If you're a fan of the New York Rangers, you're not feeling too confident about the team right now. After starting out the 2015-2016 season on fire going 15-3-2 in their first 20 games, they've put up the second-worst record in the NHL since November 25th, going 7-12-3. It's been a very frustrating stretch for the team considering how well they have played at times this season, and because of how things have unfolded. The Rangers will pick up a big win and fans will think, "hey maybe we're back", only to have the team go out the next game and falter embarrassingly. The Rangers have been trading wins and losses over this stretch and can't seem to put together a little winning streak.

They went out and beat Anaheim in overtime on a Mats Zuccarello game winner at home, which felt like it could be a big turning point.

However, they then gave up five goals in Nashville and took a loss by giving up three goals in the third period. The next game they played a tough two periods against the Lightning and then exploded for three third period goals to win 5-2 on the road. The Rangers then got shut out by the hottest team in the league, the Florida Panthers, and then dominated the best team in the league at the time, the Dallas Stars, 6-2.

Then comes the most frustrating game of the season. The Rangers looked absolutely lost for two periods going down 1-0 early on to the Washington Capitals which then turned into 2-0 after two periods. Then, out of nowhere, they score three goals to take a 3-2 lead! Wow okay, maybe they can do this. Maybe they can win two games in a row. The Caps pull Holtby, get the extra man, and score with five seconds left in regulation absolutely deflating anything positive that anyone associated with the Rangers was feeling. Then of course, the Rangers miss a game winner by two inches only to have Ovechkin take the puck coast to coast and bury the overtime game winner.

I now feel sick, excuse me for a moment.

Here are five ideas for the team moving forward:

1. Play Dylan McIlrath over Dan Girardi

Let's just start with this:

...don't try to fight Dylan McIlrath, it won't end well for you.

Dan Girardi is making way too much money to be playing as poorly as he is, which is a big part of the problem. The Rangers are afraid to play the more talented McIlrath over Girardi because they are paying Girardi to produce. It's time to move on Rangers, the fans are sick and tired of watching Girardi turn the puck over multiple times a game and do next to nothing offensively. I would get into all of the advanced stats like Fenwick percentages and such to show how terrible he's been, but I'll stick to some basics. In 37 games, Girardi has only 30 shots on goal and 11 points. McIlrath has 16 shots on goal in 18 games. Also, McIlrath is an absolute presence on the ice and is not afraid to fight anybody. Standing at 6'5" he is an absolute monster on skates. He has 38 hits in the few games that he's played in. Girardi is averaging more giveaways per 60 minutes than McIlrath as well. The stats don't lie. The Rangers should've traded Girardi last season.

2. Find Four Lines That Work and Stick With Them

Enough with the shuffling of the lines. I trust Alain Vigneault with all of my heart when it comes to decision making but we need some cohesion. Once guys click together they shouldn't be moved, and for real why are we playing Jayson Megna and Tanner Glass over Oscar Lindberg. Lindberg went out and scored a goal and then found himself a healthy scratch a few days later. Kinda baffling considering how he's been a pretty streaky goal scorer thus far in his career. Moves like that can negatively affect a player's mentality.

These were the lines from their recent win vs. the Philadelphia Flyers. They are definitely my favorite line combinations for this team.

Line 1: Miller Brassard Zuccarello

Line 2: Kreider Stepan Nash

Line 3: Lindberg Hayes Fast

Line 4: Glass Moore Stalberg

Great puck movement from Stepan to Nash to Kreider. I love this line:

3. Play Keith Yandle More (...and keep him)

Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Kevin Klein, Dan Boyle, and Ryan McDonagh are all averaging more ice time per game than Keith Yandle. In case you couldn't tell, that's every single defenseman on the team. Um, are you kidding me Rangers? The only one that should be playing more than him is Ryan McDonagh and maybe (a big maybe) Marc Staal just because he's a great stick on stick defender. Yandle has proven to be one of the best skating and stick-handling defensemen in the NHL, as well as one of the best power-play defensemen in the league. Speaking of the power play, he should be on the ice for every single one. Put him on there with either McDonagh or Boyle. No other defenseman should see the ice on the power play. He's way too good at moving the puck and is way too smart to not be out there on the power play.

A lot of people are saying that Yandle will definitely be traded by the February 29th deadline. The Rangers traded for him with a 'win now' mentality so I don't think it's in their best interest to deal him. Hold on to him and try to win the cup.

Great job of keeping the puck in the zone and getting it to the net here:

4. Keep the Pedal to the Metal

I feel like every time the Rangers net a goal, the next two minutes turns into an absolute onslaught on their goal and Lundqvist has to stand on his head to keep the lead. Once they get a goal, they become too comfortable and start to get fancy, which leads to turnovers and the inability to keep the puck out of their zone. They have to keep up the pace and continue what they were doing to score in the first place. Keep pounding the opposition's net, which leads to numero five.

5. Just Keep Shooting...Just Keep Shooting

How do you score goals? YOU SHOOT THE PUCK. I would say that the Rangers have a bunch of unselfish guys on their team, because they do, but they try to make the extra pass way too much. Someone on the team please do me a favor and just be selfish. Shoot the puck. Why do you think Ovechkin scores so many goals? He averages over five shots on goal a game, and leads the league in that category with 220. The next closest player has 186. This results in him being second in the league in goals scored. Yeah yeah I know he's also incredibly talented and that's why he scores a lot, but the stat correlations don't lie. The Rangers are sitting at a terrible 23rd in the league in average shots per game with 28.5.