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New York Rangers: Sluggish start proves costly in Canucks loss

By Andrew Steele-Davis

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 20: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers wins a face-off against Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 20: Mika Zibanejad #93 of the New York Rangers wins a face-off against Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 20: The New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks battle during the third period at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2019 in New York City. The Canucks defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 20: The New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks battle during the third period at Madison Square Garden on October 20, 2019 in New York City. The Canucks defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Notes on the game

  • The New York Rangers have now dropped four straight and are 2-4-0 on the year after six games.
  • It was an ugly effort from the Blueshirts in the first two periods and they got what they deserved with the Vancouver Canucks racing into a 3-0 lead.
  • You can’t play from behind like that and it ultimately cost them the game with the Rangers not having enough time to take the game to Overtime after waking up in the third period.
  • The officials didn’t help, either, and they made a glaring error in the dying minutes of the game when Pavel Buchnevich was brought down, although no power play was awarded.
  • Speaking of power plays, the Rangers went 0-for-3 on the man advantage, generating just seven shots.
  • As a result, the power play is now ranked 14th in the NHL with a percentage of 21.1.
  • And they also gave up a shorthanded goal when Jay Beagle led an odd-man rush before wristing a shot beyond Henrik Lundqvist.
  • Let’s stick with Lundqvist. The goalie faced a lot of traffic in the first two periods and he had to make a number of tough saves. In total, he stopped 40 of the 43 shots he faced.
  • The Rangers were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill with Bo Horvat scoring his 100th career goal in the NHL on a first period power play.
  • Jesper Fast finished with a two-point night (one goal, one assist) and the bottom six forward was the epitome of everything that was good about the Rangers’ game in the third period.
  • Jacob Trouba recorded his fifth assist on Fast’s goal, with Ryan Strome tallying the secondary helper.
  • And Mika Zibanejad picked up assist No. 7 and point No. 11 with his helper on Artemi Panarin’s wrister, with the Russian stud now on four goals for the year.
  • One notable lineup tweak was the promotion of Kaapo Kakko on the power play, with the rookie phenom replacing Pavel Buchnevich on the top unit.
  • The Rangers were absolutely dominated in the faceoff circle, winning just 37 percent of their draws compared to Vancouver’s 67%, with the Blueshirts losing 14 draws in the first period alone.
  • Chris Kreider cited a “lack of communication” and “not working smart” as the main factors behind the Rangers’ poor start.
  • Mika Zibanejad also said in his postgame interview that the Rangers didn’t play smart enough, and that plays into the growing pains narrative given how young this team is.
  • Both teams recorded 22 hits apiece although the Rangers led in blocked shots 14-13, but most alarming was the 22 giveaways they coughed up.
  • After spending time in the Quinn Bin against the Washington Capitals on Friday, Tony DeAngelo was let out of the dog house tonight as he logged an average of 20:18 minutes of total ice time.
  • Jacob Trouba again logged big minutes with 22:41, while Mika Zibanejad led all Rangers skaters in total ice time with 23:57.
  • It is clear that this team has an abundance of talent and also heart and fight, and they certainly energized MSG in the third period with their tremendous efforts. But they can’t give away two periods as easily as they did, and they can look forward to being a lottery team again if they don’t correct their sluggish starts to games.
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