The Rangers spit the bit Wednesday, losing to the Senators 3-2. The defeat is the third in four games for the now reeling Blueshirts. What we saw last night and Monday was a heartening back to the issues that existed during the 3-7-2 start that seemed to have gotten partially resisted during the hit streak but appears to have reared its ugly head again.
Game recap:
MSG post-game:
AV Post-game:
I get the anger and ire of the fanbase. Believe me, I am there too. But I am not yet ready to toss away the season. Talk to me in a few weeks, especially if the team’s recent struggles continue. What this does highlight is how much Mika Zibanejad is missed and that the defense is still a work in progress 31 games into the season.
My thoughts:
1)
Whither the defense (including the forwards):
Coming into the season, the defense was considered to be a strength. So far this year, especially lately, that has been far from the case. Yesterday was further evidence of that, seen in each goal.
On the first goal, Kevin Shattenkirk made an inexcusable turnover - where have we heard and I said that before - in the neutral zone, leading to the break in. Then, he was late in getting over to cover the struggling Bobby Ryan, whose wrister beat Henrik Lundqvist at 4:01 of the period for just his second goal of the season.
Tied at one, it was Brendan Smith’s turn. He got turned inside out and lost his stick and puck at the blue line to Matt Duchene. Then it was capture the flag, as three Rangers went to Duchene, leaving the slot wide open. Duchene found Cody Ceci, who was able to count to three, due to the lack of slot coverage and also take advantage of Smith’s screen, to pick a spot to beat Lundqvist at 15:08 of the second stanza.
But wait, there’s more. Shattenkirk was beaten wide by Tom Pyatt seconds after the opening draw. Now, while he was beaten wide, he still had sufficient coverage, yet Brady Skjei decided to pick up Pyatt, making it two d-men on one. When that happens, and it shouldn’t, but as we have seen, that’s been a a hallmark of this squad, a forward is to pick up the slot. Sounds easy, right? Wrong, J.T. Miller was late getting there and failed to tie up Zach Smith, who took the feed from Pyatt and made it 3-1 eight seconds into the final frame.
Ryan McDonagh doesn’t get a pass either. Either he is still injured or the downward slide may have begun. I am not being hyperbolic, but he has looked horrific the past month plus. McD played slightly better after returning from his injury, however the last few games have been ugly. It’s easy to blame this on Nick Holden - and doesn’t Dan Girardi looked better by comparison now - but that’s too easy of an out for McDonagh, who needs to either pick up his play or sit if the injury still exists or is really impacting his play.
2)
Slow starts:
Ryan’s goal came on the third shot of the game on Lundqvist, the ninth time this season he has given up a goal on one of the game’s first three shots. Friday, it was Jay Beagle’s goal 14 seconds into the game. Yesterday, Smith scored eight seconds into the third. It’s amazing how many times and opponent scores in the first minute of a period against this team.
3)
Inability or unwillingness to adjust:
It’s easy to blame coach Alain Vigneault for the team’s struggles. When they fail to break the neutral zone 1-3-1 trap against a team that faced six times in last year’s playoffs and make the same mistakes, you want to beat your head against the wall. But is it the lack of a plan or failure to execute?
My money is on the latter. I can’t believe you would enter a game like yesterday and not have a plan. Maybe the players felt it would be an easy victory, since they were facing a team who had just one win in their 13 games, the fanbase isn’t showing up, aided by losing 2/3 of their home contests, Ottawa player the night before and just returned from a long road trip and their management has asked several players to provide their no-trade lists, including Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman. Whatever the reason, the same mistakes and impatience the Rangers showed last year in the postseason were on display again, including the inability to make smart plays through the neutral zone, with several turnovers resulting.
In addition, all the bluster and rhetoric that came out of the poor performance against Dallas, including what was worked on in Tuesday’s practice and yesterday’s morning skate, either went ignored or wasn’t the right answer. The team spot the hit, that’s goes from the first to the last player and everyone on the coaching staff. No excuse for losing the manner in which they did last night, especially after getting dominated Monday.
Whichever of the three you pick or if you have your own, New York has regressed again. The Blueshirts need to fix it and fix it fast, if they can. Come back Zib, the Rangers fans turn their lonely eyes to you.
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