For a team picked by many to participate in the Stanley Cup in the summer of '08, the Rangers sure have started slowly.  They remain the only team in the NHL to average less than 2 goals per game at this point, behind even the lowly Phoenix Coyotes and Atlanta Thrashers.  What's the deal?  Shouldn't the offense have improved with the summer acquisitions of Chris Drury and Scott Gomez?  After all they only lost Michael Nylander.  Here's what I think is wrong..

1) The Powerplay: Now don't get me wrong.  I think that Tom Renney is a great coach.  2 years after the lockout and he has brought the Rangers to the 1st round of the playoffs, and then the 2nd.  That said, I have no idea what is running through his mind with his choices of powerplay units.  The formation: Shanahan - Gomez - Jagr with Drury and Roszival on the point.  The idea here is to get the puck to Drury so he can take a shot.  There are a few fatal flaws here though.  One is that there is no one to screen the goalie or get rebounds when these shots get on net.  One look at Tomas Holmstrom and you'll see why this is so important.  Second, Chris Drury has made a career of scoring goals near the net.  Why move a guy who can get those rebounds and screen the goalie away from the front?  You're only making the goalies job easier.  Drury, Prucha, Avery and to an extent Shanahan don't mind standing in front of the goalie and making his life difficult so play to this fact instead of ignoring this.  The Rangers also have players with great shots from the point.  Mara, Roszival, Jagr, and Shanahan can all take shots from the point that would make any goaltenders life difficult.  You've got to score dirty and pretty goals if you're going to win in the NHL.

2) The Spark Plug has been missing.  Hate the guy all you want, but Sean Avery brings a spark to the Rangers team that no one else can offer.  His acquisition had a direct impact on the Rangers turning around their season, making the playoffs, and nearly beating the Sabres in the second round.  Sean Avery just brings that extra something to the game that makes his teammates around him better (as long as he's not arguing with them!)  His imminent return either this Thursday or Saturday will be huge.

3) Lack of any offensive defenseman.  Coming into this season everyone thought the Rangers defense would be its biggest problem.  They were right - in a way.  Defensively, as they were last year with almost the exact same cast, the Rangers are very stellar.  They've given up an average of 2 goals per game, and I can give a few instances where the opponents goals were completely undeserved (such as the Lecalvier "penalty shot" last night).  I, along with most Ranger fans, knew that our defense would not be a problem as long as Tom Renney is behind the bench.  In terms of helping the offense however, the defensive corps have been useless.  Roszival has looked horrible.  Mara has been non-existent.  Tyutin, while great defensively, will never have that offensive touch.  Malik, who is hated by Ranger fans undeservedly, has not been as great with his outlet passes as he used to be.  His vision compared to most Ranger defenseman this year, however, has been good.  In the offensive zone the Ranger's forwards have been working by themselves though.  Lack of support in the offensive zone makes creating opportunities in said zone difficult.

4)  They are simply pressing too much at this point.  Nothing is going their way so you can kind of see why they would be pressing.  The current players have to deal with the fact that they haven't been scoring and the fact that 3 wingers who can are out of the lineup. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the Rangers will pick up their goal scoring.  They have so much talent and a disciplined coach who knows how to win.  It will come but, for now, to be a Rangers fan is pretty dreadful.