The Rangers head into the All-Star break off a disappointing 2-0 loss to the Flyers on Wednesday at MSG. New York (31-17-1) controlled play for the first 30+ minutes, but were unable to beat Mason, who notched his first shutout of the season. Philadelphia started to turn the tide late in the second and carried that momentum into the third, where they scored both of their goals.
Some quick thoughts:
- I am sure there will be lots of consternation and hand-wringing over this loss. But New York clearly controlled play much of the first two periods and hit four posts, so we likely deserved a better fate. That sounds a lot like how LA felt Monday in their game against the Rangers.
- The power play is on the fritz. New York was 0-for-3 on the man-advantage Wednesday and are now 0-for-14 and 2-for-25. AV moved Jimmy Vesey up to the first unit and Pirri down to the second grouping to no avail. Why he didn't use Matt Puempel or J.T,. Miller on either combination, I have no idea.
- The streaky offense hit a snag the past three games. One goal in overtime, three goals and no goals. Part of the struggles the last three games may be due to the absence of Kevin Hayes against Detroit. But the scoring hit a major snag heading into the break.
- Down two late, why is Kevin Klein or Dan Girardi on and not Brady Skeji or Adam Clendening? inquiring minds want to know. What most concerns me is that once Marc staal comes back after the break, Skjei or Clendening will sit as opposed to Klein
- I know you don't love advanced metrics but Skjei-Clendening have controlled the puck when on the ice together. The numbers don't reflect the same for Holden-Staal, but I think they have been better than what the stats say and would prefer they stick as a duo rather than Holden-Klein.
- Both goals came about due to some bad luck but some poor defense. Mats Zuccarello was stoned by Mason, and shortly thereafter, Matt Puempel fell over and tripped Michael Raffl givong Philly a power play. On the man-advantage, three of four Rangers on the ice for the penalty kill were on one side of the ice leaving Wayne Simmonds alone to clean up the rebound in front and lift a backhand off Lundqvist's shoulder for the first goal of the game with just under 14 minutes remaining.
Simmonds goal pic.twitter.com/xsoTIyMgt0
— GIF Grand Maester (@myregularface) January 26, 2017
On the second goal, giveaway by Michael Grabner, who struggled a bit in this game, and Jakub Voracek was allowed to skate through almost the entire Rangers team. Then a bad bounce off Grabner's right leg and left skate, through Klein, off the right post post and in.
It was wacky, but a goal is a goal! Jake Voracek gives the @NHLFlyers a 2-0 lead!
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 26, 2017
📺: @NBCSN
💻: https://t.co/sCTZfl6LEn pic.twitter.com/ptFjeFmdCt
- Grabner is in the midst of a scoring slump. His two goals on the 20th against Toronto are the only points he has the last seven games. For those talking about dealing him, if you were told Grabner would have 21 goals for the year, we would have jumped on it. So as long as his speed creates chances, which happened Wednesday, and he is a stalwart on the PK, the lack of goals doesn't bother me. It's why when Fast and Hayes return, he could end up on the fourth line.
New York is now until Tuesday when they face Columbus at home.