New York Rangers: Big-boy hockey, other takeaways from Blues loss
It was another tough and costly loss for the New York Rangers who dropped a 3-1 decision to the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
In truth, it was a pretty good effort from the New York Rangers against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, although they couldn’t prevent the Blues from ripping off an eighth straight win.
But it was actually a good start for the Blueshirts who continue to adapt to life without Chris Kreider, who is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured foot.
Mika Zibanejad continued his hot streak with his 33rd goal of the year, one-timing a Ryan Strome dish beyond Jordan Binnington.
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It was the perfect demonstration of how deadly the Rangers can be on the man advantage, although the tide quickly turned.
St. Louis got an opportunity on the power play themselves in the second period, and they took it as Colton Parayko took full advantage of a lucky bounce to unleash a wrister past Alexandar Georgiev from the right circle.
The Rangers responded, however, and they actually outshot the Blues 12-6 in the third period as they more than held their own against the Stanley Cup champions.
But, the Blues are an elite team and they displayed the killer instinct all contenders need as Brayden Schenn banked in a wraparound attempt off Georgiev for the game-winner.
And the game was iced in the final seconds thanks to Jaden Schwartz who took a dish from Ryan O’Reilly before scoring into an empty net.
Although the New York Rangers traded blows with the St. Louis Blues, it was still a costly loss and we had some takeaways from the contest…
1. No moral victories with big boy hockey
After being given a harsh reality check over the weekend by the way of two huge losses to the Philadelphia Flyers, Head Coach David Quinn would have been looking for a response from his young group.
And he got it against the St. Louis Blues, with Quinn calling the effort from his players against the reigning Stanley Cup champions “big boy hockey.”
However, moral victories count for very little at this stage of the year and this was very much an opportunity squandered by the Blueshirts.
While the Rangers did give it their best shot against a stellar St. Louis Blues team, they failed to strike while they were on top.
They generated enough looks in the third period alone but they could not capitalize, thus leaving the door open for the Blues.
And, when you are as good as St. Louis is, you are just asking for trouble when you don’t go for the jugular.
So, as you could have predicted, the game was lost when Brayden Schenn was given the time and freedom to bank in a wraparound off Alexandar Georgiev for the game-winning goal.
That took the momentum and the spirit right out of the Rangers, who were unable to muster up much of a response.
As a result, it was a third straight loss for the New York Rangers who won’t get into the postseason just by playing well at this stage of the season.
Big-boy hockey is all well and good, but they need to rediscover the formula that led to nine wins from 10 prior to Friday.
2. Kakko Time
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
Yes, we are coining a phrase from Spiderman but it seems quite apt given that this section is dedicated to Kaapo Kakko.
After all, there were high expectations surrounding the Finnish phenom when he was taken with the 2nd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, as there was with Jack Hughes, the 1st overall selection.
However, this year has been a more than disappointing rookie season for Kakko who has suffered his fair share of growing pains.
We won’t pile on because it is clear that Kakko has a very bright future in the NHL and, let’s not forget, he is only 19-years-old and is trying to adapt to a new country and to a new way of doing things.
While eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points with a plus/minus rating of -23 isn’t ideal, Kakko will only benefit from this season in the long-term.
With only two goals in 46 games since Nov. 20, Kakko has gotten used to life on the third-line while getting some time on the second power play unit.
However, with the end of the regular season in sight and the Rangers’ playoff hopes still alive, it is time to give Kakko one more chance to truly break out this year.
With Chris Kreider out four-to-six weeks, the Blueshirts need to add another offensive punch to their top six.
While Phil DiGiuseppe has been solid this year, he is not the answer and the fact that the Rangers have failed to score a goal at even-strength in the two games they have played without Kreider suggests that something needs to be done.
With the game tied on Tuesday, the Rangers could have done with a real spark and maybe Kakko could have provided that from a top-six role.
He has shown flashes of his brilliance this year and with every game now a must-win, it is time to throw caution to the wind and give Kakko the opportunity to really rise to the occasion and show everyone what he is really capable of.
3. Zibanejad’s hot streak
Along with Artemi Panarin, the New York Rangers have a real foundational piece in Mika Zibanejad going forward.
Zibanejad has morphed into a cornerstone player for this franchise and he will be central to this team’s hopes of morphing into a Stanley Cup contender.
So good has the forward been since his trade from the Ottawa Senators on July, 2016, that many Blueshirts feel that Zibanejad should be the next Captain of this storied franchise.
But that talk can be saved for a later date because, for now, the Rangers are hellbent on trying to pull off the unthinkable by clawing their way into the postseason.
And Zibanejad is doing more than most to try and make that happen after going on an absolute tear.
After being named the NHL’s Second Star for February, the center recorded his 33rd goal of the year after sending a wicked one-timer past Jordan Binnington on the power play.
Zibanejad has now tallied a point in 11 of the last 12 games (11 goals, eight assists) and he has also recorded a goal in eight of the last nine games.
In other words, Zibanejad is red hot right now and he will need to continue to throw this team on his back if they are to stay in the hunt for the postseason right up until the bitter end.
Plus, in scoring against the Blues, Zibanejad and Panarin are now the first pair of Blueshirts to tally at least 32 goals in the same season since Mark Messier Adam Graves did it in 1996-97.
Next. Ground lost in the playoff picture. dark
Every elite team needs a franchise center and the New York Rangers have that in Mika Zibanejad, who continues to elevate his game to the next level.