New York Rangers: A defensive horrorshow in a 7-5 loss to the Blue Jackets

The New York  Rangers went into Columbus with high hopes and for almost two periods, they held their own.  Then the superior talent of the Blue Jackets took over and it became a dispiriting 7-5 loss.

The 2018-19 New York Rangers suffer from a lack of talent. When they play a team like Columbus they can compete, but eventually the team with more ability takes over.  That’s what happened Sunday.

Somehow, the teams were tied at the end of the first period.  Somehow New York trailed by only one goal near the end of the second period. This despite being outshot 30-16.   This despite taking five penalties in the first 30 minutes of the game. This despite losing 33 of 44 faceoffs.

Then, with two seconds left in the second period, Nick Foligno deflected a shot past Alexandar Georgiev for a 5-3 lead and suddenly the game was out of reach.

You knew the Rangers would be in trouble when both Adam McQuaid and Fredrik Claesson were unable to play.  Neal Pionk returned from an injury and Brendan Smith came off the bench, but the Rangers were facing a team full of firepower without two of their better defensive defensemen.

The result, seven goals against. True, the Rangers never gave up and actually made it a one-goal 6-5 game with 3:12 left, but then they allowed a backbreaking goal by Nick Foligno and it was over.

Alexandar Georgiev got his second straight start and was strafed for 40 shots. He made a lot of great stops, but he also could have stopped some of the Columbus goals. The chorus of Lundqvist haters grew louder after the first Islander game, but today was proof that this is not a Henrik Lundqvist problem.  That’s not to say that the result would have been different or Columbus would have scored fewer goals with Lundqvist in net, it is just that when your team defends like that, no one can prevent the onslaught.

The Rangers were god awful on faceoffs. They won 21 of 68 draws  (31%) including only four of 25 in their own zone. That kind of performance and you cannot win games. No Ranger center was better than 37.5% on draws.  Just awful.

The Rangers had taken five penalties by the 11 minute mark of the second period. They killed them all, but they couldn’t get any kind of offensive rhythm going.

The Rangers had three power plays and couldn’t score. For the third straight game they had a two man advantage, this one for 1:09 and they couldn’t score, getting two shots.

The final score was deceptive.  Sergei Bobrovsky was fighting the puck all night and both teams were sloppy in their own zones.  The Blue Jackets’ size and skill prevailed.

David Quinn was livid after the game.  I was hoping that the full postgame interview video would be posted somewhere, but so far it hasn’t.  Here is a transcript of the first half and video of the remainder:

“They just won every one on one battle. Every time they went into the corner, they came out with the puck…our guys on the flanks didn’t help at all, that’s a team that competes hard on pucks.  They test your mettle and we failed miserably tonight, miserably.  Our lack of determination on one on one battles,fishing for pucks, you do that in this league and that’s what happens to you, you get your asses handed to you.”

He was asked if he would throw the video away and forget about the game.

“No, we’re gonna watch this and we’re gonna learn from this because we have zero chance if we have 20 guys in uniform not willing to compete over pucks and get into people and have a little bit of snarl to your game.”

Here’s the rest on video. Watch it to the end:

Notes on the Game

The Rangers need to sign Panarin to keep him from scoring AGAINST them.  He had a goal and an assist meaning he has scored 11 goals in 11 games versus the Rangers.  He has 16 points in those 11 games.  Yikes.

Another reason why the Rangers need Panarin?  Midway through the first period Fast was sprung for a breakaway on a pass from Chytil, but he missed the net.

Georgiev got his second assist on the Kreider goal.  He now has more points than Cody McLeod.

Brendan Smith is not playing well.  In the first period he handed the puck to the Blue Jackets when he had a chance to clear. It led to a Ryan Strome penalty.  He had at least two giveaways (not on the official scoresheet) and lost more puck battles in the defensive zone than he won.

The makeshift defense pairings were Staal/DeAngelo, Skjei/Pionk and  Shattenkirk/Smith.  That’s not optimal for New York, with two offensive D-men in Skjei and Pionk playing together.

Brett Howden has lost the third line center spot to Boo Nieves.  He played 8:29 in this game and won only three of eight faceoffs.  With only one assist in 21 games, he is regressing.

Cody McLeod played less than seven minutes and was a non-factor with only one hit.  Oh yes, he had a marvelous scoring opportunity and couldn’t put it in the net.  Putting Howden and Buchnevich on a fourth line with McLeod feels like a mistake.  Then again, all of the Ranger forward lines are relatively chaotic.

Right after an icing, Joe Micheletti made a point that John Tortorella has bought into the concept of firing the puck down the ice when the other team’s goalie is pulled.  Well, the Blue Jackets were up two goals and they don’t lose faceoffs, so why not?

There was a really nice moment during the national anthem when the microphone didn’t work and the crowd actually had to sing.

The Blue Jackets paid a gracious tribute to Rick Nash before the game.  He and his family dropped the ceremonial first puck after a short video tribute.

My three stars of the game

1. Ryan Strome continues to elevate his play.  His linemates (Chytil and Fast) seem to complement each other.  He took five shots and scored the first goal. He was the best of a bad lot of centermen on faceoffs.  He now has six goals and five assists in 26 games in New York. Ryan Spooner has two goals and one assist  for Edmonton.  So far, NY is winning that deal.
2. Mats Zuccarello had two goals in this game and played his usual chippy, physical game. He actually took a shot instead of passing on his first goal. He now has three goals and an assist in his last four games.  Of course, he passed up a glorious shooting opportunity in the waning seconds of the game.  If anything, he is driving up his trade value, but it is good to have the old Zuc back.
3. Vlad Namestnikov gets the third star because of his effort.  He had nothing to show for it on the scoresheet, but man, the guy competes.  It would be nice if he could get a goal or an assist for all of his effort.

The official three stars

1. Nick Foligno
2. Cam Atkinson
3. Artemi Panarin