The Rangers were just good enough to beat the Sabres 4-3 on Tuesday. New York jumped to a 3-0 lead 6:05 into the second period but then took their foot off the gas pedal. Buffalo carried play from there, narrowing the gap to 3-2 before JT Miller's empty net goal set the final margin in the win.
If there was a theme to the game, it's Antti Raanta and the goal posts. Raanta made 34 saves, bailing New York out repeatedly throughout the game. When he wasn't doing so, the Rangers were fortunate that Buffalo hit the post. If either had not been the case, the end result might have been markedly different.
As I wrote in the blog comments, a win is a win is a win. In addition, a pretty win is better than an ugly loss. Early on, it looked as if New York would cruise to an easy win. But defensive breakdowns, especially in front of the net, which were impacted by forwards getting caught deep on pinches resulted in a pair of goals against in the second.
While Miller had the empty net goal, Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists and Derick Brassard also notched a goal, defensively they weren't great again. But AV showed faith in Miller by having him on late to protect a one-goal lead and was rewarded by the empty-netter. Obviously it's hard to criticize those three after they tallied three of the four goals, but the defensive coverage issues need to get fixed and quickly. New York was fortunate they were playing Buffalo and not one of the teams upcoming on their schedule.
I thought Brady Skjei, who was returned to Hartford along with Magnus Hellberg today, played fairly well yesterday. There are still areas of growth that should come with experience, especially at this level, but you can see why the team and industry are so high on him. With Skjei and Hellberg in Hartford, expect Marc Staal (back/flu) to be good to go Saturday and the same with Henrik Lundqvist (neck), who should either be the starter or back up. The three days between games give each a bit longer to heal and allows AV to further indoctrinate Eric Staal, whose line with Stalberg and Lindberg drove possession again yesterday, into the NY system. If Staal is out again, Skjei could come back up to maintain the lefty-righty balance AV loves or Raphael Diaz may get a look against Detroit or Pittsburgh.
With the contests against the Red Wings and Penguins as back-to-backs Saturday and Sunday coupled with the first pairing of the West Coast swing against Anaheim and Los Angeles as back-to-backs as well on Wednesday and Thursday, New York will play four games in six days. I wonder how many games Lundqvist gets and if it's dependent on whether he plays Saturday or Sunday. The same with Marc Staal and if NY takes a d-man on the road, as long as that can be fit under the cap, due to his lingering issues.