Rangers show no life in a dispirited 4-0 loss to the Bruins

Is the season over yet?  There may be one more game to play, but the New York Rangers played like the season was over with a desultory effort in a 4-0 loss to the Bruins that can be generously called a contest.   The Rangers had no life, managing only 15 shots on goal in what was one of the dullest games of the season.

How one-sided was it?  The Bruins had 51 shot attempts to the Rangers’ 25.  They  had  11 high danger changes to only one for the Blueshirts.  That was at even strength.  Add the power play and they had 59 shot attempts to the Rangers’ 28.

It was no surprise considering the Rangers were without seven regulars including three of their top six scorers. The Bruins fielded their regulars as they are still trying to move into first or second place in the East.

What was surprising was that the players who replaced the regulars didn’t show more.  They Rangers promoted Jonny Brodzinski and Tim Gettinger from Hartford and played taxi squad regulars Tony Bitetto and Phil Di Giuseppe.  All four had forgettable games and didn’t make any kind of an impression.  Bitetto and Brodzinski are signed through next year, but Di Giuseppe is an Unrestricted Free Agent while Gettinger is a Restricted Free Agent who has to be hoping that the Rangers will offer him a new deal.

After the game the excuses were rampant.  It was a tough week and the Rangers were emotionally drained.  Okay, we’ll buy some of that. Let’s see how they do on Saturday.

If you can stomach it, here is a video recap of the game:

Notes on the game

• This was the seventh time the Rangers have been shut out this season.  The last time they were shut out seven times in a season was in 2013-14 and that was an 82 game season.  They were not shut out even once last season.
• The Rangers came within two minutes of not getting a power play in a game for the fourth time this season.
• David Quinn rolled four lines with Mika Zibanejad and Colin Blackwell leading all skaters with 18:07 minutes of ice time.  Adam Fox led all Rangers in ice time with 22:26 minutes.
• In the ever curious allotment of ice time, Kaapo Kakko had 12:40 minutes of ice time, more than only Phil Di Giuseppe meaning that Tim Gettinger and Jonny Brodzinski had more ice time than Kakko.  That included 42 seconds of power play time for the duo, while Kakko saw no power play time. Inexplicable.
• Quinn also chose to play Brodzinski and Gettinger over rookie Justin Richards who had also been recalled from Hartford.  Richards is supposed to be very good on draws and an excellent defensive player, but he didn’t make his NHL debut.   Tarmo Reunanen also sat while Tony Bitetto played.  At this stage of the season, some of these lineup decisions are questionable.
• The five game losing streak is their longest of the season.  They did have a four game winless streak in February, but there was one overtime loss mixed in.
• The loss dropped the Rangers’ record to 2-4-1.  The were held to only two wins against the Islanders and Penguins as well.
• Igor Shesterkin had another in  series of good,  but not great games. He has slipped a bit compared to other netminders.  His .917 save percentage is still eighth best among goalies who have appeared in 25 games and his 2.57 goals against average is ninth best.
• The 58 points the Rangers have after 55 games is two fewer than last season, but more than what they achieved in the first two year of the rebuild.  They would be in a playoff position in the North and West Divisions and two points out of a spot in the Central.
• In the last five games, all losses,  the Rangers have been outscored 21-5.  This stretch of bad efforts answers the question as to why the Rangers’ management bloodbath took place.  The team didn’t answer the bell when they entered the most important series of games this entire season and proved that their wins over New Jersey and Buffalo were a mirage.

What’s next

The season ends for the Rangers on Saturday at 3pm.  They have a rematch with the Bruins at TD Garden.  The hope has to be that they end their season on a high note and with a better effort than they showed on Thursday night.