The Rangers, after spitting the bit in Ottawa last night, take on the Canadiens tonight. New York couldn't handle the success of a solid, full game versus Washington and decided almost to a man not to show up Friday night. You can blame the kids all you want, but the veterans were invisible as well yesterday.
Coach David Quinn was right to be angry at everyone last night.
"I was unhappy with everybody...everybody" - Coach Quinn pic.twitter.com/VjqMZ7go70
— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) November 23, 2019
The better question and one that must be resolved is why did this effort happen again. You can say the kids have to learn, which would be fine if only the rookies and young ones made mistakes. But the stink was pervasive up and down the lineup. The lack of staying in their lanes on the rush or knowing how to pick up on defense or where to be on a penalty kill. Not all of it can be a brain cramp, and for these to be happening a quarter of the way into the season is mildly shocking. Until this gets fixed and only happens periodically or not at all, we will continue to see the yo-yo performances.
New York is not talented enough to get away with this type of effort against any team. Ottawa seems to have their number, which makes yesterday's effort even more shocking, especially after losing 6-2 a few weeks ago. The Senators are now 8-3 in their last 11, so it''s as if they should have felt that they could just lace up their skates and win. The effort and play was piss-poor at best and horrific may be a better word.
Despite the lousy games, the lines, which were shuffled in the third period remain intact. The only change is Michael Haley in for Tim Gettinger, why, I don't know. Alexandar Georgiev will be between the pipes for Henrik Lundqvist, as announced the other day.
Quinn says lines will stay the same because they’ve been pretty productive lately and they don’t want to panic after one bad game. Only change is that Micheal Haley comes in for Tim Gettinger. Georgiev in net. #NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) November 23, 2019