New York Rangers face adversity once again Jan 22, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) celebrates his goal with New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin (10) and left wing Chris Kreider (20) against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at the PPG Paints Arena. Pittsburgh won 4-3 in a shoot-out. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Rangers will have to stand up to more adversity. This time as Artemi Panarin has to take a leave of absence from the team.
Merrian-Webster defines adversity as a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune. You could also just drop a picture of the New York Rangers logo next to the adjective as the Blueshirts are once again dealing with another major problem.
New York Rangers early season struggles now a cause for concern Rangers continue to struggle (Photo by Sara Schmidle/NHLI via Getty Images)
The New York Rangers are normally a hard-working team that displays a no-quit effort most of the time. Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss against Buffalo showed a different side of the Blueshirts fans hopes to never see again.
The final score masked a tough reality in Rangerstown. This Rangers team needs to find its identity, its strength, and its heart if they have any intentions of finding ways to get back to winning hockey games.
Prior to the Buffalo game on Tuesday night, the team had played good enough to win their last three games. These past four games were all one-goal losses that were decided not because of effort, but because of a small period of time in the game where mistakes were made.
Breaking down the New York Rangers record against the newly realigned Metro Division Zibanejad finishes the Isles in OT (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The New York Rangers now know the teams they will battle against once the NHL season begins sometime in mid-January. While there’s still some unsettled business with regards to where the St. Louis Blues will play, these divisions are currently looking as follows:
US1: BOS, BUF, NJ, NYI, NYR, PHI, PIT, WAS
US2: CAR, CBJ, DET, CHI, FL, MIN, NSH, TB
US3: ANA, AZ, CO, DAL, LA, SJ, STL, VGK
CAN1: MTL, VAN, CGY, WPG, TOR, EDM, OTT