David Quinn’s comments after the loss to Boston don’t help

The New York Rangers were badly outplayed in their 7-4 loss to the Boston Bruins.  After the game, Coach David Quinn accused the team of lacking toughness which he described as “battle level. “

The New York Rangers were spanked, hard, by the Boston Bruins.  They were outplayed, out-shot and out-muscled by the Stanley Cup Finalists.   Although they carried a 1-0 lead into the second period, they didn’t have shot on goal for the first ten minutes of the opening period. They were outshot 10-7 despite having two power plays to Boston’s one.

The Bruins came out in the second period and completely took over.  They scored 11 seconds into the period and added another goal a minute later.  Who was on the ice?  It was the best line in the NHL,  Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.  They took over the game and never looked back.

In his post-game press conference, Rangers Coach David Quinn laced into his team.  He didn’t mince words, accusing his squad of lacking the battle level to compete.

"“I think part of being a professional athlete is handling adversity and understanding that consistent battle level gives you a chance to have success and I just think we have guys who don’t fully understand that.  They think the game should be played a different way..it should be a skill game, skill is certainly a huge component of this game but, if you have no battle in you, not matter how skilled you are, you’re not going to be productive.This game is all about what can you do when someone’s trying to stop you from doing it. I don’t care what you can do in the driveway, I don’t care what you can do in practice, I don’t care how pretty all these plays you can make, you’re gonna be able to make a play when someone’s trying to stop you from doing it…and in turn, you better stop someone else from making the play.  And we didn’t have any of that tonight.”"

The words were clear.  David Quinn thinks his team is not tough enough.   Even more telling was  his answer when he was asked if he had the right personnel to win.   He said “We’re going to do everything we can. It’s our job.”  Not a rousing endorsement.

It’s clear that the coach has some serious issues with some of his players.   While he didn’t single anyone out, it’s easy to figure out who the usual suspects would be. Kaapo Kakko, Lias Andersson, Brendan Lemieux, Brett Howden, Pavel Buchnevich and Ryan Strome.  Every defenseman would have to fall in that group as well.

Henrik Lundqvist echoed some of the coach’s sentiments saying that the key to success was “we have to play very simple and very hard…it all comes down to battles.”  But there’s a key difference in what the goalie said  from what the coach said.

Battling  (as defined by Lundqvist) is different from having battle level (as defined by Quinn), especially when it comes to playing a team like the Boston Bruins.  Let’s not forget that the Bruins were one goal away from winning the Stanley Cup. Let’s not forget that when the Bergeron line decides to turn it on, this season they have been practically unstoppable.  Let’s not forget that the Bruins have lost one game in regulation this season and that their three total losses have come against Colorado, Tampa and Toronto, three of the best teams in the NHL.

A lot was made of the way the Rangers beat the Sabres on Thursday.  Buffalo may be off to an outstanding start, but they are not the Boston Bruins.  Face it, the Rangers are not in the same class as the Bruins and the question is whether there was a lack of effort.

Watching the game, it was clear that the Rangers were playing a better team.  That said, even Lundqvist said the issue was the top Boston line.  He said “They’re very skilled, their top guys.  The other three lines I thought we played pretty even…it’s more the battle level (in playing the top line).”

The fact that Jesper Fast didn’t play certainly had an impact. He’s been one of the team’s best players and was slated to play on the top line.  The fact that Mika Zibanejad was sidelined after the first period had to have an impact.  It meant that the second period was another jumble of made up lines with players trying to mesh with new linemates yet again.

Quinn was asked how much the loss of those two players impacted the game.  “These inconsistencies have been here with Mika and Fast in the lineup.  I wouldn’t take too much stock in the fact that those two guys weren’t around. They are two of our biggest competitors…so it doesn’t help us from a team standpoint but that shouldn’t have an effect on somebody else’s battle level.”

It’s tough when a coach has nothing good to say about his team. Even though they escaped the first period with a lead, Quinn’s description of the period was “I thought the first period was a blah period both ways…we’re up one nothing….just never found our way after that, that’s for sure.”

The real problem

It’s clear to anyone who watches the Rangers play that their biggest issue is defense.  It’s not toughness or battle level or even effort, it’s the complete lack of discipline and structure on defense.  The Rangers actually outhit the Bruins 21-15.  Did the effort falter in the second period when they were down 4-1, yes it did, but that is understandable.

On the disputed goal that started the second period, Quinn said “Well, we just got beat on a one on one…got beat to the net and panicked…(it)  just snowballed from there.”  What really happened was the hottest goal scorer in the NHL was breaking down the left wing and Jacob Trouba missed a hip check.  Pastrnak broke to the net and got hammered by Libor Hajek.  It was Ryan Strome who lost his check on Patrice Bergeron who put the puck in the net.

The second goal was a simple case of total confusion and a defensive breakdown that allowed Marchand to be wide open in front of Lundqvist. Libor Hajek and Tony DeAngelo were on the ice together due to a change and they completely messed up their defensive assignments.

On the next two  Bruins goals it was more of the same.  It was the defense.   The fifth goal was a blast from Zdeno Chara from the blueline that just eluded Georgiev.   The sixth goal was a case of Brad Marchand beating Jacob Trouba and no one taking Bergeron who had a wide open shot.

Discipline and structure are different from battle level.  Toughness is on the players, defensive structure is on the coaching staff.

David Quinn’s frustration is understandable. He wants to win every game.  But to come out and question his team’s toughness and effort, which translates to the team’s heart, just doesn’t seem right.  Allowing for the quality of the opposition, the impact of the loss of key players and those two early second period goals would be much more productive.

If you missed it, here is Quinn on battle level:

It doesn’t get any easier with the Blueshirts taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.  it will be interesting to see if Quinn walks back any of his comments in the next two days.