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Rangers blow chance at second place, mistakes and coaching decisions |
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The Rangers blew a chance to move into second place in the Metro, falling 4-3 in overtime Saturday to the Devils. New York had 2-0 and 3-1 leads during the contest, but a defensive miscue, power play goal allowed and a fortunate bounce enabled New Jersey to tie the game. Damon Severson won the game in the extra session for the Devils. The Blueshirts return to action Tuesday against the Wild.
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1) The blame game - I caught up on the in-game and post-game Twitter comments Saturday night. Reading some of these are an astonishing insight into the thought process of many. Every mistake made by a player doesn’t mean the player sucks. Every decision made the coach that didn’t work out doesn’t mean the coach is an idiot. Mistakes will happen. Poor decisions will happen. The goal is to minimize each, or at best, find a way to overcome those errors, either physical or in judgment. At times, like yesterday, that won’t happen. When that is the case, especially for a team that went 10-2-1 in their prior 13 games, a little perspective is warranted. Though that doesn’t mean all is absolvable as I will explain.
2) Coaching consistency - all the above I wrote is true. But what is also true is that what is good for the goose has to be good for the gander. If you are going to bench a player for an egregious mistake and establish that is the pattern, then that can’t only apply in certain cases or just for the kids.
Barclay Goodrow made a horrific play that resulted in a giveaway and ultimately a goal by Jack Hughes. While New Jersey had been very good in the first and were coming on in the second, that tally helped turned the tide of the game. But Goodrow wasn’t benched and in fact was one of those on the ice a lot in the third as coach Gerard Gallant shortened his bench.
If Gallant wants to go that route, that’s his prerogative, though I disagree with the rationale. But even if I was fully on board with that decision, not benching Goodrow after the turnover to send a message, and more important be consistent, is a failure by Gallant. Consistency needs to be a hallmark of any coach. In this case Gallant dropped the ball.
3) Alexis Lafreniere had a shot be the hero late in the game but was unable to bring it home. In addition, he was on ice for the overtime game winner. His lack of foot speed is even more evident on the 3-on-3 overtime, meaning that utilizing him in those situations will need to be revisited. Yesterday, it did come back to haunt the Rangers. In addition, he wasn’t noticeable yesterday positively, save for that one chance late.
4) Igor Shesterkin was brilliant at times on the third anniversary of his NHL debut. He made several spectacular saves, giving the New York a chance to get the win. See my point above on the blame game as some of those using the social media network were taking Igor to task as being responsible for the loss. i am unsure what game they watched because without his brilliance throughout, the Rangers don’t come close to getting a point.
5) The Rangers hit the midway point of the season 22-12-7, a mark that includes a 11-2-2 record in their last 15 contests. As Larry Brooks pointed out, that mark is just five points shy of the pace the team set last season. For all the handwringing and criticism, New York is in a pretty good place. The difference is this year the Metro Division is insanely competitive with teams two through six separated by nine points. Pittsburgh, who is in sixth place and seven points shy of the Rangers in third, have three games in hand. This means you can’t take a night off or give away points as that may come back to bite you in the future.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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