The New York Rangers almost lost a game that they should have won handily. They dominated the Sabres for the last two periods after falling behind early, but they just couldn’t cash in when they had the chance to put the game away. It took them until the last minute of overtime to get that crucial second point.
For a time it looked like this game was a disaster in the making. The Sabres jumped out to an early lead, scoring just two minutes into the game on a chaotic scrum in front of the Rangers net. Igor Shesterkin appeared to tweak his groin in the third period, but he remained in the game. The Rangers gave up the tying goal with the Sabres goalie pulled, the second time that has happened this season. The good news is the Blueshirts won in overtime.
The Rangers wasted three power plays in the last half of the game, with two in the third period when a goal would have put the Sabres away for good. The Rangers had 47 shots on goal, their second highest total of the year and they had 82 shot attempts to 36 for the Sabres. The disparity was even greater in the last two periods. They had 57 shot attempts to only 18 for Buffalo, yet the game ended in regulation tied 2-2.
Buffalo third string goalie Dustin Tokarski made Buffalo fans remember the glory days of Dominik Hasek. Meanwhile, at the other end, Shesterkin had the more difficult saves in the first period when the Sabres played the Rangers even.
The bottom line is that the Rangers found a way to win and that’s what counts. Earlier this season they easily could have lost this game and it’s points gained like this that could be the difference between a trip to the playoffs and an early end to the season.
Powerless play
The Rangers need to do something to fix the power play. It seems like the first unit spends almost the entire two minutes passing the puck, looking for the perfect shot. The second unit gets on the ice for about 10-15 seconds of ice time, no time to set anything up.
The first unit is becoming too predictable and the team needs to do something to shake it up. When one of those great passing sequences end up with a puck in the net, it’s wonderful, but on a night like this one, a few more shots could have ended up providing some juicy rebounds and no need for overtime.
Here’s how the power plays went. In he first period, the Rangers had a full two minutes and took two shots, both by Pavel Buchnevich and they missed the net. In the second period they had a full two minutes and ended up taking three shots, two that ended up on net. In the third period they had four minutes with the man advantage on two minor penalties. The first power play was effective with five shots on goal and two other attempts. The final power play they got three shots on goal and had two other attempts. So, in eight minutes of power play time they ended up taking 17 shots with ten on net.
Ten shots on goal with the man advantage may sound like a decent total, but only a couple were grade A chances and averaging just over one shot on goal per minute of power play time is not a great number.
The bottom line is the top unit played 6:15 of the eight minutes of power play time and the second unit got on for only 1:45. When it is not working, maybe it might be a good idea to flip the ice time allotment a wee bit?
Here’s a full video recap of the game.
The irony is the Rangers played the overtime like they play the power play. They held onto the puck looking for the perfect shot and they won the game on their only shot on goal in the overtime (three shots missed the net).
The Rangers love to make life difficult. They came thisclose to going back to their hotel frustrated and angry. Instead, they have a day off to ponder what they did right and what they did wrong this evening and how it almost cost them a point that they had to get.