I guess the best you can say is that the Rangers got a point, but overall, not a pretty game from the Blueshirts. The 3-2 loss to Toronto, the team's third in a row, was mainly due to defensive breakdowns, one on each of the goals. The easy excuse is that the team was reeling a bit after seeing captain Ryan Callahan traded - especially true for Ryan McDonagh - but that's an easy and convenient rationale for what was an ugly loss.
Game Lowlights:
On the first goal, Tyzer Bozak's penalty shot, Daniel Carcillo and John Moore each had a bad angle, allowing Bozak to split and get behind them, leading to Carcillo's hook and penalty shot. Bozak beat Henrik Lundqvist clean, and while it's hard to blame him on this goal or the other two, penalty shots, which in essence is what the shootout is, used to be his specialty, and this year, that's been far from the case. The Rangers were fortunate it wasn't 2-0 a few minutes later, as Jake Gardiner hit the posts and crossbar, but the puck miraculous didn't cross the goal line.
On the second, Marc Staal had a weak clear around the boards, Anton Stralman failed to corral the puck and then fell trying to get back in front of the crease. Nikolai Kulemin was able to get to the puck behind the puck, come out to the side and front of the net, avoid two Rangers, and while Stralman was doing snow angels, he found a wide open Nazem Kadri for the goal. The D and forwards were all to blame here, but Stralman, after a really good start to the year, has regressed lately. I am unsure the case, maybe it's the pending free agency, but if Stralman keeps playing like this, I could see Raphael Diaz, who the Rangers acquired for a fifth in 2015 from Vancouver, getting into the lineup.
After tying it with two goals shorthanded, scary that their best offense came a man down and was generated by Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore on the first and a giveaway by Phil Kessel, he second of the game, to Moore leading to the 2-on-1 with Stepan, the game-winner was more lousy D. On this one, Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh each went behind the net for some reason leaving Bozak wide open in front. Bozak was able to lift the puck top-shelf from in tight, so give him credit for the shot, but the communication between the Block Ness Twins was either poor or non-existent and coverage by Nash and Richards in front late.
The Rangers offense has been very streaky. When Rick Nash was on, he was rolling, but lately, he has just one goal in nine games. Hagelin one goal in his last 18, none the last nine. Chris Kreider has one goal his last 11 games, two in his past 12. Derek Stepan - assists in each of his last four games, but no goals the last nine and his 40 points in 63 games don't really tell how poorly he has played. Derick Brassard has been solid, Richards for the most part pretty good, while Benoit Pouliot went three weeks in January without scoring and is not a consistent option. What should be obvious from these several sentences in how important Martin St. Louis will be to the offense and just how much the team misses Mats Zuccarello. Zucc has been the most consistent threat for the Rangers, and along with St. Louis, will be expected to provide a consistent threat moving forward.
Zuccarello, who suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left hand blocking a shot in the Olympics on Feb. 16 - and expected to miss 3-4 weeks from that point - will be a game-time decision Friday against the Hurricanes. He has been able to practice, passing and shooting without incident, and now, he is playing through some mild lingering pain but no injury, which is the key. after looking strong in practice. He is passing well and shooting well and it seems like he can play through any lingering pain at this point.
What may end up happening is that the lines, which have been mainly in check for a while, will be shifted around. To me, Nash, St. Louis and Zuccarello all need to be on separate lines to have good balance. That could change down the road, especially in the post-season, but for now, prefer to spread the "wealth," term used loosely, around especially since if you two of the three on one line, that third line suffers tremendously. Granted, AV could opt to see what happens when Zucc is back now that St. Louis is here and see if the current trios can figure it out, but if not, you don’t have the luxury of waiting with the playoff races so tight. If Pouliot continues to struggle, maybe you give Miller another shot. The only group that should stay the same is Boyle-Moore-Carcillo with Dorsett interspiced in. I could see moving Hags up, despite his struggles, to use his speed with Nash and Stepan allowing Kreider's size to create space for St. Louis and Richards.
In addition, it's hard to tell how this team will make come playoff time. Will they be willing to sell out to block a shot the last few minutes of a close game? Will they take hit to make a pass to create a goal-scoring chance? The concern that by dealing Callahan they would become a bit "softer" to play against clearly is a concern, but that has to be offset by the expectation that they will be harder to play against because they can score, rather than trying to win all games 1-0 or 2-1. Glen Sather by making the deal believes that the lack of scoring was the biggest issue with this team and getting St. Louis, even at the cost of Callahan and the picks, was worth the risk, especially if St. Louis can play a few more years at even close to this level and is willing to re-sign after next year. Is it a risk? Of course, but possibly no more so than expecting a different result from the past few years in the playoffs as to noted lack of scoring with a decent part of the personnel the same.