Islanders 4, Rangers 0: No need to panic

They call these games exhibitions for a reason. While the 4-0 final score was discouraging, as Gerard Gallant repeatedly said leading up to this game, he doesn’t care if they win or lose their first few preseason games.  It’s important to remember that.  If we were to use this game as a measuring stick for the ability of the New York Rangers, we are headed for a disaster.

Remember that only four forwards (Zibanejad, Kreider, Lafrenière, Chytil) in the lineup played for the team regularly last season and the fifth NHL regular, Barclay Goodrow, was ejected after only 4:03 minutes of ice time.

Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren were the only regular blue line pairing for the Rangers.  It was Patrik Nemeth’s first game as a Ranger and Nils Lundkvist’s first game in North America.

Think about it.  If we ever have to watch a game with Jarred Tinordi and Tony Bitetto as a defense pairing, we are in trouble  Will Cuylle and Matt Rempe will be playing junior hockey in Canada next week and Karl Henriksson is probably checking the schedule for flights to Stockholm.

While the Islanders fielded a lineup full of prospects and wannabes, they had seven veteran forwards in the game and two thirds of their defense was regulars.  It was the Islander veterans in the lineup who gave the Rangers fits all game.  It’s worth noting that of the 12 points garnered by Islander players, 10 went to veteran forwards and two assists were by a defenseman who played 16 playoff games for Montreal last season.

Here’s a video recap of the highlights of the game.  Better to call them lowlights.

So, let’s not lose sleep over this game.  If they are playing like this when they next meet the Islanders in the final preseason game on October 9, it will be time to panic.

Notes on the game

• Experience vs inexperience was evident on the first Islanders goal.  The Barron-Gauthier-Hunt line picked the wrong time to make a change and Josh Bailey made the most of the opportunity getting the puck to an open Brock Nelson.
• Julien Gauthier bore the brunt of the responsibility for the bad line change. He sat for the next seven and a half minutes before seeing the ice again.  He needed the change as he was stuck on the ice for 1:07, but the coaches obviously saw something.
• The Goodrow penalty was not the kind of play you want from him.  It will get called every time and the only question is whether it warranted a game misconduct.  The referees always call games tighter in the preseason so this was not a surprise.
• Before he was ejected, Goodrow made a great pass while shorthanded to Chris Kreider for a breakaway.  Kreider tried a backhand that Sorokin was able to glove.
• The referees need the preseason as much as the players.  Morgan Barron was called for hooking to give the Islanders a two-man advantage. The only problem was that it was Will Cuylle who barely hooked the Islander.  Barron never touched him.  They never showed the replay so we never saw why Barron was so perplexed.
• Do the referees try to even things up?  They called the Islanders for a too many men penalty after 40 seconds.
• In the third period Krieder was called for slashing and the replay showed that he actually missed when he swung his stick. They killed the penalty.
• The television production folks need the preseason as much as the referees and the players.  We never saw replays on the Barron penalty or the too many men penalty and they were sorely needed.
• This one is totally weird.  According to the NHL, rookie Alex Jeffries (#64)  had two assists and played 23:30 minutes.   The only problem is that it was defenseman Erik Gustafsson who was wearing number 64 and he got the two assists.  He is with the team on a Professional Tryout and made a case for a job with two assists and a +2 rating.  Gustafsson played for the Flyers and Canadiens last season and played 16 games in the playoffs for Montreal. He is an Unrestricted Free Agent vying for a job.  I guess the NHL stats folks need a preseason as much as the referees, the players and the television guys.
• The penalties didn’t help establish any flow to the game.  As a result, it limited rookies Will Cuylle and Matt Rempe to just about two minutes of ice time in the first period.
• Before all of the penalties, early in the first period, Vitali Kravtsov made a nice pass to a wide open Goodrow in front of the Islander net, but Goodrow missed the shot.
• For an early exhibition, there wasn’t a lot of hitting.  Dryden Hunt, Will Cuylle and Matt Rempe were noticeable for throwing the body.
• Lafrenière played right wing with Zibanejad and Kreider and didn’t look out of place.  He had one nice rush in the second period and had his backhand stopped by Sorokin.
• Zibanejad didn’t have a great game.  He had his pocket picked by Cal Clutterbuck on the Islanders’ third goal.
• The Lundkvist/Nemeth pairing looked fine and the rookie played a very solid game. Lundkvist played the second most (21:11) of all defensemen after Fox (23:56) and had two shots on goal.
• The Tinordi/Bitetto pairing did not look good at all.  They were a combined minus five and were undressed on the Islanders’ goals.  They made a case for a train ride to Hartford and that has to give hope to Libor Hajek.
• Matt Rempe is listed officially as 6’8″, but the telecast listed him as 6’7″.  If he is 6’8″ he would be the tallest Ranger to ever play for the team (along with Chris McAllister and John Scott).   A late 2020 draft pick (6th round, #165), he has impressed with his physicality and the fact that despite his height, he can skate well.   The Rangers need to get him signed to his Entry Level Contract by next June or they lose him.  He’s making a case for a contract.
• Chris Kreider takes some heat for not being involved, but when Robin Salo took Filip Chytil into the boards in the second period, Kreider was the first to retaliate, resulting in a scrum.
• Gallant deployed four forwards and one defenseman with the man advantage.    Every forward got power play time while it was Adam Fox and Nils Lundkvist who were PP quarterbacks.
• Believe it or not, the Rangers won 54% of their draws!  Maybe working with retired linesman Pierre Racicot actually helped.  Zibanejad led the way winning 12 of 19 (63%) while Morgan Barron won six of 11 (55%).  As usual, Filip Chytil was not good, winning only four of 11 (36%) and losing five of seven in the defensive zone.
• Zibanejad led the way with 2:40 on the penalty kill.  Kreider played 2:21 shorthanded, something they tried last season, but gave up on.  That was probably due to Goodrow getting kicked out of the game.  Barron and Henriksson were next with 2:01 minutes.
• The work by Georgiev and Huska was fine. Two Islander goals were on rebounds and second efforts.  The fourth goal Huska had little chance on as Ross Johnston beat Dryden Hunt with Tinordi totally out of position after throwing a hit.
• Statistics:
  • Shots:  Rangers 28, Isles 23
  • Hits: Rangers 23, Isles 21
  • Blocked shots: Isles 10, Rangers 8
  • Giveaways: Rangers 8, Isles 3
  • Power players:  Isles 1-3, Rangers 0-4
  • Faceoffs:  Rangers 53.7%, Isles 46.3%

Conclusions?

There’s a simple answer to the question.  No conclusions.  Expect more of the same on Tuesday night against the Bruins.   Ranger fans are the first to panic when it comes to early results.  To equate a 4-0 loss to the Islanders in the first preseason game to the final three games of the regular season when they were outscored 13-1 and shut out twice is ridiculous.

One important thing to note is that in his postgame remarks,  Gerard Gallant said that the Rangers “didn’t play hard enough.”  That’s his mantra and if he keeps saying it, look out.  He focused on the many turnovers and complimented the Islanders saying “They did a lot of things right. They won the board battles, they played the game the right way. They kept it simple. They didn’t give us scoring chances….we turned pucks over that turned into scoring chances for them.”

Gallant did say that Dryden Hunt “stood out the most” and took advantage of his minutes.  He was pretty tepid about the rest of the team saying “I thought guys played okay.”  Not a rousing endorsement.

The next game is Tuesday at 7pm at Madison Square Garden against the Bruins.