DALLAS — Just how, exactly, were the Rangers supposed to react Saturday night in Nashville when two of their players were taken out with egregious headshots, neither resulting in a penalty? The emotional response would have been to retaliate, and that might have been easier to swallow the next day rather than just a tepid 5-2 loss to the Predators that sunk the Blueshirts into last place in the Metropolitan Division.
But in a league where the rules are different every night, and when points are at such a premium for a proud team like the Rangers that is not willing to give up the idea of pushing for the playoffs while somehow only two points out of the second wild-card spot, it is impossible to know what is an appropriate response.
The perpetually negligent official Francois St. Laurent decided that Alexei Emelin burying a falling Marc Staal’s head into the boards midway through the second period was not a hit to the head, boarding, interference, charging or roughing. Even Emelin turned to look for an oncoming Ranger that had taken exception to the hit, and that would have been the best time for one of Staal’s brethren to act out of pure emotion. Anybody who knows Staal and his history of concussions should have been appalled at what they saw, but there was nothing.
And somehow 20 seconds later — just 20 seconds! — Jimmy Vesey moved the puck behind his net only to be met a few ticks later by Filip Forsberg, who turned his back and put an elbow right into Vesey’s mouth. Again, no call.
The Department of Player Safety (DOPS) decided to do something about it Sunday, having a hearing with Forsberg before handing out what was likely to be a short suspension. And when is there going to be any discipline for an official who misses a call that was so bad it deserved supplemental discipline?
Yet in the landscape of the NHL, there is no consistency, and it leaves everyone from general managers to fans scratching their heads. As in, how does Jesper Fast get a boarding call with 24 seconds left in regulation after everything that happened beforehand?
Zoom out a bit, and you’ll see a guy like Radko Gudas flying through the air to hit Kyle Palmieri — and getting just an interference penalty. Or Brad Marchand getting his five-game, slap-on-the-wrist suspension for his awful elbow to the head of Marcus Johansson — and then Marchand yukking it up at the All-Star game. Without going too far down the rabbit hole of goaltender interference, how is it possible for James Neal to break his stick on the chest of Connor Hellebuyck and still have a goal stand?
All of this has left the league, including the Rangers, with no idea what is right and wrong. They claimed Cody McLeod off waivers last week ostensibly to be their muscle. If he wasn’t going to punch someone in the face Saturday night — despite those being his friends that he played with just two weeks ago — then why is he on the roster at all? Brady Skjei picking a fight with another skilled player (Ryan Johansen) was hardly old-time hockey.
The need for a mix of toughness and skill is not new to the league, nor is the graduation of physicality as the season wears on. But there used to be a semblance of what was allowed and what wasn’t, even if some of the unwritten rules were archaic.
Now, there is no consistent rule book and there is no consistent players’ code. As coach Alain Vigneault and many others have pointed out, it changes on a nightly basis. That is no way to operate a league, and no way to treat the players who are putting their lives on the line.
The hope from the Rangers was that Staal and Vesey would eventually be alright. But because they didn’t know how to react as a group, and because they weren’t protected by the officials, they lost two players, lost another game, and with it, are starting to lose the season.
Just another day in the backwards NHL.