In a pathetic effort from start to finish, the New York Rangers defeated the New York Islanders by a score of 3-0 at Madison Square Garden tonight. Quite frankly, the game was a complete massacare despite the Isles keeping the score close for 55 minutes. But that was nowhere near good enough tonight as a bigger, faster, and more structured team took advantage of a clueless Islander team that could not get out of their own way.
With two goals from Carl Hagelin, an empty net goal by Marian Gaborik, and a shutout by Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers skated to a somewhat easy win tonight. And while the win propelled them to first in the East, the Islander loss also kept them in last in the East. That is where most of the rest of this entry will lie, because the reality is that at this juncture of the "rebuild," last place is completely unacceptable. The Islanders need a new coach, GM, owner, and some new players too. While the team has acquired a handful of real core keeper players through the draft, namely John Tavares and Travis Hamonic, there is not enough there to take the next step without outside help.
That outside help includes a real winger for Tavares, as while Matt Moulson and P.A. Parenteau have been productive, their overall game and skill level is just not dynamic enough to complement Tavares over a full season. It includes a complement for Travis Hamonic and one for Mark Streit. Andrew MacDonald is a nice support player, but is having a brutal season as he recovers from a hip injury.
All in all, this loss was just another example of the difference between the Islanders and Rangers. The Rangers don't sign players because they have a nice arena. For a while, their locker room was a dump as they played in a 40 year old arena. Sound familiar? Players sign with the Rangers because they overpaid them, they showed a commitment to the team, and they showed a desire to winning. It's not just about playing at the Garden or having a New York name attached to them. The Islanders offer a New York name too, though sometimes it's even hard to believe that.
Truthfully, players don't sign with the Islanders because the Islanders aren't any good. It doesn't have much to do with 2015 or the Nassau Coliseum or Long Island. It has everything to do with the fact that the Islanders have been so bad for so long they are teetering on the brink of irrelevancy. It has to do with an inexperienced front office, including the owner, that has shown no ability to put a legitimate playoff contender together. When you combine all of that, it means that Garth Snow is going to have to trade for an impact player. After four long seasons, one would think there is enough talent in the organization to pull the trigger on a high-end player. But those players cost money, and they don't come fresh with an ELC bonus or a bonus for being 35 years old, so I'm not getting my hopes up.
In the end, this one late-December game means little in a lost season, other than the fact that the Islanders are now a below-.500 team in their history again. But it is a reminder that the Islanders are beyond the point of hope. They need to take action to show commitment to their players. They need to regain the trust of their fans. And they need to show that winning does matter. Until then, the Islanders will just continue to drive in neutral.
-CH
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