Blue Line Station
Fansided

New York Rangers taken ten penalties and are thrashed 6-1 by the Colorado Avalanche

By Steve Paulus

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 4: Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche defends against Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on January 4, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 4: Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche defends against Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on January 4, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO – JANUARY 4: Ryan Graves #27 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates with teammate Philipp Grubauer #31 after a win against the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on January 4, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Rangers 6-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – JANUARY 4: Ryan Graves #27 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates with teammate Philipp Grubauer #31 after a win against the New York Rangers at the Pepsi Center on January 4, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Rangers 6-1. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Notes on an ugly game

  • The Rangers gave up 47 shots, a season high.  They ended up taking ten penalties, the most since 2014.
  • The Avalanche were 3-10 on the power play.  They had 15:23 of power play time.
  • The two penalties Chris Kreider took were awful.  The first was 17 seconds into a Ranger power play when they were only down 2-0.   The second was a retaliatory cross check. If he was another player, he’d be in the press box on Sunday.
  • The Rangers were outshot 47-25.
  • The Rangers had 41 shot attempts to the Avalanche’s 78.
  • On the positive side, the Rangers won 59% of their faceoffs.
  • Georgiev made 15 saves while the Rangers were shorthanded, the most this season.  Henrik Lundqvist had 14 saves during penalties in a 3-1 win over Buffalo in November.
  • This was another case of the Rangers inability to finish, making a backup goalie look like Dominik Hasek.  Philipp Grubauer was very, very good when he had to be.
  • After Ryan Strome scored on his breakaway, he vanished into the locker room and didn’t get another shift for about nine minutes.  No explanation.
  • Jimmy Vesey was awarded a penalty shot when he was dragged down on a breakaway.  He missed.  It was the first penalty shot of his career and the team’s first in over a year. The Rangers haven’t scored on a penalty shot in over three years.
  • Filip Chytil had a great rush when he stickhandled through the Av’s defense and was stopped by Grubauer.
  • The MacKinnon line ended up with eight points and all three players scored.  The Avalanche are 5-0 when MacKinnon, Landeskog and Rantanen all score in the same game.
  • The Cody McLeod penalty warranted two minutes.  It was a hard hit, but it wasn’t a dirty play. Sam Girard sold it like a Neymar. In one of the replays you could see him peeking down the ice at the refs while he was prone and “in agony.”
  • I understand the value that McLeod brings in terms of energy and morale, but his timing is awful.
  • There was no explanation on the Zuccarello too many men on the ice penalty.  And John Giannone didn’t ask him in the televised postgame intervew. It was the seventh too many men on the ice penalty of the season.
  • In a game the Rangers allowed six goals, no forward on the team was more than minus one.  I guess that qualifies as balanced scoring against.
  • Did anyone besides me think that maybe, just maybe, Kevin Hayes was held out of the game because he is about to be traded?  Nah.  He did miss practice yesterday for maintenance.
  • If Ryan Graves becomes a regular NHL defenseman, Jeff Gorton will have some questions to answer. He’s playing because of injuries to Nikita Zadarov and Mark Barberio, but in five games he’s a plus player and got his first goal vs. his former team. He was well known in the Ranger organization because he won the AHL hardest shot competition in 2016.  He did take the penalty that led to the Vesey penalty shot.
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