Laviolette Reverting to Old Lines

To panic, or not to panic that is the ultimate question in Laviolette's mind right now. The Rangers have been on a multi game skid where their play has been abysmal and only buoyed at times by excellent goaltending. Of course, you know this for it is the New York Rangers way.

This morning Vince Mercogliano posted an update on the Rangers line formations in practice and things are looking mighty familiar.

All of us in Rangers nation are hoping these lines stick, especially the defensive pairings. It doesn't take analytics to notice how detrimental the poor play by the majority of the defensive pairings has negatively impacted games. The Rangers need to find some of that old chemistry, some of "Michael's Secret Stuff" if you will, and Laviolette reverting back to pairings that had not only passed the eye test but were positively trending in possession and breakout metrics is truly the least the Blueshirts coach can do.

Their next game is tomorrow night against the bottom feeding San Jose Sharks, but if you learn anything as a Rangers fan it should be that regardless of the opponent, the team finds a way to make games more challenging than they have to be.

Reverting the lines back to their previous format is one thing, now what Laviolette has to do is commit to this. Allow the players the room to make mistakes and get comfortable with their linemates, and I can guarantee you that will take more than one game.