Game 52: LA 4 NYR 3, OT, Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory again (rangers)

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Game 52: LA 4 NYR 3, OT, Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory again

By Jan Levine

Feb 5, 2019 • 4:18 am

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The Rangers once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Kings. New York blew leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, the latter coming with just under a minute remaining, before falling in the extra frame. The Blueshirts are 0-1-1 in the first two games of their five-game homestand and 1-2-1 in four games since the All-Star break, despite playing solid hockey in that stretch.

Game recap:

David Quinn Post-Game:

5v5 (12 of the 18 skaters on the right side of the ledger, but Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad and Marc Staal on the wrong side):

A few thoughts:

1) Zibanejad has been unreal. The numbers below evidence this fact. You can see he is streaky and needs to be more consistent generically, but hard to argue regarding his recent dominance and that of the first line:

Zibanejad's goal gave him the career-high 52 points in 52 games. He has eight points (four goals, four assists) in the last three games and 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in his last seven games. New York is 5-3-1 in their last nine propelled by this hot performance along with that of Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello, playing like a true #1 line.

2) Neal Pionk may be the next one to sit - as Carp calls it - the Quinn Bin. His scoring has dried up in 2019, as he has just one point so far this year. This slump means all the focus is on his defense, and we all know how much work he needs in his own zone.

3) Tony DeAngelo made a great and play in setting up Chris Kreider for the first goal of the game. The offensive talent is there. Maturity, however, has been and continues to be a questions. It's up to him if he is able to stick in New York.

4) Lack of secondary scoring. See below from Carp's column today. The numbers are ugly, and despite the first line dominance, is a reason why New York has struggled recently and noted by Quinn in his post-game comments. Wait until Zucc and/or Hayes are dealt, this could get a lot uglier.

Because (numerically): Cody McLeod has no goals in 15 games, Ryan Strome none in 7 (and four in 25), Jesper Fast none in 9 (and two in 15), Boo Nieves none in 14, Jimmy Vesey none in 7 (and two in 24), Filip Chytil none in 4 (and four in 29), Pavel Buchnevich none in 5 (and four in 20), Vlad Namestnikov none in 19 … and before he was injured, Brett Howden none in 31.

This, to a large degree, is who the Rangers’ forwards are.

“Guys got to be better,… Rangers coach David Quinn said. “Guys get plenty of chances and ice time. They’ve got to take advantage of it. Right now too many guys aren’t doing that. They’re doing some good things. They’re playing hard. We’re getting chances. You’ve got to bury them. You’ve got to find ways to put pucks in the net.…

5) Henrik Lundqvist didn't play a bad game, but he should have been closer to the post on the tying goal and was caught moving - or guessing incorrectly - on the game-winner. On the tying goal, Adam McQuaid, who notched his first of the season to give New York the lead, was clipped in the face by Adrian Kempe, which went uncalled. on the game-winner, Zib beat Jonathan Quick cleanly but hit the far past. Tyler Toffoli, who also assisted on Kempe's game-tying goal, came down on a 2-on-1 and scored with a short-side shot from the right circle through the five-hole 25 seconds into overtime.

Old MSG Intro: (in advance of the 25th anniversary ceremonies for the Cup winning team Friday)

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