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Rangers drop a 6-2 stinker to Ottawa

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 04: Alexandar Georgiev #40 of the New York Rangers makes a save against Tyler Ennis #63 of the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on November 4, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 04: Alexandar Georgiev #40 of the New York Rangers makes a save against Tyler Ennis #63 of the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden on November 4, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 04: The New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators salute fights during the first period at Madison Square Garden on November 04, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 04: The New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators salute fights during the first period at Madison Square Garden on November 04, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Notes on the game

Ranger fans need to steel themselves for this kind of roller coaster season.  The tight, disciplined team of the last two games turned into a defensive, undisciplined mess versus Ottawa.  Whether it was overconfidence or just dumb plays, it was an example of a young team at work.  This was easily the worst game of the season for the Rangers.  It’s one thing to be undressed by the Boston Bruins, but when it is the Ottawa Senators, it’s time for some self-examination.   Coach David Quinn hinted that he saw it coming.

"“I was actually a little concerned as the first ten minutes was unfolding…just because I know what can happen, I know human nature can kick  in…when you’ve got youth you think things are going to be easy.  Give Ottawa a lot of credit, they upped the ante and it was almost  like we were surprised that they were competing and for 49 minutes we didn’t handle it well at all.”"

Kaapo Kakko was the only bright spot for the Rangers.  He scored his third goal and added an assist on the Panarin power play goal.  Quinn was complimentary about the young Finn. “You could see him play with a different  level of confidence right now  and he might have been the only guy that had a good night tonight for us.”

  • Alexandar Georgiev started his third game in a row for the second time in his career and didn’t have a good night.   While his defense didn’t have a stellar evening, Georgiev seemed to be battling the puck all night and there were several times he could have frozen the puck and he didn’t.   While his tendency to keep the puck in play worked in the wins against Tampa and Nashville, there were a few times in this game that a play stoppage would have been a good move.

    • The timing of the first period fight by Brendan Lemieux coincided with the Rangers’ total collapse.  When asked if it had an effect, Quinn said “It could have…fighting can do that.  I wish it would have inspired us a little bit more, but it didn’t.”

    Earlier in the first period,

    Anthony DeAngelo

    had a spirited fight with

    J.C. Beaudin

    .  DeAngelo proved again that he is one of the Blueshirts’ most adept at fisticuffs.

    The Rangers have now scored five power play goals in their last 40 chances, a 12.5% success rate.  They went 1-4 in this game and missed on some advantages that would have made it a competitive hockey game.

    Brendan Lemieux is Brady Tkachuk light.  The Senators lead agitator was in the Rangers’ faces all night and clearly got under their skin.  Quinn knows his former B.U. player well, saying “He’s an agitating player…we played right into his hands, it’s all you can say.  We played right into his hands and on top of him being an agitating player he’s a really good player and this game is all about managing emotions, not getting distracted, …we had a few too many guys get distracted.”

    You knew the evening was going to be a weird one when the P.A. announcer called the Kakko goal a power play tally.  It was scored at even strength.  They never corrected it to for the fans in the arena.

  • This was a game when the Rangers severely missed Mika Zibanejad.  He has added incentive when he plays Ottawa who traded him to the Rangers, witness his hat trick earlier this season.  He is also the player who makes the power play go and is one of their best penalty killers.

    • Meanwhile, Ottawa had Vlad Namestnikov and Anthony Duclair looking for a measure of revenge. Namestnikov finished with a goal and an assist while Duclair added an assist and was +2 on the night.

  • Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek all had brutal nights with numerous giveaways.  Hajek, Trouba and Lindgren took unnecessary penalties that complete derailed the Rangers effort at a comeback.
  • Ottawa goaltender Anders Nilsson continued his strong play against the Rangers. He upped his career record to 5-1-1 against New  York.  Watching Nilsson in net, he is absolutely huge at 6’6″, 223 pounds.  He’s got a lifetime goals against average north of three per game, so the Rangers need to figure out how to beat this guy.  He stopped everything they threw at him and his glove hand was very strong.

    • The Rangers honored hockey executive Jim Gregory and former Ranger Dean Prentice with a moment of silence.  Both men passed away this week.

    As mentioned earlier, the Rangers’ inability to finish is becoming an issue. They need to be able to put teams away and they are letting them off the hook.  Getting a 2-0 lead for the Rangers would have changed the whole complexion of this game.

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