The Rangers rallied from a 3-0 early second period deficit to notch a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Canadiens on Saturday in Montreal. An inability to clear the puck out of their own zone contributed heavily to the three goals scored by the Habs before New York took up the heat. Samuel Montembeault made 46 saves, several of them spectacular, to earn the win while Jonathan Quick was solid in much less action, benefiting from at least two posts hit. The Blueshirts face the Pacific leading Canucks on Monday at MSG.
Game recap:
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Gustafsson-Schneider
Quick Shesterkin
A few thoughts: 1) Defense - Montreal only had six high-dander chances last night per Natural Star Trick but it seemed like a large portion of them resulted from the Rangers' inability to clear their own zone. The two second period goals, which came 1:30 apart, certainly were driven by the Canadiens' forecheck and some lax play in the defensive zone. Breakout passes that failed to hit the mark, or at least get out of the zone, spurred the Habs attack.
Erik Gustafsson and Braden Schneider did not look to have good games despite what the advanced stats show. The Gus bus had hit a few potholes since his hot start while Schenider's performance has been a yo-yo nearly all season, very up and down. In the comments, a suggestion was made to trade Schneider to obtain a better 3C with Filip Chyil likely gone for the season and/or an upgrade in D.
I can understand the view/opinion. But trading a 22-year-old blueliner still scratching the surface of how good he can be and what we saw down the stretch in 2022 and in the playoffs would be foolish. i understand you need to give to get. But to me, moving on from a somewhat cost effective d-man with massive upside would be a move the Rangers in the 2000s did under Glen Sather. It should not be a deal made by Chris Drury, especially the one I saw proposed in order to get Chris Tanev from the Flames.
One positive that came out of the contest was that I thought it was Adam Fox's best game since he returned to the lineup. Beyond him scoring his first goal in 20 games, Fox looked to have his skating legs while his decision making process and reads were much improved from recent performances. Maybe this is the contest that springboards him the rest of the way.
2) Two lines stood out to me yesterday. The Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière and Cuylle-Goodrow-Vesey trios were both excellent in the shootout loss. New York's erstwhile first line were all over the place and triggered the comeback. While Laf didn't get on the scoreboard, he might have been the best of the three on the line, which is saying a lot as Panarin and Trocheck each had a goal and an assist and were all over the place.
The Cuylle-Goodrow-Vesey trio was by far the second best line. Blake Wheeler struggled again, resulting in Cuylle getting moved up to skate with Zib and Kreider. Fox's game-tying goal came about from good work by the Goodrow line in the Habs zone and Cuylle screen in front. Cuylle deserved the promotion and you have to wonder if he gets a chance with the big boys before Kaapo Kakko is possibly ready to return.
On the flip side, Brennan Othmann, so noticeable in his debut Thursday, saw his ice time cut substantially Saturday. As Vince Mercogliano noted, the 21-year-old was limited to a game-low 7:16 TOI, including only two shifts in the third period and nothing in the final 17:03 of play (regulation plus overtime). A good part of that was due to the team striving to comeback and coach Peter Laviolette mainly rolling with three lines.
3) World Juniors: congrats to Gabe Perreault and Drew Fortescue, who earned gold medals for the US. Both players had solid tournaments with Perreault showing why he was a steal at #23 in the first round. Fortescue showed a little more offense than expected to go with his solid, steady, stay at home play on the blue line.