New York Rangers fall 6-1 in Thanksgiving Eve debacle

The New York Rangers were blown out of Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1.

In a feature here at Blue Line Station, we will be providing thoughts and analysis following every Rangers game. Make sure to stop by after games to see what you might have missed!

Game Action:

-Following four minutes of back and forth “action” (nothing happened) Evgeni Malkin took a tripping penalty. Derek Stepan won the Power-Play face-off back to Mats Zuccarello, wrister off of Matt Murray’s pad, scrum in front, Rick Nash goal. 1-0 Rangers.

-Rather than the expected track meet, both teams prioritized avoiding mistakes following Nash’s goal. The Rangers blinked first on a hooking call against Marc Staal. Staal has been much improved this season, but the penalty was unnecessary to take.

-Derek Stepan nearly gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead off the primary face-off of the penalty kill, but Murray stopped the attempt. The Rangers swarmed the Penguins power-play groups and the penalty resulted in nothing.

-Conor Sheary carried the puck up through the Rangers zone then found himself clobbered by Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh was given a major for boarding, unfortunately the correct call. Sheary turned his back at the last moment to initiate the hit (unintentionally) but if the referees don’t call that they will hear it from the league. Hits from behind are hits from behind. No intent by McDonagh, but have to call those.

-The real action started after the hit. Sidney Crosby grabbed an unsuspecting McDonagh and started pummeling him until the referees jumped in. It was classic Crosby, only engaging when the player is unable to return any of the punches. Crosby received a two minute minor but no instigating call because he is Sidney Crosby.

-New York killed off the extended power-play thanks to tremendous work by Jesper Fast, Michael Grabner, Marc Staal, and Derek Stepan. The Rangers looked determined to kill that one off, and for the most part held the Penguins to feeble attempts. The remainder of the period came and went with the Rangers continuing to swarm, up 1-0, down 10-7 in shots.

-Period two started off with a bang for the Penguins. Copying the Rangers swarm worked wonder, as Phil Kessel walked around the Rangers defense and slipped a pass through the middle to a wide open Scott Wilson. Easy goal. 1-1.

-New York nearly followed the goal with one of their own, as Stepan, Grabner, and Klein combined for an odd-man rush. Klein got the shot, but rifled it directly into Murray’s chest. Klein’s shooting percentage has predictably dropped dramatically this season.

-Only a minute later Ian Cole took a harmless slapshot from the point, only to be deflected beautifully by Crosby. Sometimes we are reminded that Crosby is on another level offensively. This was one of those times. 2-1 Penguins.

-Crosby giveth, Crosby taketh away. The Penguins captain stuck out his leg to trip down Marc Staal, giving the Rangers their second Power-Play of the evening. The Rangers failed to score after a variety of phenomenal chances, but earned another Power-Play after Nick Bonino hooked Nash.

-Another successful penalty kill for the Penguins led to another goal. Seconds after the Power-Play expired the Penguins were set free on an odd man rush led by Phil Kessel. Kessel sniped the puck past a helpless Lundqvist. Much like Crosby, we are often reminded of Kessel’s skill at inopportune times. 3-1 Penguins.

-Following a few strong chances by the Rangers, the Penguins found themselves on another 2 on 1. The good news is Ryan McDonagh finally scored a goal. The bad news is it was into his own net. A Sidney Crosby pass deflected off of McDonagh past a surprised Lundqvist, 4-1 Penguins. Lundqvist was pulled following the goal.

-One would expect the Rangers to respond following the goalie pull, but that was not the case. The Penguins got the puck and held onto it for over two minutes, tiring out the Rangers skaters. Conor Sheary finally put the Rangers out of their misery by scoring one past Raanta. Disastrous stretch of hockey, 5-1 Penguins. 21-13 Penguins lead in shots after 2.

-The Penguins played a successful game of keepaway in the third period. The Rangers went over 15 minutes without a shot, a horrifying statistic. The lack of urgency was alarming and unacceptable.

-Matt Cullen deflected a shot past Raanta, 6-1 final, 38-17 Penguins in shots.

Final Thoughts:

-Much will be made of Lundqvist being pulled following another stellar performance by Antti Raanta, but he does not deserve the blame for this one. The Rangers were out-played and out-worked by Pittsburgh in the second period. Lundqvist was not blameless, but not worthy of the brunt of the blame either.

-Derek Stepan was a monster on the penalty-kill as per the usual, but struggled on the power-play. Stepan lacks the shot and quick-decision capabilities to be a weapon on the power-play. He can be a valuable player without playing on the man advantage. Time for the Rangers to realize that.

-The second period was the worst period of hockey the Rangers played this season. Reminiscent of the disaster moments of the 2015-16 Rangers.

-The only players that deserve to be lauded in the slightest are Michael Grabner and Rick Nash. Yikes.

Next: Rangers must protect Rick Nash in Expansion Draft

-New York has another rivalry match-up on Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers. As good of a time as any to wake back up and get back to the winning ways. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, all!