NEW YORK _ Neal Pionk was arguably the Rangers' No. 1 defenseman for the first half of the season, but since the Christmas break, things have not gone as well for the 23-year-old Minnesotan.
When he scored in the Rangers' loss to Calgary on Friday, the goal was his first in 30 games, and he had only two assists in that span _ this from a guy who started the season on the first power-play unit and who had had five goals and 20 assists in his first 32 games. In Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at the Garden he was on the third pair, and not on the ice in the closing minutes as the Rangers tried to rally from down 2-1 and then 3-1.
"Neal played an awful lot of hockey in key situations and still does," Rangers coach David Quinn said in acknowledging the slippage in Pionk's play. "For a rookie to be thrown into the fire the way he was, it's an awful lot to ask, and he answered the bell. Not unlike most guys their first year in the league, you're going to have peaks and valleys. Obviously, he's had some moments that haven't been great, just like most players have in this league, and he's fighting through it."
After playing 28 games at the end of last season, Pionk isn't technically a rookie this season, though it is his first full year in the NHL. Still, given how well he played last season _ so well he was chosen to play for the USA in the World Championships last summer _ it's been a dramatic falloff.
The way Pionk sees it, it's all part of the natural development process.
"That's part of the process of being a pro, is figuring out your strengths and weaknesses, and addressing each one," he said. "Using your strengths to your full advantage ... but then addressing your weaknesses and making sure you can manage them during the game. I think, for myself, there's definitely stuff I can work on."
Against the Red Wings, Pionk partnered with newcomer John Gilmour, who was called up Monday from AHL Hartford. Pionk was not on the ice when Gilmour was beaten to the front of the net by Detroit's Frans Nielsen, who scored the game's first goal at 17:16 of the first period, as the Rangers were caught in a partial change. The Red Wings made it 2-0 at 4:30 of the second period, when Andreas Athanasiou continued his personal torturing of Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers by finishing a 2-on-1 feed from Jacob de la Rose for his 27th goal of the season.
After Ryan Strome scored on a power play with 5:14 left in the third period to pull the Rangers within 2-1, Athanasiou scored his second goal into an empty net, for the eventual game winner with 53.3 seconds left. Brendan Smith scored for the Rangers with 9.6 seconds left, but it was too little, too late.
On Saturday in Minnesota against the Wild, Pionk had played with fellow Minnesotan Brady Skjei in the last game of the four-game road trip. And things didn't go well for Pionk against his favorite team growing up. It was his giveaway that created the two-on-one break that turned into the Wild's first goal of the game, and after Mika Zibanejad had tied it, Pionk _ back defending on a two-on-one break _ dropped to the ice and swung his stick to deflect Eric Staal's centering pass past Lundqvist to put the Wild back in front, 2-1.
"The Staal goal was an unfortunate bounce," Pionk said. "Could I have read it a little better, up the ice? Yeah, I could have. The first goal was 100 percent on me. Trying to make a play. I think, if I made it a half-a-second earlier, it would have made the play. But I hesitated, and turned the puck over and they went down for a 2-on-1."
