The Sabres win! Howden almost back and Kravtsov sits

Usually, playing a team on a losing streak is a good thing.  The one exception is playing a team on a looonggg losing streak.  That was what was worrying the New York Rangers as they flew to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in a two-game set.  Not to worry, the Flyers did the Rangers a big favor Wednesday night and ended the Buffalo losing streak at 18 games.

The Flyers came back from a three goal deficit on Monday night to win in overtime and give the Sabres the record.  The couldn’t do it again on Wednesday night.   The Sabres won 6-1 and a former Ranger played a key role in the win.

Seven Fogarty was a third round pick in 2011 of the Rangers who played 18 scoreless games over three seasons in New York.  Not tendered a qualifying offer last fall, he signed as a free agent with the Sabres.  Splitting the season between the AHL and the taxi squad, Fogarty has played four games this season in Buffalo and in the win, he had a goal and an assist, including the crucial third goal after the Flyers had pulled within one. It was his first NHL goal.

So, the Rangers will play a team on a one game winning streak.  Coach David Quinn said “We’ve had tough games with Buffalo, nothing has been easy with them.  It would be a grave mistake from our end to take anybody lightly.”  The Rangers hope that they will get the Sabres started on another streak.

What is a losing streak?

Although the Sabres actually did lose 18 games in a row, their record is in the books as a “winless streak.”    That’s because they lost one game in a shootout and two in overtime.  As a result, they go in the record book as the 14th longest winless streak in NHL history.

The oddity is that all of the teams who had longer winless streaks did not lose all of their games, they played ties.  The 1979 Winnipeg Jets hold the record by not winning in 30 games, but that streak included seven ties.

The honor for the longest losing streak in NHL history belongs to the Washington Capitals who lost 17 straight games in the 1974-75 season.   So, even though the Buffalo Sabres lost 18 games in a row, they don’t hold the record for the most losses in a row.  That’s just weird.

News from practice

The only lineup decision that was made public after practice was that Igor Shesterkin will be the starting goalie.

There were a lot of questions about Vitali Kravtsov.  If you were hoping to see him in action against the Sabres, don’t hold your breath.

Quinn said that this practice was the first time he had a chance to see Kravtsov skate.  He said, “We do want to get him into a game… he continues to earn an opportunity to get into a game, we haven’t made a decision when that will happen yet.”   Quinn explained that it’s not just getting him into a game, it’s also the matter of who comes out and if no one has played badly, it makes the decision tougher.

He against emphasized the the playoffs are their goal and they continue to make decisions on who plays based on that.  That means no Kravtsov anytime soon and limited ice time for some of the the young Rangers like Alexis Lafrenière, Filip Chytil and Julien Gauther.

On the COVID front, Brett Howden is past the quarantine phase and is almost ready to come back.  He won’t be playing on Thursday since he has  been out of action for a couple weeks, but should be ready soon.

When Howden is ready to play it will present a real challenge for Quinn to get him back in the lineup if the team keeps winning and it doesn’t bode well for Kravtsov to see any action  as well.