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Rangers get off to slow start and fall 2-1 to Devils, in Buffalo tonight |
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The Rangers came out somewhat flat, allowing a pair of goals in the first period, which was enough to fall 2-1 to the Devils. WIth the loss, New York dropped to four points behind New Jersey for second place in the Metro with seven games remaining. Carolina's loss to Detroit leaves the 'Canes just one point north of Devils with a game in hand, so no playoff seeding is set yet. The Blueshirts are in Buffalo tonight to face the Sabres.
Game recap:
Lines:
Panarin-Zibanejad-Tarasenko
Kreider-Trocheck-Kane
Lafreniere-Chytil-Kakko
Vesey-Goodrow-Motte
Mikkola-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Harpur-Schneider
A few thoughts:
1) Speed kills - New Jersey is known for their speed, especially through the neutral zone, leading to offense generation. The way to beat them is to use that speed against them on the counter attack and to dump-and-chase, forcing their D to turn and get pounded in the corners. Yesterday, the Rangers started the game and played the first 30+ minutes seemingly unaware of the above.
New Jersey used their speed, active sticks and persistent forecheck to clog up the neutral zone and prevent neutral and offensive zone possession. The Rangers came in off a pair of games where east-west play created lots of chances. Against the Devils, those types of plays will either just get broken up or head the other way for an odd-man rush. Discipline, smarts and grit in the offensive zone will be needed if these two teams do meet in the postseason.
The Devils dominated possession, especially in the first period, when they scored twice and notched 21 scoring chances to just a handful for New York. Overall, despite the shots being 31-24 in favor of New Jersey for the game, scoring chances were 41-19 in favor of the home team. In addition, the Devils finished with a 14-6 advantage in high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five. New York improved as the game wore on, but New Jersey did a good job of blunting their attack and limiting high-danger chances, even as the Blueshirts pushed in the third.
2) Rough game for many.- as Vince Mercogliano noted, the Kid Line of Alexis Lafrenière-Filip Chytil- Kaapo Kakko was outshot, 12-2, while surrendering an eye-popping 10 high-danger scoring chances. They weren't alone in terms of forwards, but were the weakest of the group. New York's bottom blueline pair of Ben Harpur-Braden Schnider had the roughest go of it amongst the d-men. When/if Ryan Lindgren returns, he will rejoin Adam Fox with Niko Mikkola, currently with Fox, will shift back to play with Schneider, which hopefully gets him back on the beam.
3) Positives - Igor Shesterkin was strong behind the pipes, stopping 29 of 31 shots. Look for Jaroslav Halak to be between the pipes tonight and Igor back in Sunday against the Capitals. Chris Kreider, who tallied New York's only marker, tied Vic Hadfield for fifth most goals in franchise history with 262. He has six goals in his last 10 games and 33 for the year.
4) Buffalo - the Sabres were a media darling the first half of the season but have faded. They are still a dangerous offensive team, even if Tage Thompson misses tonight's contest. The team and fanbase will get a boost tonight with Devon Levi making his NHL debut.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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