"Scoring Woes"

Hey, look, people are talking about the Rangers' scoring woes today. Most of them say things like "Marian Gaborik needs to start scoring again"; "The power play is horrible"; and "It's all Olivia Munn's fault." Of course, all three of these things are true. But here's my take.

There's something of a feeling that the top guys are the ones not pulling their weight. I'm not convinced. Yes, Gaborik, who had a stellar streak going for a while, has somewhat petered out, good for .40 even strength goals per game in December, and only .14 so far in January. But the other top guys? Stepan has remained constant, good for .27 even strength goals per game in December, .28 so far in January. Richards has actually improved significantly, scoring .13 even strength goals per game in December and .28 in January. And Callahan actually didn't score any even strength goals in December, either.

So what's the difference? Overall, the Rangers scored 2.06 even strength goals per game in December and are down to 1.68 in January, a significant difference. Gaborik is a good chunk of that. But what about the rest?

In December, Hagelin, Mitchell, Boyle, Dubinsky, Anisimov, Fedotenko, Del Zotto, and McDonagh combined for 1.06 even strength goals per game. In January so far, those 8 skaters have combined for .42 even strength goals per game. Even if you take the 2 defensemen out of the picture, the number drops from .8 in December to .42 in January.

I understand that I'm going to get some funny looks for suggesting that, in a month in which Mike Rupp leads the team in even strength goals, we need more secondary scoring. But that appears to be the reality of the situation. No matter how much I'd like to blame Olivia Munn.