The Rangers, for the second straight game, blew a two-goal lead Tuesday. Unlike Sunday, when they garnered a point, last night, the Blueshirts fell 4-3 in regulation to the Islanders. Despite dominating play for stretches, an inability to finish and brutal neutral and own-zone play contributed to the loss. Add in a meh penalty kill and missed tripping call and the end result was the teams' third straight loss.
Game recap:
Lines: Panarin-Zibanejad-Kakko Lafreniere-Trocheck-Vesey Kreider-Chytil-Kravtsov Blais-Goodrow-Carpenter
Miller-Trouba Hajek-Fox Jones-Schneider
Shesterkin Halak
Scratches: Lindgren (upper body), Gauthier (upper body), Reaves
My thoughts overall: I will agree with Gerard Gallant that there are positives to take from the loss. But that is not much solace when the end result was a loss. Despite carrying play for stretches of the game, the Rangers were once again unable to finish.
Almost or maybe even more important than the inability to score is the team’s failure to play a complete game. We have seen pockets where they control play and solid periods. But other than Opening Night against Tampa, where have they put together a full 60-minute effort in general, let alone one where all aspects were clicking? To me, this is way more concerning.
Yes, the advance metrics show the Rangers are playing better 5x5 than last year, which bodes well for future success. We have seen massive improvement from Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck, for the most part, has stepped in nicely as the second line center. But in the here and now, New York has won just three of their last 10 games (3-4-3), going 1-21 on their recent four-game home stand that concluded last night. In addition, they now are confronting a stretch in which they will play six of their next seven games on the road. Maybe yeh road will be a panacea, because MSG sure as heck wasn’t.
I am unsure we can find a singular aspect that we can say is excelling. The power play has been okay but not great. Lines have been shuffled and continue to be shuffled. The lack of depth, due to cap constraints, partially caused by poor management, has created holes in the bottom six and top six that are still finding their way. New York’s penalty kill is a shell of what it was last season as some new bodies are incorporated but not enough where they should sit 17th with a 78.6% success rate after a 7th place finish on an 82.3% success rate last season.
The blue line has been very up and down. Libor Hajek has failed to show he is anything more than a depth blueliner while Zac Jones has not proven that he should be in the lineup daily. Braden Schneider has regressed from what we saw down the stretch last season following his call up. After a brilliant pre-season, K’Andre Miller is far from making the breakout we all expected. Adam Fox is Adam Fox and we saw the last two games just how much Ryan Lindgren means and was missed. But the defenseman, who is a far cry from what we saw in the playoffs and has taken a major step back from captain Jacob Trouba. It’s too easy a narrative to say this was caused by him taking on the captaincy. I don’t think that has had any impact. But the issues we saw his first two years and at times last season have been on display much of the start to this year. He has been consistently out of position and failed to make several defensive plays leading to a brutal 2022-23 to date.
Last but not least is Igor Shesterkin. He earned the Verona Trophy last season by willing the team to wins and carrying the squad on his back. This year, he has been asked to do a bit less, as the play in front of him has been as tissue soft. But his performance has been uneven at best. Up 3-1 last night, he has to close the door. As I have written and all of us know, what makes an elite goalie elite is making the key save at the key time. Igor did that repeatedly last year but it has been lacking this season.
Last night, the missed no tripping call didn’t cause the loss. Yes, the Rangers stopped playing and lost their focus expecting a whistle. When none was forthcoming, the Islanders got a major break and took advantage by scoring. But the Blueshirts should have been up by more or at least leading at that point. To state this caused the loss is a bit of a stretch; to state it contributed, absolutely. But the game was lost earlier than the scoring of that goal.
If there is another positive it's that those in the room recognize that it's getting late, ealy. In addition, they can not rely on what happened last season, save to use those experiences to help propel the squad forward. Now, it's a matter of taking the knowledge and using it properly, building up what is working and fixing what is not. Confidence begets confidence and struggles beget panic or crisis of confidence. New York needs to take the positives from last night, including the better performance, at least in terms of metrics, offensively and use that against Detroit on Thursday and Nashvillle on Saturday. No one right now is coming to the rescue, meaning that the team - and especially the senior leadership. - will need to fix the issues themselves and find a way out of this morass.