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It’s too early to panic after one 3-2 loss

By Steve Paulus

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 01: Martin Necas #88 of the Carolina Hurricanes attempts to get past Brendan Smith #42 and Greg McKegg #14 of the New York Rangers during the first period in Game One of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 1, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 01: Martin Necas #88 of the Carolina Hurricanes attempts to get past Brendan Smith #42 and Greg McKegg #14 of the New York Rangers during the first period in Game One of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 1, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images) /
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The New York Rangers picked a tough way to start a short series by losing Game One, but all is not lost.

Fans of the New York Rangers tend to be pessimists.  While false bravado  is the facade, after so many years of frustration and futility, it doesn’t take long for us to man the lifeboats.   We are also optimists, entering the postseason every time with the expectation that “this will be the year.”  No difference in 2020, even though none of us should have any expectations about this surprising edition of the New York Rangers.

That said, it’s only one game and while the Blueshirts were outplayed, they were in the game until the last second.  Think about it.  Your starting goalie is knocked out the night before the game.  Your best defensive player and a seasoned veteran is knocked silly by an ex-teammate in the first minute of the game.  Then, as a result of the hit, the Hurricanes score and take a crucial early lead.

A minute after the goal, it’s time to kill a penalty.  A minute after that  your second line center gets into a fight and has to leave to get medical attention so your forward lines are a jumble.  Not only that, but your seven playoff rookies are facing a seasoned playoff team that knows what it takes to win.

All of that happened in just the first five minutes of the hockey game.  And still, the Rangers were in this game until the last second.

Reasons for optimism

Despite all of that and the fact that the Blueshirts were badly outplayed at times, the ship is not sinking.  Here are ten reasons to believe.

Henrik  Lundqvist played really, really well. Could he have stopped Slavin’s goal?  The Hank haters will say yes.  Watch the goal, it was a helluva shot.  And yes,

Jesper Fast

was clearly out of it and let Slavin skate into the zone unimpeded. The game winning goal was the epitome of  “puck luck.”   It was a deflection off a skate, if the Rangers realize that is what happens when you shoot the puck, it will help.

  • Igor Shesterkin could play in Game Two.  There is no doubt that he was supposed to be the starter, but a practice injury stopped him.  That means the Hurricanes haven’t seen the Rangers’ best netminder yet in this series.
  • Mika Zbanejad and Artemi Panarin woke up.  Okay, ZIbanejad was never really asleep, but it was all the Breadman on the Staal shorthanded goal.  He was out there killing the penalty and kept the puck alive in the Carolina zone, got it to Zibanejad who fed Staal.

    • The power play went 0-7.  Okay, that is not going to happen again.  If it does the team doesn’t deserve to win, but with their loaded offense, they will score.

    Neutral ice matters.  A lot has been made about the fact that the team that wins the opener of a five game series has gone on to win 88% of the time.  You have to believe that home ice plays a huge role in that statistic and playing in the Scotiabank Arena with no fans negates that.  Think about it.  You are the road team and you lose Game One.  It’s only the second game of the series and you are playing a must-win game in a hostile arena.  Not this year.

  • The kids played well, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil in particular.  David Quinn singled out Julien Gauthier, but the jury is still out on him, but Kakko and Chytil were dynamic.  If the newly confident Kakko can dent the twines, look out.

    • The Canes didn’t get 40 shots.  In eight games over the last two seasons, Carolina has exceeded 40 shots five times.  Not today.  Okay, this one is a little iffy.

    The proverbial chip on the Hurricanes’ shoulder should be gone.  Carolina has spent the last two months listening to pundits talk about how the Rangers destroyed them this regular season and how of all the series, this one should be an upset.   Then they lose Hamilton and Pesce and that makes them even more of an underdog.  So, they come out with purpose and push the baby Blueshirts around.  So the Rangers have them exactly where they want them, overconfident and complacent.

    The Rangers have time to adjust.  There is a day off for the team to watch videos and learn from their Game One mistakes.  If there is one thing we have seen from this Rangers team, they respond to adversity.

  • Marc Staal scored a shorthanded goal.  That was his first shorthanded goal since his rookie season in 2010-11 when he scored two.   If that can happen, it means that anything can happen.

    • We have to hope that the Rangers players and coaches learned a lesson in this game.  If they have, expect a different look on Monday.  And hopefully  a different result.

    light. Related Story. A bad start to the series

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