{"id":441013,"date":"2026-02-02T05:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T05:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/441013\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T05:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T05:21:14","slug":"rangers-slipping-fundamentals-only-adding-to-woeful-losing-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/441013\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers’ slipping fundamentals only adding to woeful losing ways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rangers were struggling to keep their heads above water long before Artemi Panarin was sent home to sift through his trade options<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three consecutive losses later and the 2025-26 season has fallen far out of reach. <\/p>\n

Sitting 17 points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, as well as eight points behind the seventh-place Devils in the Metropolitan Division, the Blueshirts are drowning in demoralizing defeats.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an unsettling time for the team, constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. <\/p>\n

That has undoubtedly weighed on the locker room and, in turn, affected their play on the ice.<\/p>\n

There is cause for serious concern, however, for how the Rangers have lost their grip on certain fundamentals of the game.<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghBraden Schneider (4) defends during the Rangers\u2019 Jan. 31 loss to the Penguins. Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take too many penalties, and they\u2019re just lack of discipline penalties,\u201d head coach Mike Sullivan said after the Rangers took six penalties in the 6-5 loss to the Penguins on Saturday<\/a>. \u201cStick infractions in the offensive zone. It taxes some of our top players, because we use them on the kill. I just think we\u2019ve got to be better in certain areas of our game to give ourselves a better chance to get on the right side of the score. I mean, I love our effort. I love our compete. That\u2019s all there. Execution has to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cTape-to-tape passes on the breakouts, knowing what you\u2019re going to do with it before you get it. The speed at which we execute is an important element. We got to get better at those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

With one game left before the Olympic break, as well as 26 contests remaining on their regular-season schedule, the Rangers are looking at a taxing finish to the 2025-26 campaign if the losses continue to pile up. Losing can \u2014 and will \u2014 take a major toll on a locker room.<\/p>\n

Panarin\u2019s absence is already felt, and there will likely be more lineup regulars departing before the March 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n

Equipped with five rookies in the lineup already, the Rangers \u2014 who already added 23-year-old defenseman Vincent Iorio via waiver wire<\/a> Saturday \u2014 are only expected to get younger. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of the many goals of this retooling initiative, but with it will come the loss of experience.<\/p>\n

That much is already evident in a roster that currently sports an average age of 27.64, which is the 11th youngest in the NHL. <\/p>\n

\"NewMike Sullivan reacts from the bench during the Rangers\u2019 Jan. 31 loss to the Penguins. Imagn Images<\/p>\n

While Gabe Perreault, Noah Laba and Matthew Robertson have shown flashes of promise, other rookies like Scott Morrow and Brennan Othmann have struggled to establish themselves.<\/p>\n

Younger players like Will Cuylle, Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re and Braden Schneider have been wildly inconsistent.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Matt Rempe has also regressed amid his ongoing recovery from thumb surgery<\/a>, which has prevented him from playing the type of game that helped him make a name for himself in the league.<\/p>\n

The slow starts are a reflection of the team\u2019s lack of focus, but also indicative of a sort of greenness that is present in this lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to think we\u2019re very prepared and motivated and ready to start the game,\u201d captain J.T. Miller said after Saturday\u2019s loss. \u201cTalk about it all the time, but we\u2019re not really executing that game plan. Other teams are getting out to better starts, so obviously it\u2019s an issue for us \u2026 I feel like we\u2019re ready to go. When we go on the ice, we\u2019re ready to play the game. And then we get out there and they jump out to the lead it seems like a lot of nights. \u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rangers were struggling to keep their heads above water long before Artemi Panarin was sent home to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5111],"tags":[5,2310,3328,35,5190,5193,4,36,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-441013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-rangers","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-mike-sullivan-nhl","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-rangers","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkrangers","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-rangers","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115999361672274830","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}