New York Rangers fans express their disappointment
The New York Rangers home opener did not follow the fairy tale script. The Rangers were supposed to win. Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko were supposed to dominate offensively. K’Andre Miller was supposed to seamlessly take on the role as a first pairing defensemen on Jacob Trouba’s left. Igor Shesterkin should have registered his first NHL shutout.
Each of these fantasies and more were washed away in less than five minutes of actual game time. The New York Islanders dominated the Rangers from the opening face-off until the final horn. A veteran Islanders team outworked, outhit, out chanced, outscored and outplayed the upstart Rangers in virtually every facet of the game.
To state that the results of the game were a disappointment to Rangers fans would be an understatement. Many here at Blue Line Station expressed their displeasure during the games live conversation.
"Bigcat557:“Did Strome play tonight? Why do we have Jack Johnson? Did Kreider play? Is Quinn the right guy? Did Buch play? Maybe Blackwell needs to play Did Panarin play?”"
"Hit Someone:“What happened to being “harder to play against?” Looked slow and soft all night. I know it’s a young team and I don’t want to be all doom and gloom, but some energy and urgency!”"
"Sal Cappello:“Has anyone seen kappo kakko? I’m filing a missing persons report as we speak Lol” –“Rangers looked very flat tonight out of position and definitely no forecheck whatsoever. Out coached and out worked tonight.”"
New York Rangers fans also took to Twitter to show their disappointment
Good teams require good coaching. David Quinn doesn’t seem to have that ability to get the most out of his team. Maybe a rookie coach paired with a rookie team wasn’t the right decision #NYR
— Brendan Azoff (@AzoffBrendan) January 15, 2021
Listen I’m being dramatic but it’s justified this has been a terrible game, shesterkin hasn’t looked good, the team hasn’t looked good
— BlueLineBlueShirts (@BLBlueShirts26) January 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/StatBoy_Steven/status/1349911251305046019
For all the excitement leading into the season, we need to remember who this New York Rangers team is. Only one offensive line combination and one defensive pairing remained intact from last season. Mika Zibanejad missed most of training camp. That the team was disjointed for this game should be disappointing, but not really a surprise.
The Rangers faced off against an Islanders team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. A team that made it there on defensive prowess. To see the Rangers offense flustered by the Islanders is again, no surprise. But, taking eight minor penalties is an easy way to derail any team’s offensive flow.
Yes, this game was an embarrassment, but it was still just one game. The team had no preseason action to help them gel, to build any level of chemistry. Yes, the entire league had no preseason games, but that factor was far more detrimental to the Rangers than most.
It’s time for everyone to take a deep breath. Yes, this was a bad game. Yes, we should all be disappointed that they played as poorly at the home opener. But, let’s all take a step back from the ledge