Accountability: the most important quality in a sports team
No team in the NHL is perfect. And the New York Rangers are no exception. After a 6-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, following a 1-1 road trip, the Rangers headed into a Thursday night matchup against the winless San Jose Sharks looking to build off their successful play at even strength, while adjusting some of their defensive mistakes.
Unfortunately, the Rangers fell short in overtime, 3-2, as they were heavily outplayed in the third period. Through two periods, shots on goal were 21 to 9 in favor of the Rangers, but the Sharks applied so much pressure in the third and outshot the Rangers 16-2. Then, a couple of miscues in the extra frame led to a game-winning goal by Erik Karlsson.
The story of this game was how the Rangers went in being almost completely dominant on offense, both at even strength and with the man advantage, to seemingly lacking the effort to even get a shot on net by the end. Following the victory over Anaheim, many in the locker room felt that there was lots of room for improvement on the defensive side, as they had allowed four goals that night. And that was said despite dominating play, including possession and chances, the entire game. The fact that this was acknowledged shows that the Rangers are well aware of the fact that off nights are bound to happen, and it’s important to get bad mistakes out now rather than in March or April. However, that alone is not enough to consider them an accountable team.
Plain and simple, last night the Rangers failed to follow through with what they said on defending and, on top of that, were not as good at attacking as they’ve been so far this season. It’s one thing to make a few mistakes that cost the team goals, but it’s another to completely shift away from the play style that was necessary to win a hockey game. Gerard Gallant couldn’t even compare the game against the Ducks to the one against the Sharks; it was that different.
What makes a hockey team good is not just winning a lot of games over the course of a season. It’s what they do after a victory, or even a loss, that makes them stand out. The Tampa Bay Lightning won 62 regular season games in 2018-19 only to get swept by a wild card team. The following season, management made the necessary moves to bolster their depth and players such as Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov elevated their levels of play in the playoffs, leading them to the first of two consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
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A team can say after a game one night that they played well but can be better, but that does not make them an accountable team. It’s proven in the games following that observation. It’s determined on performance. The Rangers have all the tools necessary to be a dominant team. They have even shown flashes of that brilliance early on in the season. But the best teams display much more than a couple moments here and there; they constantly put 60-minute efforts in night after night, win or lose. If the Rangers want to even be considered one of the best teams in the NHL, then they will learn from this loss and come back stronger not just in the next game, but the one after and the one after that. Until they’re lifting Lord Stanley above their heads in June. And then they’ll do it all over again next October.
-Joey DiMeglio, Ice Cold Takes: A New York Sports Podcast
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