The Ship Be Sinking: Little known Predator Rich Clune had no problem beating Henrik Lundqvist in a scene that becoming a disturbing trend for the Rangers.
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Losing is one thing. As a loyal and passionate fan of this team whose family has attended games since 1996, we’ve had our share of stinkers. Between ’97-98 through ’03-04, the Rangers didn’t make the playoffs once. Since Henrik Lundqvist’s arrival in ’05-06, we’ve had it much better. The Rangers have qualified for the postseason seven of the last eight years (’06-’09, ’11-13). In that time, they’ve had some good teams do respectably. Four teams advanced past the first round with the ’11-12 Blueshirts reaching the Conference Finals. Following the team’s exciting Winter Classic win over the Flyers, Garden CEO Jim Dolan proclaimed that they were close to winning a Stanley Cup. They fell six shy of the goal.

Fast forward nearly two years later and the current ’13-14 outfit is much further from competing for a championship. To quote one of my favorite Dire Straits songs, “You’re so far away from me.” Literally, that explains a lot with this franchise. When they didn’t win it all in 2012, Team President and GM Glen Sather listened to the media outcry that they needed another finisher acquiring Rick Nash from the Blue Jackets. Former core members Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky went the other way. At the time, I was one of few critics who thought it was a mistake. Breaking up a team that won a division and posted the East’s best record and made the first Conference Finals appearance since ’97 didn’t make much sense. Neither did allowing Brandon Prust, Ruslan Fedotenko and John Mitchell to leave without replacing them. Even Stu Bickel had a role defining the team toughness under former coach John Tortorella.

That team didn’t back down from anyone. They fought you tooth and nail until the final buzzer. Ask the Devils if their six-game Conference Final win came easy. In Games 5 and 6, those Rangers rallied from three-goal and two-goal deficits before going down- forcing their bitter Hudson rival to earn it. Despite not possessing much scoring, they always pushed back. That also better explains why they were able to avoid elimination in the first two rounds- rallying from a 3-2 deficit to beat the Senators and ousting the Capitals in a hard fought seven games. Resiliency was a trademark for the Black and Blueshirts. Garden Faithful were proud to support the team and loved the character they played with.

Since, it’s been all downhill. Following an inconsistent shortened season that cost Tortorella his job despite having good success, Sather hired ‘safe choice’ Alain Vigneault. Vigneault guided the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. Despite a talented roster featuring The Sedins, Ryan Kesler along with goalies Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider, they never delivered the franchise’s first Cup. That team blew series leads of 2-0 and 3-2 falling in seven games to the Bruins. Most disheartening was that Boston manhandled them in the deciding game 4-0 in Vancouver. The next two seasons, Vigneault’s teams were good enough to win the Northwest but failed miserably in the postseason losing in five to the Kings and swept by the Sharks. Dating back to the conclusion of the Stanley Cup, the Canucks lost 10 of their last 11 in the playoffs. That led to Vigneault’s dismissal. Ironically, Tortorella replaced him making it a coach swap.

When Sather decided to make the change, he cited that he wanted the Rangers to play a more aggressive style. Unlike Tortorella, Vigneault encourages a more up tempo system that should improve the offense. However, that hasn’t been the case. Following tonight’s 4-1 humiliation at the hands of the Predators, the Rangers are 15-16-1 with 32 points through their first 32 games. Counting Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Capitals, the Rangers have been held to two goals or fewer in 19 of 32. Their record is a disappointing 4-15-0. That’s despite boasting one of the league’s best goalies Henrik Lundqvist, who just signed a seven-year $59.5 million extension. In case you’re wondering, Lundqvist’s record this season when the team scores two or less is 2-13-0 with a 2.99 GAA and .885 save percentage. His only wins (2) were shutouts. If that doesn’t scream something’s wrong, nothing will.

”The only thing I know right now is it can only go up,” Lundqvist said after the team dropped its fourth straight (0-3-1) at MSG. ”It’s extremely tough mentally, and you try to be positive. You have to.”

”There were certain areas we talked about before the game,” Vigneault detailed. ”I thought we started off all right, but it makes it real challenging when you are down 2-0 early.”

Even when he makes changes by inserting Arron Asham, Derek Dorsett and Dominic Moore, it doesn’t light a fire. Instead, the ’13-14 Rangers don’t respond. They lost convincingly to a mediocre low scoring opponent who started their third string goalie. Predictably, Carter Hutton had no trouble winning for the first time since Nov. 6 finishing with 28 saves. Lundqvist faced less and stopped 22. This isn’t about the goalie as much as it is about the team in front of him. However, the former Vezina winner isn’t having a good season. He’s been allowing bad goals at inopportune moments. In the past under Tortorella playing a defensive style, Lundqvist rose to the occasion. Facing a higher quality of shots, he hasn’t been as sharp. Maybe that coach knew what was best with the current personnel.

Making matters worse, Ryan Callahan sprained his left knee following a hit delivered in the first period. He will be out four to six weeks. Already without Marc Staal, who missed his second consecutive game with a concussion that Vigneault oddly termed “minor,” the Rangers have their work cut out.  Already 0-2-1 on a team record nine-game home stand, they must right the ship. They’re 5-8-1 at MSG. Feeling the heat from displeased fans, they haven’t responded yet to adversity.

”This crowd is a demanding crowd. You can hear the crowd getting on them, letting them know what they thought,” Nashville goal scorer Rich Clune accurately depicted.

”Everyone has to step up a little more,” Dan Girardi said. ”He brings a lot to the team, a lot of different characteristics.”

Entering play, Clune hadn’t scored a point with 69 penalty minutes in 17 games this season. By the end of the night, he had his first goal and first assist later setting up ex-Cap Matt Hendricks. That was his second goal. For those keeping score, Paul Gaustad tallied his first two assists and scored the empty netter to cap another lifeless effort. These aren’t household names. Yet with every loss, the Rangers are making it a habit to get scored on by fourth liners. How many firsts can they allow to opponents? It harkens back to when the franchise couldn’t get out of its own way missing the postseason seven consecutive seasons (’98-’04).

Much of it has to do with the mismatched roster Sather put together. He never replaced the role players who did whatever it took to help the team win. While I’m not advocating overpaying Prust as the Canadiens did two summers ago, the combination of lost grit and toughness has made the Rangers an easy team to play against. Nobody sticks up for fallen teammates. Even the Mike Rupp trade for Darroll Powe looks bad. Though he’s been hurt, Rupp is part of the Wild roster. More than you can say for Powe, who’s appeared in one game while spending the year in Hartford. Penalty killing isn’t the issue. Team toughness is. If you look at the current roster, the only tough guy is Dorsett and he’s a middleweight. It’s no way to operate.

Opponents are no longer afraid. They don’t fear the Rangers and disrespect them at every turn. What you get is mixed results like we’re seeing this year. When the new coach in the first year of a five-year deal worth $10 million is already firing controversial remarks about the roster, that’s an eye opener. It’s also a direct shot at Sather. Who said the soft spoken Vigneault wasn’t like Tortorella? Maybe not in stature. But he’s already ripped this team plenty. Will he even survive the season? Why should Sather get to fire a hand picked coach? Isn’t it about time he starts looking in the mirror. It’s an organization in disarray. To quote Micheal Ray Richardson, “The ship be sinking.”