New York Rangers: Some thoughts about the series

The New York Rangers are facing elimination in their first trip to the postseason in three years.

There’s a simple reason why the New York Rangers are in danger of an early trip home.  They have been outplayed by the Carolina Hurricanes.   There are some story lines that have come out of the two days series.  Some thoughts.

• That Brady Skjei check that knocked Jesper Fast out of the series should have been anticipated.  Skjei led the Rangers in hits two seasons ago and was second on the team the two years prior.  He had to be hurt by the trade to Carolina and he had something to prove.  The check set the tone for the series and the Rangers have been on their heels the rest of the way.

• Regarding Brady Skjei, do you think the Rangers would have traded him to Carolina if they knew they were going to meet the Hurricanes in this series?  Not likely.

• Chris Kreider hasn’t played particularly well in this series.  The Rangers have had only two deflected shots on goal and as a result, not a single shot off a rebound.  That’s Kreider’s wheelhouse.  As the veteran forward with the most playoff experience (77 games) it was his job to lead and he hasn’t.  You have to wonder about that big contract that expires in 2027.

• That 0-7 power play. Okay, let’s call it 0-10 because that’s what it is at 5v4.    It’s hard to believe, but the Blueshirts never had seven power plays in a game in the regular season.  They went 0-6 twice, against the Devils and Boston.

• So much has been made about the lack of postseason experience on the Rangers.  No one has talked about the lack of playoff experience behind the bench.  Head Coach David Quinn has never come near an NHL postseason.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post called out Quinn in a column for his distribution of playing time, particularly Kaapo Kakko in Game One.

• As for as the rest of the staff, Assistant Coach David Brown is an NHL postseason novice.  Assistant Coach David Oliver played in ten playoff games in a nine year career as a player. The most playoff experience belongs to Gord Murphy who played in over 50 playoffs games.  In his 15 years as an NHL assistant coach, his teams made it to the dance four times.  But Murphy was a late replacement for Lindy Ruff and there is a  question of how much influence he can have behind the bench.  The bottom line is there is very little playoff experience behind the Ranger bench.  Silly question, would Lindy Ruff have helped?

• Tony DeAngelo has shown why he is on of the bigger question marks going into the offseason.  His brilliant pass to Strome to set up Panarin on the power play resulted in the Rangers’ only goal in Game Two.   He also took an ill-advised interference penalty with only three minutes left in Game One.  He also hung onto the puck for seven seconds behind the net with the goalie pulled and time ticking down.  Sure, the Canes were swarming, but he had to push the puck up ice at that point in the game and he took too long to do it.  He also has to bear some responsibliity for the 0-7 power play that he quarterbacked.

• Brendan Smith has revived his career and looks to be the best partner for Jacob Trouba so far this season.  Too bad it took over 70 games to figure that out.   Then again, Smith was also responsible for the worst giveaway of the series when he fanned on a pass and handed the puck to the Hurricanes for a point blank shot that Lundqvist stopped.

• While starting Lundqvist in Game One was a no-brainer when Shesterkin went down, the second guessers will say that they would have had a better chance with Alexandar Georgiev and they may have a point.  Georgiev did take the starting job away from Lundqvist this season before Shesterkin arrived.  While Lundqvist excelled in his three starts against the Hurricanes, the Blueshirts were outplayed in all three games and were lucky to win.

• If that indeed was Henrik Lundqvist’s last game in a Ranger uniform, it was a sad way for him to go out.  Unfortunately, the lasting image of Lundqvist will be of him splayed on the ice after Alec Martinez’s overtime goal in the 2014 Finals.

• David Quinn has talked repeatedly about how Kaapo Kakko reminds him of Andrei Svechnikov.  Ranger fans can only hope.

• This is a completely ridiculous theory, but did the noon starting time adversely affect the Rangers?  Young men like their sleep and playing at noon is something that takes them out of their normal rhythm.   Consider this.  The Blueshirts have played 24 day games over the last two season (including this series).  They have won seven of those games.

• Some shot statistics.  The Rangers have taken 50 shots in two games. Here’s how they broke down:
  • 38 wrist shots (1 goal: Panain)
  • 4 snap shots
  • 2 slap shots (1 goal: Staal)
  • 2 tips (1goal: Zibanejad)
  • 2 deflections
  • 2 backhands

• Looking at the Hurricanes, they’ve taken 71 shots with 13 slap shots and seven tips or deflections. They’ve scored on two slap shots and had one tip-in goal.  Their other four goals were on wrist shots.

• Scoring first is important.  This season, the Rangers went 25-11-4 when scoring first and went 12-17-1 when the opposition scored first.   The Hurricanes were practically unbeatable when they scored first, going 26-3-2.  They were 12-22-3 when the opposition scored first. Guess who scored first in both games.

Through the first three days of the Qualifiers, the underdogs have won seven out of of 16 games.  It may be too early to talk about this, but if the Rangers are eliminated and they don’t win the draft lottery, they will move up in the draft if Montreal, Chicago, Arizona, Minnesota or Winnipeg win their series and get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.   So you know who to root for.