New York Rangers Fall Short to Blackhawks

New York Rangers Lose Despite Power Play Surge

Last night, the New York Rangers hosted the Chicago Blackhawks in an Original Six rivalry match-up. Both teams have solidified themselves as powerhouses over the last few years. The Rangers have made the post season an expectation, not a possibility, and the Blackhawks have won three of the last six Stanley Cup Finals.

These two teams clashed last night and many Rangers fans are trying to find someone to use as a scapegoat. I agree the team wasn’t perfect last night, especially on the penalty kill. However, they could have easily won the game and if they would have won, no one would be barking on social media saying that they don’t have a chance because they cannot beat top level teams and have no shot in the playoffs.

This seems to be a classic case of New York (insert any NY sport team here) fans overreacting and irrationally freaking out and to be honest, I fall into this category most of the time as well. If the Giants, Yankees or Knicks (who are actually miserable and will be for the foreseeable future) fall into a funk, it is the end of the world and the team has no chance.

However, I do believe that the Rangers are showing improvement and the reason why this loss stings so much is because they had a chance to win. If the Blueshirts played the Blackhawks in December, no one would have even payed attention to the game. Everyone would just have expected them to take the loss and move on; but they are playing better now and baring an actual disaster, they will make the playoffs.

The New York Rangers were down last night and tied the game with two power play goals. They have now scored four power play goals in their last three games. This is an insane improvement when compared to the power play skid they were on, in which they only scored twice on 50 attempts.

New York Rangers Take Two Steps Forward and One Back

The Rangers dominated every aspect of the game last night with the exception of penalty kill play. They gave up three goals when on the penalty kill. Special teams needs to improve and everyone is aware of this.

"“I think the penalty kill comes to down to details…and I have to come up with that extra save. We need to get better. The difference tonight was their power play. Our power play was good, theirs was really good,” explained Henrik Lundqvist."

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The New York Rangers dominated parts of the game.

Shots on Goal: 34 – 20 in favor of the Rangers

Face-off: 54% – 46% in favor of the Rangers

Hits: 28- 11 in favor of the Rangers

However, they also fell short when it came to penalty minutes, blocks and giveaways. A lot of these stats could be attributed to the fact that they did spend a lot of time in the penalty box against an elite Blackhawks power play.

The New York Rangers Are Still Relevant

The extremists out there are asking the team to blow the season, lose out, take a first round pick, and dump the expensive contracts. I have no idea why some people are calling for a complete rebuild though. Yes, the teams Salary Cap issues are extensive, their special teams is bad and they do not seem to be making any moves before the trade deadline, but they are currently a three seed in the East.

Next: New York Rangers Fans Need to Relax

They are a solid team that seems to have gotten back on track. Hayes has scored in three of his last four games, Derick Brassard has scored in two straight games and has 20 on the season and Dan Boyle was active on a power play last night. The Blackhawks are a very good team but the Rangers had a real shot at winning last night; if they played the Blackhawks in a seven game series, it would be close.