Who would've guessed that on the first Saturday of December the New York Islanders would be in front of both the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers in the Atlantic division standings?When a team as talented as the Flyers looses six of their last seven outings, getting shutout in their two most recent games, heads will, and should, roll.
Paul Holmgren's decision to axe John Stevens was a necessary move. Although Steven's did, what was in my estimation, a solid job of helping the organization begin to turn things around in his first full season with the Flyers in '07-'08, it was clear that the team needed a change. Stevens is a very young coach - the Flyers seem to be in need of somebody with experience; somebody who can set a firm tone for the team and in the locker room.
Rumors abroad have it that there is a schism amongst the players in the Flyers' locker room. Captain Mike Richards' relationship with the Philly media has progressively deteriorated. The team, as a whole, has looked flat for far too long a stretch of games. All of these problems necessitated a change. New Coach Peter Laviolette has experience, a Stanley Cup ring, and an up-tempo offensive system that could be greatly beneficial for a very talented Flyers lineup.
Coaching change or not, the Flyers will fail to reach their potential as a Stanley Cup contender if Mike Richards and Jeff Carter continue to play below their capabilities. Richards has been committing far too many turnovers and hasn't looked quite like himself since the latter part of last season, while Carter has been snakebitten in the goals department for the last few weeks, now.
If Peter Laviolette can get his newly acquired locker room in order and find a way to get his top two forwards to play top-notch hockey, the Flyers will be just fine...
Marian Gaborik is second in the league in points and first in the league in goals. So why have the Rangers amassed just 13 points over their last 19 games?
No secondary scoring. So-so to downright bad defensive play. Injuries to their top two centers. It's not exactly rocket science.
However, for Coach John Tortorella, finding answers to these problems may be close to it. Ales Kotalik is goal-less in his last nine contests (playing him five minutes a game and not on the power-play has a lot to do with it, doesn't it Mr. Tortorella?). Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, and Christopher Higgins have combined for just eight (eight!) goals. Wade Redden's absence has resulted in the Rangers throwing out three rookies on defense, which means that five of their six defensemen in those games have been 25 years or younger. Going against Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with a rookie defenseman on each of your three defensive pairs...yikes!
Not exactly the recipe for success.
While fixing all of these problems at once may seem to be a monumental task, there is one thing the Rangers forwards need to do that will alleviate many of the teams' problems - get to the net.
Going to net is a means for guys like Drury, Callahan, and Higgins to pick up some dirty goals. Going to net results in power-play opportunities for a team that needs to garner substantial time with the man advantage to generate offense. Going to the net will make this team harder to play against.
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