A 4-0 loss to Boston…kiss the playoffs goodbye (if they keep losing like this)
After not being shut out even once last season in 70 games, the New York Rangers have been blanked four times in 25 games. The latest was a discouraging 4-0 loss to the Bruins in Boston. It was a game that the Rangers were looking to rebound from a disappointing pair of losses to the Penguins. It didn’t happen.
The Rangers were inept in many ways. They were inept on the power play. Their effort to comeback was inept. Their attempt to shut down the Bruins top line was inept. They were inept in goal (for part of the game).
Did they give up? No. Did they keep trying? Yes. But for the third game in a row, they couldn’t overcome a deficit and went down relatively meekly.
In their postgame interviews, David Quinn, Brendan Smith and Jacob Trouba tried to accentuate the positive, they they continued to skate and work hard. It was similar to the reaction in Pittsburgh when they dominated in the third period, allowing on only one shot at the empty net. Hockey games are 60 minutes and playing hard the last 20 minutes is not the answer, unless you win.
Smith placed the issue on special teams and the Bruins top line, but said that the Rangers played them five on five pretty evenly.
Quinn said that the mistakes the Rangers are making are “too big.” He didn’t single out Georgiev for any criticism, placing blame on the forwards, defense and goalie and he called the shorthanded goal a “backbreaker.”
Trouba actually took exception to being asked if things had spiraled out of control after the Rangers fell behind. “I don’t think it spiraled out of control on us. Obviously we had some breakdowns that led to more goals, I don’t think our effort fell off a cliff.” The fact remains that after falling behind 2-0 after one period, they mustered all of three shots in the second period and gave up two goals in the first five minutes. The game was over at the 25 minute mark.
They might have felt better about their effort because the Bruins took a penalty with less than three minutes left in the game and the Rangers poured eight shots at the Bruins goal with four of them getting through to Jaroslav Halak. That late push might have encouraged the team, but it was small consolation to anyone who watched the game.
In an insane statistic, the Rangers have scored three power play goals in their last seven games and have given up three shorthanded goals. They’ve had 19 power plays in that time and if anyone tries to tell you that their success rate is 15.6% they are wrong. It’s 0%.
The Rangers are now nine points out of a playoff spot. How bad is it? If the fourth place Bruins play .500 hockey the rest of the way and go 16-16, they will finish with 64 points. In order for the Ranger to pass the Bruins, they would have to win 21 of their last 31 games.
It’s time to start thinking about the trade deadline and the NHL Entry Draft.
Here’s a full video recap of the game:
Notes on the game
Although they were down 2-0 after one period, the Rangers were outshot over the final two periods, 18-13. They had only three shots in the second period,
David Quinn started mixing up lines almost immediately. He reunited the Zibanejad-Kreider-Buchnevich line because he said that he want to them to check the Bergeron line after the Strome-Kreider-Kakko line was having trouble.
The top Bruins line was very effective. Brad Marchand had three assists, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist and David Pastrnak scored his 12th goals in 17 games.
David Krejci has his first goal of the season.
Jake DeBrusk rebounded from a benching with a goal.
Coming off a game in which Pittsburgh blocked 23 shots, the Rangers had 14 more blocked in this game.
Mika Zibanejad led the team with five shots, but he is still in a goal scoring funk. On the power play they repeatedly tried to set him up for the one-timer, but even when he connects, it’s not the same shot as last year.
The Rangers have now give up four shorthanded goals, tied for the most in the NHL. They have already matched the season high they had in three seasons over the last decade. In that time, the most they have given up was seven in 2013-14.
Keith Kinkaid stopped all 13 shots he faced.
Alexandar Georgiev is in trouble. This was the second straight game that he was pulled and the fourth time this season. His Goals Against Average is now 3.33 and his Save Percentage is .887. The last time a Ranger netminder was pulled more in a season was Henrik Lundqvist in 2017-18 who was pulled in eight starts in the full 82 game season.
Ryan Lindgren was foiled on his breakaway attempt in the second period when he was sprung coming out of he penalty box. He is still looking for his first goal of the season.
This was the ninth time the Rangers have gone into the third period trailing and they have not won yet. That’s the most in the East Division.
After his hot scoring streak, Chris Kreider is now scoreless in four straight games. Though tied for seventh in goal scoring in the NHL with 13 goals, it’s important to remember that six of his goals came against the Devils and Sabres, the weakest teams in the division. Of his seven goals against the big five in the East, four were in losses. Kreider’s pass to no one in the offensive zone on the power play led directly to the Patrice Bergeron shorthanded goal.
My three Ranger stars of the game
- On a night when it is tough to come up with one, much less three, the first star goes to Pavel Buchnevich who showed more offensive spark than most of his teammates.
- Ryan Lindgren gets he second star for his eight shot attempts. At least Lindgren is willing to shoot.
- Adam Fox gets the third star because he led all Rangers in ice time and although he was minus two on the evening, did his best to et the Rangers offense going.
The official three stars
- Jaroslav Halak
- Brad Marchand
- David Krejci
East Division
Thursday’s games
Bruins 4, Rangers 0
Penguins 5, Sabres 2
Islanders 5, Devils 3
Capitals 5, Flyers 3
Standings
1- Islanders 27 17-6-4 38 points
2- Washington 26 16-6-4 36 points
3- Pittsburgh 26 16-9-1 33 points
4- Boston 24 14-6-4 32 points
5- Philadelphia 24 13-8-3 29 points
6- Rangers 25 10-12-3 23 points
7- New Jersey 23 8-12-3 19 points
8- Buffalo 24 6-15-4 16 points
What’s next
The road trip continues with a matinee on Saturday in Boston. Game time is 1pm and it is a must win for the Rangers.
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