New York Rangers Thoughts: Another Home Debacle

The New York Rangers fell to the Montreal Canadiens in Game Three of the first round last night. Here’s full thoughts and analysis on the game.

-While we normally put our New York Rangers’ thoughts posts at 9 AM, we decided to cover two parts of the thoughts on a larger scale. You can find them here and here, or sprinkled throughout this article.

Lundqvist Excels, Rangers Falter

-Henrik Lundqvist deserves so much better. Lundqvist left Game Three with an .897 save percentage and a loss, a stat line no goaltender would like. However, Lundqvist was the Rangers’ best player on the ice, as he was in games one and two. With an average goalie in net, the Rangers would have lost by four or five goals at least.

However, Lundqvist did receive the loss, and the clock continue to tick away on his chances of winning a Stanley Cup. The Rangers have shown zero ability to learn from their mistakes, and refuse to give their star any assistance. If the first three games of this series confirm anything, it’s that Lundqvist is an all-world goalie, Stanley Cup victory or not.

-The following players played well in Game Three for the Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash, Brendan Smith, Jesper Fast. That’s it. That’s a problem.

-New York looked awful in the latter portion of Game Two, so the expectation was they would come out flying and playing Rangers hockey. However they did not, and the team paid for it. They sat back and hoped the Canadiens would create scoring chances for them. That does not work at any level, better yet in the NHL playoffs. So, they lost.

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Game Three-Specific Woes

-There’s something to be said for the impact of hitting, but New York’s hitting has been a problem, not a solution this series. Far too many times the Rangers have taken themselves out of plays to go for the big hit.

Dan Girardi leveled a Montreal player in the first period while the puck sat in the Canadiens zone. Montreal pushed it into the Rangers’ zone, but Girardi earned respect for the hit. Instead, Girardi should have poked the puck further into the Canadiens’ zone. But the Rangers are playing Montreal hockey, so that wasn’t part of the plan.

-The referees have not done much to quiet the notion that the Canadiens get the better calls. There were multiple high sticks missed that could have put the Rangers on the power-play, and then the missed hooking call on Rick Nash led directly to the Canadiens’ second goal, a back breaker.

While the Rangers likely wouldn’t have won if the referees called the game correctly, you hate to see missed calls loom that large. It’s playoff season. Get the calls right.

Moving Forward-

-Following the worst offensive performance of the season (yes, including games they were shutout in) the Rangers have no excuses to not put Pavel Buchnevich and Adam Clendening in the lineup. New York must prioritize skill and speed. Failing to put Buchnevich and Clendening in would be failing to recognize and/or admit their shortcomings.

Buchnevich can check in for Tanner Glass. Glass has been playing well, but the Rangers need goals, not grit. Clendening can check in for Kevin Klein or Marc Staal and the Rangers would see a major boost. Marc Staal had a horrendous night, continuing to show he is simply not a good defenseman any more.

-Suggested new lines for the Rangers:

Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller

Rick Nash-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich

Jimmy Vesey-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello

Michael Grabner-Oscar Lindberg-Jesper Fast

The idea here is to give Hayes and Miller a possession savant to work with. Pavel Buchnevich gets to play with a pair of players he’s comfortable with, and Jimmy Vesey joins a strong offensive duo with chemistry. Michael Grabner moves down to the fourth line, a strong defensive line with offensive potential.

If the Rangers roll those four lines and play their game, they can come back and win the series.

-Can’t help but wonder if the best thing for the Rangers is for the team to lose the next two games by wide margins to get Alain Vigneault fired and the defense fixed. Alain Vigneault has shown zero ability to adjust a year after losing in the first round for showing zero ability to adjust. The defense has been horrendous a year after being horrendous. Do you see patterns?

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The Rangers must learn the following:

-Henrik Lundqvist is keeping the team from being an 8-10 seed at best.

-The Rangers possess fantastic, untapped offensive potential.

-The defense is unacceptable and needs major changes.

-Playing another team’s hockey will not win in the playoffs.

Will the Rangers learn these lessons if they win a series? Will Jeff Gorton demand more out of Alain Vigneault if he advanced further than last season? The answers are no and no.

Next: New York Rangers Game Two Thoughts: Wasted Opportunity

While we will never root for the Rangers to lose a series, after games two and three it’s difficult to think this team can go places. Henrik Lundqvist deserves to see the roster he plays with utilized correctly. This series has not provided him with that.