The New York Rangers have had probably one of the roughest starts they ever had. With a new system brought in by Alain Vigneault, fans were prepared for a slow start, but not like this one.

During the first five games of their nine game road trip to start the season, the Rangers went 1-4 and have been outscored 25-9, while giving up 9 goals to the San Jose Sharks their third game in.

To make matters worse, they lost their elite-scoring winger Rick Nash at the end of the 1st period against the Sharks, where defenseman Brad Stuart elbowed him in the face, and was subsequently suspended for three games for the hit. There is no timetable for Nash’s return who is experiencing concussion-like symptoms, which is very disheartening to hear for an athlete.

Not only that, the speedy youngster Carl Hagelin has yet to play a game this season due to off-season surgery, which he will remain out for at least game 10 of the season.

Last Wednesday, however, it seemed the Rangers made great strides and played their first complete game, shutting out the Washington Capitals 2-0 at the Verizon Center. Lundqvist was the Lundqvist we all remember, stopping all 22 shots he faced. The Rangers killed off all four Washington powerplays, which is ranked #1 in the league. Richards played superb, assisting on both goals and continuing his hot start to the season. Callahan scored a beautiful goal, swatting the puck from the air and beating Braden Holtby to make it 2-0 in the 2nd period, which was all they needed to win.

Just when things seemed too good to be true, Ryan Callahan blocked a shot late in the game and broke his thumb, which will sideline him for 3-4 weeks. That being said, Del Zotto has been sick, and he hasn’t played the last couple of games due to the flu.

The Rangers will be without Rich Nash, Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin for the middle of this brutal nine game road trip, which will decimate the offense for the time being.

Vigneault has called up Darrell Powe to replace Callahan. Powe has shown he can play great defensive hockey, be a grinder and play on the penalty kill very well. However, he doesn’t have that scoring threat that Callahan has, which makes fans question the decision of bringing up Powe and leaving Kreider, who has shown glimmers of promise at a young age.

But now, we need to see this in a different way. The Rangers are 2-4 in a very young season, where they lost three of their best scoring wingers, and best scoring defenseman. They are headed to the Prudential Center tonight to visit the winless Devils, and then have four days rest until they play the struggling Philadelphia Flyers.

These two games are huge games for the Rangers. With all the injuries, it is time for the young guys and aspiring talent (Brassard) to show they can contribute to the offensive side of things, and show they can stay on this team.

If the Rangers can win these next two games, they will be a .500 team playing their next game in Detroit, completing their vigorous road trip, and potentially being one game over or under .500, which is not bad.

So I say to all Ranger fans, be patient. This is the learning period with the new system and once we get our players back healthy, we will have plenty of time to escalate in the standings. We need to take it one game at a time, and let our smaller name players make a difference on this team. And, having Lundqvist being Lundqvist wouldn’t hurt in the slightest either.

Written By Eric Landro