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With the Rangers losing three out of their last four games, I’d say things are looking a little Dark and Stormy, so let’s imbibe a cocktail of the same name.
Gif of the Game
Tough night at the office for Lundqvist but not on this sick save.
The Need to Grind Out Goals
Way too often the Rangers are one and done in the offensive end. Meaning, they get one shot on goal and rarely is there someone parked at the crease waiting for a rebound or to cause some havoc. Tonight was the perfect example. For the first two periods, when the Rangers actually did have a shot on goal, Price had a clear view of the puck with zero chaos in front of him. Then in the third period, they were able to do this…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEHRmK6DwVA&w=560&h=315]That my friends is how you score on Carey Price. Pucks and bodies to the net. He was way too comfortable in the crease tonight.
What I also liked from the Rangers in the third period is that after having trouble getting the puck through the neutral zone earlier in the game, they began creating offense by dumping the puck in and generating a tough forecheck. Unfortunately, they didn’t adjust until they were down multiple goals, but hopefully they can build off of one of the few bright spots in this game.
Fluky Goals & Timely Saves
Look, the Rangers were horrific tonight. They were beaten to loose pucks. Physically manhandled. And provided little to no energy. Yet, while they didn’t deserve to win, they still had a chance as three of the four goals against were of the fluke variety and on two of them Carey Price made a brilliant save immediately preceeding. Let’s take a look.
Pretty sure the Rangers have deflected more goals into their own net than the opponent’s this season, as the Canadiens open the scoring with a goal off of Clendening’s skate…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tq-FuFSLOg&w=560&h=315]Then at the 11:35 mark of the second period, with the Rangers down just 1-0 and the ice finally titled towards the Canadiens end, Jimmy Vesey found himself with a wide open opportunity in the slot…
23 seconds later, Lundqvist misplays the puck and the Canadiens extend their lead to 2-0.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3H8_MIwsa8&w=560&h=315]With the Rangers continuing to sustain pressure in the Canadiens end during the middle portion of the second period, Miller had a glorious chance to get the Rangers on the board and within one of Montreal…
Meanwhile, Lundqvist’s nightmare continued as he lost sight of a rebound and Andrew Shaw made it a three goal lead…
[protected-iframe id=”5303408cfdc9146aac2a3aa9220921cf-114320562-46273279″ info=”https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/video/embed/shaws-wraparound-tally/t-277443720/c-50001403?autostart=false” width=”540″ height=”360″]Finally, after the Rangers cut the lead to 3-1, Price makes this ridiculous butt end save at the 13:56 mark of the third period…
Instead of the Rangers getting to within one goal with more than half the period remaining, Jordie Benn did this just 54 seconds later to give the Canadiens an insurmountable four goal lead…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzGvpO97iFc&w=560&h=315]Like I said, the Rangers play was not worthy of a victory tonight, but when you actually break the game down, they had their chances to make this a lot closer than it really was.
What The Hell Are You Doing Nash?!?!?!
With the Rangers down 2-0 in the second period, Buchnevich setup Rick Nash for an absolute layup, but instead of tapping the puck into the wide open goal, the Big Nashty decided to make a move to the front of the net…
Another blown opportunity to get the Rangers back into the game.
No B*lls
While I appreciated Staal challenging Gallagher after the pesky Canadien bumped Lundqvist, watching Ott chase an unwilling (not sure why) Miller around the ice in the final minute without a single teammate coming to his aid made me sick to my stomach.
Sure, Miller is a big boy, who can normally handle himself (again, wondering why he backed down from Ott), but when Beaulieu also got involved there’s no excuse for not defending a fellow Blueshirt.
Not trading for a sandpaper guy like Dallas’ Antoine Roussel, the way the Canadiens did, at the trade deadline, could ultimately haunt the Blueshirts if they suffer a second straight quick exit in the postseason.
Mini Recap
Soooooooo, are we sure the easiest route to the Stanley Cup is a first round matchup with the Candiens? The Rangers finished the season series 0-2-1 against Montreal.
The offense continues to be the catalist for the Rangers uneven play recently as players who were carrying the team all season have gone ice cold.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBY-531bKvw&w=560&h=315]JT Miller and Kevin Hayes have combined for just three points (1g, 2a) in their last nine games (Man is this team beginning to miss Grabner), while Zibanejad only has the overtime winning goal against the Devils in his last 19 games.
However, the biggest perpetrator remains Derek Stepan whose goalless streak has now reached…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQVeVRnfhcA?start=83]In some positive news, Buchnevich continues his strong play since returning from Hartford as he was probably the Rangers best player tonight. Sadly, that wasn’t very hard to do.
On a lighter note, after his debut with the Rangers on Thursday night, Brendan Smith said this about Lundqvist…
Wait, did he say Lundqvist plays the puck well?!?!?! Someone must be new here. I’m assuming after watching that second goal tonight, Smith wants to retract that statement.
I tell you what, if the Rangers think they can get away with the recent battle level once the posteason starts, they’ve got another thing coming.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtuoFv4dcwM?start=62&end=70]Thankfully they’ll be away from MSG this week (4 straight home losses) as after being off tomorrow, they have a back-to-back in Florida on Monday and Tuesday then onto Carolina on Thursday and finally a Brendan Smith homecoming in Detroit on Sunday.
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