A great effort without a great result

Notes on the game

Faceoffs are a clear indicator of how the Rangers are playing.  The won only three of 13 draws in the first period and when the Stars scored their second goal the Blueshirts had lost 13 of 19 faceoffs.   When they got their focus and started dominating, they won 24 of the next 39 draws.

The shots were tilted in the Rangers favor as well. Dallas outshot the Rangers 13-5 until six minutes into the second period. The Blueshirts had the edge 28 to 13 the rest of the way.

Artemi Panarin and K’Andre Miller led the team with three shots on goal. The more significant statistic was that the Stars blocked 25 Ranger shots.  Over the last two periods, 5v5, the Rangers had 44 shot attempts to only 25 for Dallas.

For the second straight game, the Rangers were beaten on special teams.  They allowed one PP game in two attempts and they failed on all four of their power plays. All of the power play goals against have come off broken plays.

For the second straight game, the Rangers gave up a goal to a rookie playing in his first NHL game.  Wednesday it was Hendrix Lapierre of the Capitals.  Tonight it was Jacob Peterson.

Speaking of rookies, Nils Lundkvist made his debut as a Ranger.  He played 14:19, the least of any Ranger defenseman.  He looked nervous and had some trouble controlling the puck early, but he settled down and played well.

The new tough Rangers had 32 hit to 23 for the Stars.  Believe it or not, Chris Kreider led the Rangers with seven hits.  Ryan Reaves looked like he had more than the four hits he was credited with.

Speaking of Reaves, he was called for a boarding penalty in the second period that led to the Stars second goal. It looked liked a legitimate hit on Miro Heiskanen. Jamie Benn and Jacob Trouba got into it after the hit and both took roughing penalties.

The fourth line played well and created some havoc in the Stars zone. Dryden Hunt had a breakaway in the second period, but was stoned by Holtby.

Sammy Blais missed the game with a lower body injury and was replaced by Julien Gauthier.  Gauthier did not stand out in this game.

Gerard Gallant moved Barclay Goodrow on the left side of Zibanejad in the third period with Alexis Lafrenière teamed with  Chytil and Gauthier.  He also had Goodrow take a a defensive zone draw instead of Zibanejad which he promptly lost.  He was one for four on draws while Zibanejad was winning at a 50% clip.

Lafrenière has gotten off to a rough start and has yet to show the potential that made him the number one pick.  It has contributed a bit to a slow start for Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad’s timing was off on several shots.

While Lafrenière struggles, Kaapo Kakko keeps getting better. He is showing some chemistry with Panarin and Strome and is tough to knock off the puck.  His screen in front of Holtby was key to the goal scored by Adam Fox and initially it looked like he had deflected the puck.  Kakko also hit the post on a feed from Panarin in the second period.<

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The Dallas Stars are a disciplined hockey club.  Two of the four penalties they took were for shooting the puck over the glass.  Despite the Rangers swarming over them the final 34 minutes, they only took one holding penalty.  The last penalty was a high stick by Joe Pavelski.

Braden Holtby played 48:07, stopping 25 of 27 shots before suffering a lower body injury. He was replaced by Anton Khudobin who made six saves, some of them very difficult.

Igor Shesterkin had  23 saves on 26 shots including some excellent stops early when the Stars were dominating.  He could be faulted on the overtime goal though Trouba backed off on checking him, possibly fearful of a pass to Jamie Benn who was trailing the play.  In hindsight, Trouba should have done more than try to stick check Heiskanen and Shesterkin should have made the stop.

Gallant went with the trio of Fox, Kreider and Zibanejad to start the overtime, then replaced them with Trouba, Strome and Panarin.

Gallant also let the number one power play remain on the ice for the entire late third period penalty to Joe Pavelski.  He even used a timeout to get them some rest.  They kept control of the puck in the Stars zone, but were unable to cash in. Shades of last year under David Quinn.

Of course, after the penalty ended, Pavelski got out of the box and beat the gassed Rangers into the defensive zone and hit the crossbar with a wide open net.

Rod Gilbert was honored before the game with seven seconds of silence and a video.  His widow, Judy, dropped the ceremonial first puck.