Silverman: Aggressive Nash Has Rangers Pointed Toward Top Of East
By Steve Silverman
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This mumps thing is getting scary.
The Rangers are the latest team to take a hit, as No. 2 scorer Derick Brassard is out with the dreaded childhood disease. He played in Saturday night's victory at Vancouver, but he could not dress for either Sunday night's victory in Edmonton or last night's win in Calgary.
But even without Brassard, the Rangers are rolling, having swept their Western Canada swing and stretching their winning streak to four games.
Assuming that Brassard will be back early in the new year – if not sooner – the Rangers are a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference. They have one of the top guns in the league in Rick Nash, and he is playing like he is going to carry the Rangers at least as far as they got last year when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final.
When Glen Sather acquired Nash from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2012-13, the hope was that the big winger would give the Rangers an immediate influx of leadership and talent and make them a formidable team.
That simply did not happen. After years of being the big fish in the small pond located in downtown Columbus, this Buckeye simply was not ready for life on Broadway.
If you are going to make it in New York, you can't have any of that "Golly, gee, this is the big city," showing to the rest of the world. You need to have that Broadway Joe swagger, and if Nash had it, he kept it buried.
Big, strong, fast and skilled, it seemed like Nash was doing his best to keep those talents hidden. He scored 21 goals in 44 games during his first year, and added just one in the playoffs, and last year wasn't much better. He had 26 goals during the regular season and three goals during the team's 25-game playoff run.
Much of his lack of scoring in the postseason was written off to bad luck – he was victimized by posts, brilliant saves and blocked shots – but a lot of it was on Nash.
Think of a 6-9 NBA power forward with speed and strength who likes to take 22-foot jumpers. Even though he can easily get to the paint, he likes it on the outside. A lot less bumping and grinding out there.
That's basically the way Nash was playing prior to this season. While he had the size and strength to establish himself as a full-fledged, net-front presence, he did not make that kind of sacrifice. That attitude hurt the Rangers.
Whether it was a summer-time message from head coach Alain Vigneault or a good, long look in the mirror, Nash is not the player he was in his previous two seasons with the Rangers.
Instead, he is much better. There's a legitimate aggression to his game and he is dominating the box score on a near-nightly basis. He has scored 20 goals already and leads the Rangers with 33 points. He has a plus-13 that leads the team, and he is playing with a drive and an aggression that Rangers fans had heard about when the team first acquired him, but one that had not been seen before this season.
Teammate Derek Stepan said that Nash played just this way last year, but he was victimized by bad luck and that's why he didn't put the puck in the net.
Vigneault wasn't having any of it. After Nash scored two goals last night against the Flames to pave the way for the Blueshirts in a 5-2 victory, he put it succinctly.
"We need him to play the way he is," Vigneault said. "We're no different than any other team in the league. You need your top players to be your top performers, and that's what Rick is doing for us right now."
The Rangers' best player is at the top of his game right now, and his teammates are jumping on his back and following his lead.
Once they get their No. 2 player back from his bout with the mumps, the Rangers should be on their way to a power run to the top of the Eastern Conference.
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