All of the ingredients were there for a stinker. The New York Rangers were a tired team, getting back to New York at 3am after a road game in Chicago. Their opponents were a well rested elite offensive team. They played a rookie goalie who is arguably fourth on the organization’s depth chart. Despite all of that, the Rangers escaped the first period with a 2-1 lead. Then the roof collapsed.
The Rangers did nothing to stop the Avalanche from skating at will in their zone. The conceded the blue line to Colorado and lost most of the board battles. They did everything you need to do if you want to allow team like Colorado to score seven times.
Coach Gallant didn’t blame his goalie. “We lost that as a team, definitely…we gave them too many scoring chances…we turned some pucks over and they took advantage of it. They’re a talented team and if you give them second and third chances and odd man rushes they’re going to take advantage of your team.”
Gallant also made it clear he is not pushing any panic buttons. “I’m not worried about it one bit. I’m not happy about losing tonight, but the game’s over, you move by it and get ready for the next one in Buffalo…The mistakes were more mental…we looked like a tired team.”
Gallant is clearly a former player who understands the ups and downs of a hockey season. He’s not one to fix blame on individuals or overreact to one game. That’s part of what makes him a great coach.
Despite the negative result, the Rangers have won 11 of 13 games and have been very, very good. It’s a very tough stretch of the schedule with five games in the next eight days and they are back on the road in Buffalo on Friday.
The game to circle on your calendars is next Tuesday night when they have a rematch in Colorado.
Here’s a video recap of the game, if you can bear to watch.