Rangers This Week | Nash is Back! And Pouliot isnt Gone?

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Published On November 21, 2013 | By Hockey This Week |

Hockey T his Week | By Jason Bisnof f |

Rick Nash made his highly anticipated return Tuesday night in a home game against the Bruins. This came after a 6week absence due to a concussion suffered on an illegal hit from Sharks winger Brad Stuart. Despite a loss, Nash was all over the ice in his return. With the exception of a few shifts, Nash seemed 100 percent comfortable and healthy, picking up where he left off with five shots but no goals. Before the injury, Nash had nine shots in three games without scoring. Scorers in the NHL go through hot and cold stretches, as long as Nash is getting pucks on net it is encouraging. His luck will turn around and these quality chances is sure to translate to goals. Nashs return comes at a time where the Rangers seem to be turning things around after a slow start on the the treacherous road trip to start the year. The blueshirts are 6- 4 in their last 10 games. This record could easily be 8- 2 after two straight losses at the hands of Tuukka Rask and an unexpected performance from Ben Scrivens. The Rangers have outplayed and outshot two elite teams by a combined margin of 81- 52. Due to exceptional goalie play they got 0 points out of those games but much like Nash if the team keeps playing this way the goals and wins will come. Going forward Nash will be a positive addition to the team. Teaming up with Callahan and Richards should add another line that should be as productive or more than the Stepan, Kreider, Zuccarello line, which has been the best line thus far. The biggest question of the new lineup with Nash is why J.T. Miller is absent in favor of the abysmal Benoit Pouliot. With the top two lines mentioned above, Derrick Brassard and Carl Hagelin are two pieces of a potentially formidable third line. With J.T. Miller skating very well, especially for a 20- year- old, one would think it would be a no brainer to let his potential continue to blossom especially playing alongside two other young talents. Millers prospective growth is a small reason for him to be included in the lineup compared with the incompetence of Benoit Pouliot. Since taking a roughing penalty away from the play only minutes into the season it has been all downhill (yes downhill from a useless penalty) for the former top- 5 pick. With the exception of a game- winning goal versus the Islanders, Pouliot has been detrimental to his line mates and the team on numerous occasions. As you watch Pouliot on the ice, he is a constant threat for a giveaway or penalty. With the exception of Derek Dorsett, who has inflated numbers due to fights, Pouliot leads the team in penalties none of which have resulted from a fight. Not only are these penalties costly but one could argue that the timing of his penalty in the Ducks game lost at least a point for the team and the severity of his game misconduct and boarding penalty against the Flyers cost them yet another point, or even two. The fact of the matter is that Pouliot has been a disappointment his whole career, after being taken fourth overall in the 2005 draft (before Marc Staal, Tuukka Rask and Anz e Kopitar to name a few) he has totaled 128 goals and 232 penalty minutes in his underwhelming 312 game career. There is a reason that he has played for four teams in the last four years. Thankfully the coaching staff is seemingly taking notice of this problem. His time on ice has been cut from about 14- 15 minutes early in the season to 9- 10 minutes as of late. His powerplay minutes, which were inexplicable since day one,

have also nearly completely evaporated. The only question is when will the coaching staff make the logical move of taking minutes from a washed up early draft bust and giving them to a bright spot in the Rangers future It is clear that with the return of Rick Nash makes this team better. If and when the Rangers choose to permanently bring Miller into the lineup, they should see their good play translate into goal scoring with three formidable lines with the ability to light the lamp.