New York Rangers Last Night-Goal Busted In Hockeytown
Lead cometh, lead taketh. After a promising start to the New York Rangers night, ended in a nightmare. We are not talking about the “blown-out” kind. No, we are talking about one where you are falling from high above and just before you hit the ground you wake up in shock.
It had to be demoralizing for the team after the 3-2 loss. Come into Hockeytown, play in Joe Louis Arena. A place that has so much hockey history: championship banners, retired numbers, stepping onto t he same ice as those players we all grew up watching: Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Federov, Chris Chelios, and etc. You’re playing the Red Wings and hit them in the gut and had them on the ropes, just like the great Joe Louis did in his prime against his opponents. For 20 minutes, you had the game in hand. Then poof, it’s all gone. What happened? What could have been done?
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As stated before, the Rangers dictated most of the play in the first period, outshooting the Red Wings in the first period. With that, the Rangers got out to a quick 2-0 lead. When I mean dictated, I mean they held the puck in the red Wings defensive zone, got to loose pucks quickly, and buzzed around the Jimmy Howard. It looked as though the Red Wings could not contain the Rangers onslaught. However, they were able to find their footing the next 40 minutes. They outshot the Rangers 24-17, which included the game winner in the third period. The Red Wings won in the face-off circle, 33-23. Give credit where credit is due. The Red Wings are dangerous and if you let them hang around and make mistakes, they are capable of making you pay the price, as witnessed last night. Their puck movement was quick and precise. Their playmaking ability, led by Pavel Datzsuk, is unrivaled. Simply put, Mike Babcock has constructed a team that never gives up and will find a way to win.
But it was not a win without giving up opportunities to the opposition. The Rangers had plenty of chances to put up more than two goals last night, especially on the power play. For the night, the Rangers were given seven chances with the man-advantage. SEVEN! That’s including two opportunities with a 5 on 3 power play, late in the third period. Want to know how many they took advantage of: ZERO! At times, the Rangers looked dysfunctional. They could not penetrate the offensive zone. Add onto it slopping passing and lazy play on the ice and you get the Rangers’ season so far: inconsistent frustration.
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There are very little positives you could take from last night. Yes, the resurgent Rick Nash added to his bid for the NHL’s leading goal scorer with a first period goal, which put the Rangers up by two goals. For the season, Nash has 17 goals which ties him with St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko for second place. He has registered at least a point in his last five games with three goals and three assists. Another positive is the NHL recognizing Cam Talbot as the third star in last night’s losing effort. He stopped 31 of 34 shots faced and finished with a .912 save percentage.
But, all’s for not if you can’t win. In an article posted on nydailynews.com, Derek Stepan was quoted as saying:
"“We’ve got 20 guys working extremely hard in here, but sometimes you’ve got to work smart and do the right things..Their two goals in the second period are fixable. We’ve been saying that a lot. We’ve got to fix it.”"
Stop saying it and do it, then.