The Rangers saw their four-game win streak end Friday 4-2 to Columbus. You can use the argument that the team was tried after three games in four days Western Canada but I don't buy it. They had two full days off after defeating Vancouver and welcome back Chris Kreider to te lineup. So fatigue should not be considered a factor.
William Karlsson scored at 16:34 of the first when he intercepted J.T. Miller’s pass in the Rangers’ defensive zone and beat Henrik Lundqvist five-hole from above the circles (bad goal #1). Jesper Fast attempted a feed toward the middle in the defensive zone in the second that was intercepted by Sam Gagner, whose shot hit Lundqvist’s glove, went over the goalie’s head and hit off his back and in at 5:38 (bad goal #2). Then, after Michael Grabner scored on a breakaway in the second to make it 2-1 at 11:04 of the second and Mika Zibanejad converted a gorgeous cross-ice feed from Brady Skjei to tie it at two at 8:32 of the third, bad goal #3 occurred. Miller made a horrific attempted pass back to the point on the power play, which ended up in the middle of the offensive zone, leading to a 2-on-1 and shorthanded goal by Matt Calvert with 8:25 left in the third on a shot Lundqvist probably should have handled.
As noted above, turnovers in all three zones, especially the ones by Miller, the second of which resulted in the game-winning goal and landed him on the bench, and Fast. coupled with Henrik allowing a pair of weak goals were bigger culprits. Add in an offense that failed to create much on the rush along with a lack of physical play and you have the recipe for a loss. Plus, factor in some questionable lineup decisions, see next paragraph, and the end result is a defeat.
I know some question Michael Grabner getting moved down to the fourth line, which makes sense, especially since Grabner has been on fire and Miller was moved to the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello. In addition, I was not surprised Kreider played with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash, though I thought we would get the KZZ line again. Playing Fast on the third line is somewhat questionable, though he played there the other night and looked solid on it. To me, a bigger issue was AV returning Brady Skjei to the left side of Kevin Klein with Nick Holden shifting back to his offside to skate again with Marc Staal. (below you will see what looks to be the changes for Sunday's game against Florida)
Derek Stepan summed it up well: "“It’s a game of execution in the new NHL, and in order to play with speed and get offensive looks, you have to be able to execute on breakouts and defensive coverage and through the neutral zone. We didn’t have that sharpness. And if you’re not on your game, your mistakes become glaring." The Rangers have usually come out much sharper, and even when they weren't, it lasted for only past of the game, then the offense work up. That happened slightly yesterday, but even with the line shuffling, there wasn't enough offensive grind or creativity to pull out a win.
Lines Friday: 10-93-36; 20-21-61; 26-13-19; 24-13-40, 27-5;18-22, 76-8, 30
Per Steve Zipay, here are the possible lines for Sunday against Florida:
Vesey-Zibanejad-Zuccarello Kreider-Stepan-Nash Miller-Hayes-Grabner Pirri-Jooris-Fast
Lindberg - healthy scratch
Forward Josh Jooris skated Saturday and claimed to be “good to go,… but Vigneault indicated he hadn’t decide if the fourth-line center would return to the lineup for the first time since suffering a separated shoulder on Oct. 26. Based on the combinations above and little Oscar Lindberg has provided since he returned to the lineup. With Jooris back, Fast also slides back to the third line.
The Grabner-Hayes-Miller line was one of the team's best lines while they were together, so a wise move for AV to put them back together. A bit surprised Vesey is with Zib and Zucc, but maybe AV is trying to kickstart his game, as he has struggled a bit lately. Maybe he has hit a bit of a wall but will have to push through it. Kreider is with Stepan and Nash again, but I could see he and Vesey switching spots during the game.
I hope AV moves Skjei back to play with Staal with Holden skating with Klein. With back-to-back games upcoming, maybe Adam Clendening gets in. I actually would put Skjei with McDonagh, but that appears unlikely. Though, AV could go with Clendening alongside either G or Klein, depending on which one is scratched against Pittsburgh.
Vigneault also said that that Lundqvist will be between the pipes against Florida. In addition, AV added “if I was a betting man I would say there’s a good chance… that Antii Raanta will play Monday in Pittsburgh. Interesting that he goes with Hank against the Panthers and Raanta against Pittsburgh. But, Lundqvist likely will face the Penguins on Wednesday at home and Raanta has shown that he isn't phased facing quality competition, beating San Jose, Tampa Bay, Boston and Edmonton so far this year.
The latest update on Pavel Buchnevich doesn't sound all that promising. AV said today: "“Not a setback, but again, today he came in and wasn’t feeling the way we expected him to, so right now we’re going to have our doctors take a good look at him. I guess it might be more than just back spasms, so we’re going to take a look at this and we’ll come up with a plan.… That bolded piece is concerning.
We thought that maybe the weight Buch added to help get him stronger somewhat adversely impacted his back. Possibly, he reacted poorly to a hit, resulting spasms. But now the concern has to be a possible disc or nerve rather than muscular issue. To me, though, why wasn't he sent for testing after he had the second setback, rather than waiting to now?
Most of us believe New York needs a top-four blueliner. Most of the speculation has centered on Kevin Shattenkirk or Jacob Trouba. But here is one name to keep in mid: Michael Stone. Jim Matheson reported today that Stone, who will be a UFA in July, is apparently available. Stone, a right-handed d-man, is fully over the knee injury that sidelined him last year. He has a big shot from the point, can play the power play and is more than willing to play physical, blocking shots and dishing out hits. Put Stone on the top pairing with McDonagh and New York immediately becomes a better team. New York and Arizona have made deals before, though Stone would command a healthy price on the open market. Get him now Jeff Gorton.