The Rangers continued their recent pattern of win one, lose one, falling to the Isles 3-1 in Brooklyn in Thursday. The Blueshirts played a very solid first 40 minutes and headed into the third with 1-0 lead thanks to a Marc Staal tip-in goal with 45.9 seconds left in the frame. A pair of bad turnovers by Kevin Hayes resulted in the first goal against while a questionable penalty - though Dylan McIlrath also has to be smarter - led to Nick Leddy's PPG 4:17 into the third which proved to be the game-winner.
The first two periods were fantastic hockey. Up-and-down, back-and-forth, strong skating, checking and goaltending. The Rangers were able to generate lots of chances, but as has been the norm since the 16-3-1 start, they were unable to convert. Despite the absence of two of their at a minimum top three defensemen in Johnny Boychuk and Travis Hamonic, the Islanders were able to mostly hold the Rangers at bay. Jaroslav Halak played another strong game against the Rangers, something that should not come as a shock, as he has now beaten Henrik Lundqvist and the Blueshirts eight straight times.
Despite the blown opportunities, especially odd-man rushes that vanished into thin air, the Ranges enters the third with the lead. Usually, that was good enough to result in a win. Prior to Thursday, the Rangers hadn't lost in regulation when leading after two since Nov. 29, 2013. They were 70-0-3 since and an astounding 165-1-9 since 2/6/2010. Those numbers can now be thrown out the window.
The meltdown started late in the second. McIlrath spent a good part of the first two periods looking to agitate the Islanders and fight with any taker. As the period dwindled to its conclusion, he got mixed up once again with Matt Martin. Rather than letting the two players go, the officials gave both McIlrath and Martin two minutes. With the Rangers in the lead, there was no reason for McIlrath to try and stir things up, just let the period end and go into the third with momentum. Instead, each player gets a minor and the end result was that the third period started 4-on-4 helping lead to the Rangers' downfall.
As Carp noted, maybe if each player fights and gets five minutes, the Islanders don't score 4-on-4 and also McIlrath doesn't take his second penalty but obviously none of us know what else could have happened. Hayes helped create the Rangers' goal and gift-wrapped the Islanders' first one. Crossing the blue line, rather than putting the puck up the boards, he skated towards the middle and lost the puck to Brock Nelson. Then after getting it back, he handcuffed Keith Yandle, rather than clearing the zone, who lost the puck on a forecheck. However, some of the blame also sits with Yandle, who even though handcuffed a but could have and should have made a better play without just losing the puck. Nelson buried his opportunity, beating Henrik Lundqvist just past his glove for his fourth goal in two games. Two bad turnovers and all the momentum was lost. It's hard to criticize Hank there, but I disagree with his assessment that he was too high. In fact, he was in the middle of the blue crease and I wish he had been higher to cut down the angle, but this goal is squarely on Hayes. All the positive strides he had made since coming back in the lineup was lost in the blink of an eye.
Then we have the second and killing goal. McIlrath is in the lineup to provide a physical presence but you have to known when and where to use that presence. You can argue his roughing penalty on Nelson was a ticky-tacky call and he did the right thing defending Lundqvist as Nelson poked at the puck. But the end result of that play was a penalty, so regardless if the two points in the prior sentence are correct, he still got two minutes putting the Rangers at a disadvantage.
The goal came on a nice play by the aisles by also poor coverage by the Rangers. John Tavares was allowed to go from the left boards behind the net and and set up a wide open Nick Leddy, who beat Lundqvist wide-side for the game-winner at 4:17. The player handoffs on the penalty kill were poor, including Kevin Klein not getting to Leddy and Derek Stepan failing to mark him. In a tie game that was tight checking, one breakdown can make the difference and that was the case here.
Down one goal you would have hoped to see some desperation from the Rangers. But with just one shot over a nine minute span and a non-existent power play coupled with the Islanders' willingness to just clog up the blue line, that push wasn't there until Lundqvist was pulled. Another disappointing and bad loss in what has been a series of them lately.
The 'top line' was invisible again. Rick Nash did have one nice deflection on the power play that beat Halak but rang off the post. Other than that, he and his line did little. While his defensive game has been better, the Rangers need Nash to score, and after 42 goals a year ago, he has just 12 this year. Most of them occurring in a brief stretch.
Chris Kreider was at least noticeable but again, he missed opportunities like others did to give the Rangers a lead. If he can play like this moving forward, it should help New York's moribund offense. JT Miller continues to play, which to me to date is one of the more positive aspects from this season. Derek Stepan needs to give a lot more than what we have seen and been getting. For all the criticism the top line has gotten lately, Stepan hasn't received the same focus and he should due to his subpar production.
The man advantage is really a man dis-advantage. The Rangers were 0-for-3 yesterday and are 0-for-19 in their past seven games. While the puck and player movement haven't been bad, no goals mean a change has to occur. Sit Jayson Megna and use JT Miller on the second unit. Move Yandle up to the top PP, as AV sort of did in the third, and let him to try and create opportunities which have been sorely lacking
The penalty kill also has struggled. Usually, the PK was a stalwart for the Blueshirts. Whether it's personnel - and it's a bit late to blame this on the loss of Hagelin and MSL - or scheme or combinations, the penalty kill now scares you rather than having confidence they will get the job done. With the team having its own issues, this portion of the game needs to be markedly better to make up for the problems elsewhere.
Despite the loss, there actually were several positives. The play in the first two period was closer and in line with what we expect to see. Defensively, there were a few breakdowns in those two frames but the coverage was much better. Lundqvist was strong, especially early on. But the end result despite those positive aspects was still a defeat.
With the win, the Islanders overtook the Rangers for second in the division. They’re now 24-15-5 with 53 points and 20 ROW (regulation overtime wins) in 44 games. The Rangers fell to 23-15-5 and remain in third with 51 points and 21 ROW in 43 games but with a game in hand. In addition, they have not won back to back games since November 21-23.
The road doesn't get any easier. A road game down 95 in Philly is on the docket for Saturday at 1pm. Following that game, the Blueshirts will head down 95 to the Beltway for a 5pm matched up against the seemingly unstoppable Capitals at 5pm Sunday. What was already shaping up to be a big weekend got a bit bigger with the loss Thursday and need to rebound quickly.
For every one step forward, the Rangers seem to take two steps back. That was the case again Thursday.