Isles beat Rangers 2-0 and this one hurt
The New York Rangers lost to the Islanders 2-0 behind the outstanding goaltending of Semyon Varlamov. He shut the Blueshirts out for the second time this season and they have now gone six periods without a goal against him. This was a disappointing loss, considering that the game was scoreless with nine minutes left in the game. The Islanders scored two late goals in a span of 2:05 and the Rangers were unable to overcome the lead that late in the game.
The Rangers needed to take advantage when they had chances and when they were unable to do it against a disciplined team like the Islanders, that was fatal. They had the only two power plays in the first two periods and couldn’t score and then they had consecutive breakaways by Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad early in the third period that were stopped.
There was a lot to like about the Rangers effort. They kept the Islanders from getting any solid scoring opportunities for most of the game and they played the Islanders evenly for 50 minutes, but that wasn’t enough. One of the keys to winning was getting ahead, but they couldn’t do it and it cost them.
David Quinn was not happy with the effort saying “I don’t think we played fast enough offensively. We really allowed them to stay in their structure..” About the Islanders he said “I thought they defended well, they stayed inside their structure well, we just didn’t get inside enough. ”
That was noticeable as there was lack of a hard forecheck most of the game except for the fourth line. The Rangers were able to penetrate the offensive zone, but couldn’t do much when they got there.
If there is a problem brewing, it is with the power play. They didn’t score on three man advantages and are now two for their last 23. Possession of the puck inside the offensive zone is not the problem, they are just not finishing. Quinn talked about the power play. “Obviously you want to score on the power play, you also want to gain some momentum off of it. I don’t think we got much going on our power play.”
That begs the question, why no changes? All season long, Quinn has not hesitated to tinker with the forward lines if he thinks they are not working. Yet, the power play is clearly in trouble and he keeps sending the same five guys out there. To compound the problem, the second unit usually gets on the ice with 30-40 seconds left and they always seem rushed, trying to do something in what time is left.
If the power play continues to shoot blanks, it’s going to be a long month.
After the game Chris Kreider lamented the team’s inability to put together a full 60 minute outing and not have that two minute lapse. No one asked him about the inability of the power play to put together a two minute man advantage and score.
In a close game like this one, it’s inevitable that the first goal would be a “dirty” one and that’s exactly what happened. The defensive mistakes that allowed the second goal were also predictable.
This was the case of a well coached, veteran team playing their kind of game and taking advantage of opportunities. It was also the case of a goalie coming up big and stealing a win. It has to be chalked up as a learning experience and a lost opportunity.
About the game
The first period was an exciting, crisply played period that had only seven play stoppages. Both teams had moments of pressure, but there were no outstanding scoring chances. It was a case of solid defense overcoming offense, for both team. The statistics were fairly even with the Rangers outshooting the Islanders 9-7 and out hitting them 11-8.
Each team had four scoring chances at even strength and the Islanders had the only high danger scoring chance. The Rangers had an early opportunity when Michael Del Colle was sent off for hooking Jacob Trouba 1:21 into the game, but they could only muster one shot on goal . The first power play unit had no shots.
The second period was more of the same, but with more play stoppages. Again, the Rangers got the only power play when Julien Gauthier drew a hooking call on Noah Dobson. The power play came 6:14 minutes into the period, and the top unit had two shots on goal by Zibanejad and Kreider. Believe it or not, the Rangers won all four faceoffs during the man advantage.
The Rangers won 15 out of 20 draws in the second period, while the Islanders held the shots advantage 12-10.
In the third period, the Rangers started to make things happen offensively. About two minutes into the period, K’Andre Miller fed Artemi Panarin for a breakaway and he missed, shooting the puck into Varlamov’s glove.
About a minute and a half later, Zibanejad came in on a two on one with Chris Kreider. The Swede opted to take the shot and Varlamov made the save.
When the Rangers didn’t score on those opportunities, you knew it was going to be an ugly goal that would break the tied and sure enough, it was, scored by the hardworking Islander fourth line. With that line forechecking deeply, Libor Hajek made an ill-advised blind pass right up the middle to Adam Pelech who took the shot and in ensuing scramble in front of the net, Casey Cizikas was able to score.
The goal came with 8:45 left in the game. It’s worth noting that all three members of the Islanders’ fourth line had crashed the net.
Just 2:05 later, the entire Ranger team fell asleep allowing Cal Clutterbuck to skate down the right side into the Ranger’s zone and he fed a streaking Matt Martin who was nor picked up by anyone and he put it behind Igor Shesterkin.
Down 2-0 to a shutdown defense, it looked grim for the Rangers. They were able to get one more prime scoring opportunity when Panarin fed Kakko who was open in the slot. Varlamov was able to stop that one too.
The Rangers pulled Shesterkin and got ha power play when Adam Pelech shot the puck into the stands, but with only 54 seconds left, the Rangers were unable to mount any kind of threat. As usual, they played catch with the puck, looking for the perfect shot. It was as if they thought they were down only one goal and not two.
Notes on the game
- The lack of urgency on the six on four while they were down by two goals was disturbing. The coach had called a timeout, but apparently he forgot to remind them about the score and how much time remained.
- Similarly, with 1:26 left in the game, Chris Kreider skated the puck out of the Rangers zone and dumped it into the Islanders zone and went for a change. It was a careless play and he gave up possession when they absolutely had to mount an offense.
- Can David Quinn use his timeouts better? Should he have stopped play after the Islanders scored so that they could regroup. It might have prevented the second goal. He saved the timeout and used it with only 54 seconds left and down two goals.
- How bad is the power play? The Rangers were able to muster only five scoring chances on three power plays with only two as high danger scoring chances.
- The Rangers worked extensively on faceoffs and it paid off. They won 27 of 44 faces or 61.4%. They won 24 of 36 draws over the last two periods.
- Phil Di Giuseppe led the team with six shots on goal in 13:28 minutes of ice time on the third line. He is the one Ranger forward who plays a dump and chase game and also is willing to shoot.
- Adam Fox played 24:59 to lead all Rangers. No Ranger forward played more than 20 minutes, a rarity as Quinn rolled four lines. That’s the first time that has happened this season. Last year there was only six games when no forward played 20 minutes.
- Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 of 30 shots for a .933 save percentage. The loss evened his record 3-3-1.
- This was only the second time that the Rangers have gone into the third period tied and the first time that they have lost.
- The Islanders improved to 5-1 when scoring first, the hallmark of a good defensive team. The Rangers are 1-3-2 when the opposition scores first.
- Scoring streaks Panarin, Kevin Rooney and Ryan Strome were ended by the shutout.
- What a difference a year makes. Semyon Varlamov has six shutout periods against the Rangers this season. Last year he allowed 17 goals in four games against the Blueshirts.
- Varlamov has done something that Billy Smith, Chico Resch and numerous other Islander goalies were unable to accomplish…shut out the Rangers twice in one season. And consider that he may get five more chances against them.
- This was tough loss in the standings. By winning, the Islanders moved into fourth place and a playoff spot By losing, the Rangers dropped from a tie for fifth into last place in the East.
My three Rangers stars of the game
It was another special game for
K’Andre Miller
. He played 19:58, including 1:01 on the penalty kill. It as another night filled with excellent defensive plays. His pass sprung Artemi Panarin on his breakaway as well.
K'Andre Miller doing K'Andre Miller things. pic.twitter.com/UsNRyXILKL
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 9, 2021
The official three stars
- Semyon Varlamov
- Matt Martin
- Casey Cizikas
East Division
Today’s games
Sabres vs. Bruins Postponed
Standings
- Boston 11 GP 8-1-2 18 points
- Philadelphia 13 GP 8-3-2 18 points
- Washington 12 GP 6-3-3 15 points
- Islanders 11 GP 5-4-2 12 points
- Pittsburgh 11 GP 5-5-1 11 points
- New Jersey 9 GP 4-3-2 10 points
- Buffalo 10 GP 4-4-2 10 points
- Rangers 11 GP 4-5-2 10 points
What’s next
It doesn’t get any easier with the first place Boston Bruins coming to New York for a two game series on Wednesday and Friday.
More. The Rangers send out "The Letter". light