The Rangers picked up a point thanks to Jaroslav Halak but lost 3-2 in overtime to the Red Wings on Sunday. New York played a strong first period, but lost their structure and focus in the second, continuing a season-long issue. The Blueshirts were better in the third, but gave up several prime chances in the last five minutes, which were stopped by Halak. The Blueshirts face the Islanders at home on Tuesday to close out what has been a disappointing 1-1-1 homestand so far.
Game recap:
Lines: Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere Vesey - Chytil - Goodrow Blais - Carpenter - Gauthier
Miller-Fox Jones-Trouba Hajek-Schneider
A few thoughts: 1) New York had all the momentum in the first. But they got away from what made them successful, failing to forecheck with any urgency while allowing Detroit to gain the zone with impunity. Their defensive effort left a lot to be desired, enabling the Red Wings to turn the tide and tie the game. You can see the frustration on the face of Mika Zibanejad, who scored the team’s second goal on the power play, as well as in his tone of voice on his response to the questions posed.
2) The blender came out in the third. The trios were jumbled with every line seeing a change. When asked after the game why Chris Kredier was dropped to the fourth line, coach Gerald Gallant said: "He deserved to be where he was at….he wasn’t alone.… Gallant may have been making an example of Kreider, since as Gallant said, he wasn't alone. You could argue many others deserved to be moved down or benched. Despite that demotion, Kreider was on the ice in overtime. Of the forwards, only Kakko Kaapo, who scored in the first off a broken play thanks to a strong forecheck, was the only one who had a consistent effort throughout the contest.
Panarin - Zib - Kakko Vesey - Trocheck - Blais Laf - Chytil - Goodrow Kreider - Carpenter - Gauthier
3) On the blue line, with Ryan Lindgren out with his upper body injury, K'Andre Miller, who took the key penalty in overtime, moved up to play with Adam Fox while Zac Jones played with Jacob Trouba. Jones was benched in the third, but Gallant didn't seem to know or didn't feel like explaining why. Jones did not have a good game, as he was on the ice for Pius Suter's game-tying goal, failing to clear the crease or corral the rebound, which may have contributed to Gallant's or Gord Murphy's decision to bench him. Libor Hajek, who dressed in place of the injured Lindgren, did not have a particularly strong game either. But due to cap constraints, New York were unable to make any moves in the off-season to bolster the blue line and you wonder if Matthew Robertson will eventually get a chance.
Gallant didn't have a reason for why Zac Jones was benched in the 3P. Said he leaves those decisions up to assistant coach Gord Murphy.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) November 7, 2022
"Murph runs the D. I don’t think he’s hurt. I never heard anything – a report or nothing like that. I’ll let you know tomorrow."#NYR
4) Halak had his best game of the season while making 33 saves. Despite keeping the team in the game, Halak fell to 0-3-1 on the season. Halak preserved the tie in the third, making a huge save on a breakaway by Dominik Kubalik with 3:51 to play and a tremendous right pad save on Filip Hronek with 42 seconds remaining. Both plays occurred due to defensive breakdowns. The latter save came after a sequence that started with an innocuous play along the boards by David Perron, who was able to gain possession and start the passing play.