overreaction. The Rangers, 18-5-1, went for classroom instruction before going to work in a spirited practice Thursday. The roof did not fall in on them.
“We expect and demand a lot out of ourselves,” Mika Zibanejad told The Post. “We know how we need to play. All those wins have not been a fluke.
“We know we haven’t put together 60 minutes over the last stretch the way we have done most of the season. Our desire to be at our best hasn’t stopped because we’ve been winning. This slippage is not intentional.
“We want to play a good, full 60 minutes and we want to play it the way we’ve talked about and have kind of agreed on creating a sense of identity for our team,” he said. No. 93. “We know we’re not going to win every game but we can control our intentions.”
The Rangers have lapsed a bit into old habits. Possession time is down. They have been forcing too many passes in looking to make the perfect play, both at five-on-five and on the power play that has been only decent the last 11 games (7-for-32, 21.9 pct.) after being an overpowering force the first 13 matches (15-for-42, 35.7).
There have been a plethora of odd-man rushes against in addition to questionable defensive-zone coverage.
“Some of it is just awareness,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “I wouldn’t say necessarily that it’s risk like we’re slamming walls recklessly in the offensive zone or just sending three guys in. That’s not the plan or the message.
“However, if we hesitated getting out or we did pinch at the wrong time or if somebody did get behind us just from unawareness or we did turn the puck over and they got a two-on-one, these things all happened in that [Ottawa] game.It was a culmination of everything.“It all needs to be a little bit cleaner.”
The Rangers were tied with Boston for the NHL’s best points percentage at .771 before the B’s faced the Sabres on Thursday. The Blueshirts are 10 points clear of a playoff spot. They know what they’ve done.
“I don’t think there is any need to overreact,” Zibanejad said. “We know what type of team we have and what type of team we are. I expect a good response.”
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