The New York Rangers waited to score until six minutes into the third period when they were facing a four goal deficit. Despite a spirited offense that drew them to within a goal, it was too little too late and the Rangers lost a crucial game in their quest for a playoff spot. The final score was closer than the game.
It was a very unusual game for the Rangers as both Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin were held off the scoresheet. The Rangers’ dynamic duo has been shutout in five times in the 22 games that they have played together. How many of those five games have they won? None.
While inevitably the players and team will take solace in the comeback, they still lost and that is something that they cannot afford to do.
Adam Fox talked about the puck luck. “They just happened to get a bounce or two…that second goal deflects off a few sticks or bodies, it just wasn’t sharp. Pucks seemed to be bouncing on us, we responded well in the third. came up just a bit short, but obviously a good effort.”
David Quinn was behind the bench for the first time in seven games and he talked about the second period when the Capitals scored three goals in just over four minutes. “I just didn’t think we were sharp during that second period. We had some power plays that we didn’t get a lot from and I just thought our inability to shoot pucks and get pucks on net. I thought there were chances when we would have been able to sustain some zone time and create some offense, but we were looking for the perfect play.”
Quinn said that while it was frustrating to be watching from home, he did get some new perspectives on the team’s play. It wasn’t earth shattering, but he said that it was beneficial.
Here is a five minute video recap of the game.
Hockey is a game of inches. 11:30 into the first period, Mika ZIbanejad threw a puck in front of the net that deflected off T.J. Oshie’s face and into the goal, but was cleared by an alert Dmitry Orlov when another inch and it would have bee nover the goal line. Two of the Washington goals were a result of fortunate bounces. Alex Ovechkin’s goal was off several bodies and Tom Wilson batted a puck down out of mid-air into the net.
It was a spirited comeback, but this season the Rangers cannot afford to lose and now they have dropped two in a row. With the Bruins’ loss to the Devils it was a chance to make up ground, but the opportunity was wasted.