Start with a pair of weak goals allowed by Henrik Lundqvist, including one just 18 seconds into the game. Mix in a blue line and forwards who were pinned in their own zone for much of the last two periods. Sprinkle in an attack that lacks consistent forecheck. The end result? A disappointing but not surprising 4-3 loss to the Sabres and the first time this season the Rangers (16-8-1) lost when leading after two periods; they were 13-0 in such situations.
You guys know that I try and take an evened approach. I don't get too high after a win or down after a loss; rather I look at patterns of play for a period of time. In the case, that strong start is a mere memory. What we have know is a team that is a far cry from the first 10-12 games of the season. Since then it's been lather, rinse, repeat in terms of the mistakes made and issues on the ice.
Yesterday, as we have seen way too often the past eight to 10 games and noted in the Post, the Rangers spent shifts at a time pinned in their own end, unable to navigate to navigate cleanly out of the defensive zone or to trigger the quick-strike attack through the neutral zone that was the team’s calling card through their burst out of the gate. You could possibly write it off if it was a one or two game aberration. But this poor play is now the norm rather than the exception.
Teams adjusted to what the Rangers did early on. They are forcing the Rangers to go 150 feet using shorter passes and preventing the long stretch pass. By clogging up or using a "trap" in the neutral zone, opponents in essence have watered down the field, preventing New York from using their greatest asset, speed. This is where coaching comes into play. All of sports is a game of adjustments. Your opponents will eventually adjust to what you do. Then your job is to find a way to counter those adjustments by adjusting yourself. The Rangers have failed to adjust. Once that neutral zone clampdown started, the team has been at a loss on how to counter that strategy. The blame for that goes on AV, and also to the players, but really to the coaching staff. But the players get some of the blame for constantly getting pinned in deep.
Yesterday, after a fairly strong first, the Rangers stunk the last two periods. New York scored twice in the second but allowed Buffalo to tally one 1:33 after their first of the period, the score twice in the third late to win the game. The Rangers could barely make a pass over the course of the final 40 minutes through which they were out-attempted 45-22 at full strength. Overall, the Rangers were outshot 34-25 and 12-5 in the third, with most of those five coming early on the period.
New York rightly replaced Kevin Klein with Adam Clendening. Prior to his penalty on Jack Eichel that led to the tying goal, Clendening hadn't played a bad game. But knowing AV, that penalty will mean that Clendening will be placed in the witness protection plan and not seen for a long while. I know you guys don't love advanced metrics but these numbers reflect just how badly the Rangers D was Thursday:
Final #NYR 5v5
Holden- 20:49 (51 CF%)
Staal- 20:46 (50%)
McD- 19:24 (21%)
Girardi- 19:10 (21%)
Clendening- 13:58 (38%)
Skjei- 13:22 (50%)
Look how bad the bottom four on the list were. I had advocated playing Clendening with Holden and Skjei with Staal. Instead, the pairing were as of above and veritable nightmare. Even though Holden and Staal had positive metrics, they failed to mark Brian Gionta, leading to the second goal. Granted, they weren't helped by the weak first goal allowed by Lundqvist or flopping by him on the last goal, which deflected off of Mats Zuccarello's skate, but overall, they stunk and it's been that way for the past 8-10 games. Jeff Gorton, go get a d-man sooner rather than later, and no, the absences of Zib and Buch aren't causing all the defensive issues.
Lundqvist had an odd game. For stretches, he was brilliant, showing his usual dominance. Then, as we saw on the first and third goals, he completely lost any ability to stop the puck. Johan Larsson’s shot from a few feet outside the red line hopped and kicked off the crouching Lundqvist’s stick and past him at the 18-second mark. Then, with New York up 3-2, Jack Eichel, in his first home game of the season, scored on a low wrister off Lundqvist’s right arm at 12:45 to tie the game. Lundqvist said he was expecting the pass, but don't know who Eichel would have passed to and it was a horrible goal to surrender in general but especially at that time of the game. If I was AV, I would turn to Antti Raanta for Saturday's game against Carolina, and if Raanta plays well, consider going with him on the road Tuesday against the suddenly streaking Islanders.
The injuries to Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich has resulted in one major change and that's significant line shuffling. The Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Rick Nash unit was effective, but that was about the only mildly consistent trio. As the papers noted, the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Jesper Fast line had issues, though Fast and Kreider combined to set up Marc Staal for the goal at 11:42 of the second that sent the Blueshirts into the third with a 3-2 advantage. Micheal Grabner was moved to the fourth line to play with Oscar Lindberg and Brandon Pirri while Matt Puempel moved up to play with J.T. Miller and Mats Zuccarello. AV seems to trying a host of groupings in the hopes that some semblance of a consistent attack results. It hasn't. So go back somewhat to what worked a bit earlier in the year, such as:
Vesey-Step-Nash
Miller-Hayes-Grabner
Kreider-Pirri-Zucc
Puempel-Lindberg-Fast
The argument against these trios, and you see just how big of a loss Zib is, relates to Stepan's so-so play. We all, including me, understood why Derick Brassard was the one dealt. Given what we have seen to date, the thought that many had that it should have been Stepan traded is one that's hard to argue against. I know Stepan usually quietly gets the job done, but he needs to step up with Zib and Buch out, and so far, he hasn't. Personally, I would keep Hayes with Vesey and Nash but I could see making that change since Hayes may be better suited to play with Grabner and Miller but keeping Hayes with Vesey and Nash allows that line to maintain the continuity it has started to build the past few games. One additional note that could impact Saturday's lineup is that Puempel did not return after the second intermission Thursday after blocking a shot. Vigneault said after the game that he did not know the severity of the injury, so it's possible Josh Jooris gets back in the lineup.
All of this is window dressing. Unless the coaching staff finds a way to adjust the attack and willingness to shift the defensive duos, meaning shifting G down and Skjei up, then the issues of the past 8-10 will remain. If that happens, the whispers questioning AV will grow louder and louder.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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