Imagine having an elite weapon but not backing it up with solid defense or team coordination, and it breaks! That’s the case with the New York Rangers right now. A few crucial players indeed pull the game towards a win, but perhaps the loopholes in the structure are starting to look more like craters. An 8-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, and the Rangers have added yet another darker shade to their already black canvas of missed opportunities, shaky defense, and, of course, fading playoff hopes!

But this didn’t stop Mike Rupp, the pro himself and the present studio analyst, from talking about the Rangers’ current slump. What is it? Poor guidance, team lapses, or a deeper disconnect between strategy and execution? “The New York Rangers have one of the best goalies in the world … and they don’t help him out,” Rupp revealed to the NHL Network–the team’s mismanagement leading to a series of issues. The best goalie–are we talking about Igor Sheshterkin here? Absolutely!

Well, there’s no denying how brilliant Shesterkin is. The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, he is already among the NHL’s elite players. Talk about lightning-quick reflexes or jaw-dropping saves—it’s simply Shesterkin being Shesterkin to justify the hefty amount he gets paid! A $92 million annual contract? Rangers got the one! But hey, what’s the point of having a star and not letting him shine?

“So you had your best asset, your best player. We protected him, so that was an advantage for our team every night,” Rupp made it more evident! And that’s when he made the comparison with the great one from the New Jersey Devils. Let’s not forget Rupp’s days in the Devils organization that helped him conduct the perfect analysis on how the franchise built a fortress for their goalie, Martin Brodeur.

“All right, so when you sit there and you talk about Marty, and a lot of people say, well, the defensive structure around him, that’s what helped,” he emphasized while talking about how every player on the team had protected their goaltender. “The defense in front of Marty was airtight, sticks up, bodies out, clearing out, no second chance, no third chance opportunities,” Rupp further reflected.

But in contrast, it’s the Rangers’ failure to protect Shesterkin. Perhaps the lack of attention or poor efforts are what is stacking up the odds against them, ultimately ending with tough pressure that demands a win–like it did in the recent one with the Flyers.

Behind the scenes of the New York Rangers’ blunders and breakdown

To say that things have gone from messy to downright mayhem in New York City. Let the Flyers add more fuel to the fire; they have burned them down to ashes after the Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning did! Well, an 8-5 is indeed a defensive disaster, exposing every crack in the Blueshirts’ fragile foundation, but wait, it wasn’t just the scoreline; rather, there were many ways the Rangers caved in the third period. So what did they do?

Well, when they needed resilience the most, guess what they did? They delivered pure chaos. But how? Just when the head coach, Laviolette, made a call that left everyone raising eyebrows. “We’re going to put Brett back in the lineup,” he admitted, and boom! With the game on the line and playoff hopes dangling by a thread, Laviolette had nothing to decide upon but to bench the rising star Gabe Perreault!

Yes, the same kid who has been stealing the spotlight in nearly every game he played! Sadly, he was nowhere to be seen. And in case you wonder about the reason behind the call? Laviolette reflected upon his decision with a classic definition–“Again, 12 forwards, you know, coming in—I think for a young player, especially straight out of college, you know there are going to be times where you can teach him and show him and let him watch and learn and practice and play in some games as well.”

Okay, so it’s like chasing a playoff dream by sidelining a potential spark? Well, let’s come to the real point. With the Rangers’ decision-making not matching the moment, it is the poor team structure making the entire team fumble. Call it the defensive lapses, tactical blunders, or any mismanaged talent; somewhere, it’s the lack of unity and clarity, drowning any shot at a late-season comeback.

Now, with every game that calls for do-or-die and the Montreal Canadiens just pulling right away, will the Rangers get out of the slump, or is it the system that has simply cracked beyond any repair?