The Rangers lost their second straight contest to the Flyers in less than 48 hours, falling 5-3 on Sunday at MSG. New York gave up three goals in the first and were down 4-0 at one point in the second before rallying. Special teams was the story of the contest, during which the Blueshirts were widely outplayed once again, especially in their own zone. Tuesday finds New York home against the Blues, followed by contests at MSG on Thursday versus Washington and Saturday against New Jersey.
Game recap:
David Quinn Post-Game:
“We can’t allow one game to affect the next.…
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 1, 2020
Coach Quinn’s thoughts on Sunday’s game: pic.twitter.com/INkNhUu2oB
A few thoughts: 1) Ryan Strome - woof bad. Missed the net on his shot less than 30 seconds into the game and took a penalty, resulting in the first goal against. Was knocked down, on what looked to be a cross-check, then cruised into the defensive zone, giving Michael Raffl all day to beat Henrik Lundqvist on the backhand, aided by a snow angel by Tony DeAngelo. Another bad penalty in the second, leading to another PPG against. Rightly was benched for almost all 20 minutes in the third period, A horrific game overall.
2) Lundqvist - if you are blaming Lundqvist for the loss, I am unsure what game you were watching. I will agree he was slightly slow, scraping off the rust from not starting since February 3, evidenced in a few rebounds left in prime scoring position. The only way New York wins this game if he was vintage Hank from the Cup Finals days, which is an unfair expectation on any goalie, let alone one who hasn't played much.
A good observation in the blog comments was: "Looks like he's rusty and trying too hard. Both side to side goals he bit first rather than forcing the shooter to commit. Lots of plays where he is sliding away from his net as the puck arrives instead of being firmly planted. When that happens you have to stop momentum and reverse to be in position for the next shot or a rebound instead of merely making a small adjustment from a stationary position." All that said, the defense in front of him was piss-poor, tissue paper bad, which did not help Lundqvist or the Rangers' chances right from the start of the game.
For those saying Quinn is an idiot for playing him and has ruined his morale and will to win, are you damn insane? This was the right move. Alexandar Georgiev was very good the first two games replacing Igor Shesterkin but not great Friday. Starting Lundqvist was to me the correct move, regardless of the end result. I do think Georgiev might be in net Tuesday but wouldn't be shocked if it was Lundqvist.
Lundqvist after the game:
“There’s so many things that are different, but I’m not going to get into it now,… Lundqvist said. “The most important thing now is to try to work hard and be ready when you do get an opportunity. We’re still in a very interesting spot. I’m so impressed with the guys, what they’ve done here the last few weeks and put this team in a position to maybe make the playoffs. My role obviously changed a lot the last couple of months, and there will be a time to talk about that. But right now I just try to be supportive, you know?“I’m not looking for any excuses. It is what it is. A lot of times that first period will set the tone, too. If I can get out of the first period feeling a little bit better, it’s a different game. But now you’re down 3-0 and it just makes it a little more challenging to feel good about your game. But I thought I battled. I battled to the end. The third period, I started to feel better.…
3) The penalty kill was so good for a while but today, they were atrocious. Wide open gulfs of space in the defensive zone. Sticks not in the right place. No one lifting the oppositions stick, leading to deflection goals. Being stupidly physical resulting in odd-man rushes. Mistakes all over the place.
4) The team looked a step slow. Quinn rotated the lines to try and create offense. As off as it sounds, unsure that was the issue in the first two periods, since I thought Carter Hart was very good in stoping a handful of solid chances. Brett Howden saw time on the first line in the final stanza, which might be a move for Tuesday. But Kaapo Kakko only played 9:20, which isn't ideal and can't be the case moving forward if NY is to win.
Maybe it is time to give Vitali Kravtsov a chance, possibly Vinni Lettieri. But if Kravtsov is called up, using one of the two remaining moves, then he needs to see ice. Playing him nine minutes won't cut it.
5) The good news came after the game in the post-game press conference. Quinn said on Igor: "He feels a lot better, he’s been on the ice and taking shots, nothing high. He might be back sooner than we envisioned but it’s really an injury you need to monitor daily but he has made a lot of progress in a week.…
Maybe the team gets Shesterkin back earlier than the projected time frame. It's possible he is back for NJ, but I would think Dallas or Colorado on March 10-11 is more realistic. That would mean surviving one more week and 3-4 games with Georgiev and Lundqvist.
6) Zib had a good game, two goals and an assist, and looked much better than Friday when he was minus-four. Panarin just continues to produce, notching two assists to extend his point streak to 13 as he augments his career-high in points. Buch was eons better than he played in his first game back Friday after the car crash, tallying a goal.
7) Playoff race - back to back losses to the Flyers have not helped the Rangers' chances.
Sunday, Columbus rallied from 3-1 down with nine minutes left to defeat Vancouver 5-3. The Panthers lost 3-0 to the Flames.
Toronto - 78 points - 66 games Philly - 83 points - 65 games Pittsburgh - 80 points - 63 games
Islanders - 78 points - 64 games Columbus - 75 points - 67 games
Carolina - 75 points - 64 games Rangers - 74 points - 65 games Florida - 73 points - 66 games
Every playoff contender in the East has at least two games in hand on Columbus, they had lost 10 out of 11 before Sunday's win, and their next seven games are against Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Boston, Washington, and Toronto.