I sincerely doubt that Chairman/CEO Chris Drury may have an emotional response to the rubble left by the Rangers’ disastrous Game 7 performance in Latest Jersey.
That is not how Drury works. He’s methodical. He won’t act on impulse with regard to the coaching situation or player personnel. Eliminating the Devils in the first round will probably be fastidiously analyzed, not emotional. It could probably be higher if Drury stepped back and counted to 10 – slowly – before jumping to conclusions.
In spite of everything, he is not a columnist.
It is a rhetorical query because I do not have a solution to it: what’s a head coach to do when, with perhaps one exception, his team’s top skaters aren’t performing well in the playoffs?
The one exception could be Chris Kreider, who blew his six-goal tally, which tied the franchise record for goals in the series, with a terrible minus-4 seventh game, which he called “disgraceful”.
People will talk rather a lot about Gallant’s failure to adapt to the way Devils coach Lindy Ruff – a former Latest York assistant under each Alain Vigneault and David Quinn who, by the way, was never a candidate for AV’s successor when Vigneault was fired after the 2017-18 season – he switched lane mixtures several times after losing at home in each games 1 and a pair of.
![New Jersey Devils goaltender Akira Schmid saves from New York Rangers left winger Chris Kreider (20) during the first period of Game 7 of the NHL's Stanley Cup First Round Playoff Series, Monday, May 1, 2023, in Newark, NJ](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/kreider.jpg?w=1024)
Correct me if I’m improper, but hasn’t Gallant been smoked all season for switching line mixtures too often? The plus is: if the sunbeds are broken, changing their position doesn’t solve the problem. They’re still broken.
Yes, the Devils adjusted their penalty after Rangers went 4-for-10 in their first two games with added pressure on the attacking points, but opponents have been doing all of it season.
The dearth of response to this strategy is for the first power-play unit, which has won 1-for-19 in the last five matches while also scoring two goals in the nerf. The five guys from the first unit – Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Kreider and Patrick Kane or Vlad Tarasenko – frequently gathered during exercises, discussing strategy and options.
Never found a working one.
mail bag
In the aftermath of Rangers Game 7’s defeat to Devils, we asked questions from the followers of our Texts From the Blue Seats chat. (Sign here to start out receiving text messages from the Rangers.) Mollie Walker of The Post has some answers.
What happened?
— All
That is the query, right? The Rangers have been waiting for the postseason since the fall. And once they got there, most of the team did not appear in three out of seven matches, including two excluded ones. At times, the Rangers felt more like a group of stars than a team. The two-0 series lead allowed them to get comfortable and feel that the rest of the first round could be easy.
![Devils goalkeeper Akira Schmid (40) protects the net in the third period. The Devils defeated the Rangers 4-0 in game seven in Newark, NJ.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/schmid.jpg?w=1024)
The Devils have made outstanding changes in defense and goalkeeping, and have steadily improved as the series progresses. This gave them the essential confidence to seize the opportunity and knock out the Broadway Blueshirts, who had one of the most talented rosters the organization had seen in some time.
Will Gallant be fired?
— Everyone too
Does Gallant have a probability to survive?
— Frank Roethel, Corey Shaw, Richard Ramsey
Coming out of round one in the playoffs when the team is predicted to do far more is one thing, but getting knocked out of round 1 the way the Rangers did is something else entirely.
Scoring two goals in 4 defeats is totally unacceptable. Offensive performances that did not come in games 5 and seven were embarrassing for such an all-star squad. The duty is as much as the players, but when the team doesn’t rise up for the most vital games of the 12 months, piercing glances are directed at the coach.
Even when, as my colleague Larry Brooks identified above, there are reasons to lose that Gallant couldn’t control, it’s possible he won’t be sitting behind the Rangers bench next season because someone may have to reply for the way things turned out season.
![General Manager Chris Drury of the New York Rangers seen before the start of the second round of the 2022 NHL Upper Deck Draft at the Bell Center on July 8, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/GettyImages-1407531409-1.jpg?w=1024)
That said, there’s actually a case for Gallant to remain. Back-to-back seasons with over 100 points hardly warrant a change of guard, but really all that matters is the playoffs. Last season’s Rangers Conference Final continues to be on Gallant’s resume, but taking a step back the way the team did this season doesn’t bode well for him. Interviews with players will certainly have a big effect on Drury’s decision.
The alternate trainer candidates which are available usually are not exactly dunks. Joel Quenneville may not need to be in the Latest York highlight after the previous couple of years. Peter Laviolette hasn’t won a playoff series since 2018.
Are there any honest critiques about Gallant’s coaching and game changes?
— Joseph Bedzik
For me, the most noticeable difference between Ruff and Gallant in this series was their ability to discover issues and make corrections. The adjustments made by the Devils to the way they defended the Rangers’ power play proved to make an enormous difference in the series after the Blue Shirts dominated the special teams in games 1 and a pair of.
When the Devils divided the neutral zone and pushed the Rangers out, there wasn’t much response from the Blue Shirts. Gallant probably didn’t make the most of Tarasenko, who posted some of the lowest times on the ice of his playoff profession.
You retain hearing about two goals in 4 games, but what about 16 goals in the other three? The imbalance in the team’s performance over the seven-match series was surreal.
— Krzysztof Walkley
This was probably the most interesting part of the series for me. The Rangers didn’t just win the games they won, they dominated them. Each win was a 3 or 4 goal difference, while the Devils took time beyond regulation and went on to a two-goal win before winning 4-0. That this all-star line-up has been knocked out twice is maybe the most daunting aspect of coming out of the first round.
Tell me again, why was Kane brought here? Evidently trading has really disrupted this team. Clearly, he is not any longer the player he was. The machinations to get him to PP1 and the top lane disrupted the power play to the point where it was average.
— Richard Cantwell, Kelly Feniger, Zebop, Timer Pines
![Patrick Kane No. 88 of the New York Rangers warming up for Game 7 of the 2023 Stanley Cup First Round Playoffs against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on May 1, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/kane.jpg?w=1024)
I believe Gallant prioritized Kane an excessive amount of, especially in comparison with how he used Tarasenko. It quickly became clear that Kane wasn’t working 100%. Tarasenko definitely was. He should probably be at the top of the power-play unit more often than Kane.
But when you are Drury and have a probability to get it the Patrick Kane is made for the price of mainly nickels and dimes, every NHL CEO makes this deal every weekday and twice on Sunday. Kane at 50 percent might be higher than much of the league, which was evident at the end of the regular season. He won’t have as much influence as the Rangers wanted him to, but he wasn’t a hindrance either.
It wasn’t until the playoffs that Kane’s presence on the ice began to harm the Rangers. He began making turnovers and couldn’t steer the puck as usual. Possibly it wasn’t the right move for the Rangers, but it surely was a move they couldn’t miss.
Is it fair to call this season a “failed season” as a result of getting out of the first round? In the end, the Rangers lost the series lead 2-0. Or possibly it is not a defeat, since you led your rival to seven games and bumped into a hot goalkeeper?
— Adam Dworin
You might absolutely call it a “failed season”. Possibly in the event that they really went head-to-head between Warriors and Devils throughout the series, it could be easier to tip the hat to the Devils for simply being the higher team. Not that it wasn’t, but Rangers only played two top-flight games after which took a turn as the series progressed.
Rental Returns?
![New York Rangers right winger Vladimir Tarasenko (91) clears the puck behind New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt during the first period of Game 3 of the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Saturday, April 22, 2023, New York.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/tarasenko2.jpg?w=1024)
It is also price considering if there’s any probability that Kane or Tarasenko – precious additions to the team at the trade deadline – will probably be retained as free agents (h/t Justin Bresner and Randy Ramirez).
The short answer is yes. I am unable to imagine either of the two high-profile players agreeing to take a pay cut, but there could also be a greater probability of retaining Tarasenko than Kane if Tarasenko agrees to take a pay cut to remain in Latest York.
That would rely upon what other steps the Rangers take in the off-season.
And if the rumors of Kane needing surgery in the off-season are true, he probably won’t be able to play at the start of the season anyway, which might force Rangers to search out their top six right wingers immediately.
— Molly Walker