The New York Rangers played a better game against the Avalanche than they did in New York last week, but they didn’t have the same excuses that made that game a “schedule loss.” They had yet another slow start and took too many penalties and were never able to gain and hold momentum. Still, it was a one-goal game until the last minute and the Rangers were inches away from tying the game.
They played a road game against one of the best and hottest teams in the NHL. After being embarrassed on home ice last week, it was a much closer game and if the Rangers had just a little more discipline, they might have been able to sneak away with a point. There was a little bit of everything in this game including a disallowed goal on a coach’s challenge by Gerard Gallant that gave the team a life.
The good news was the penalty kill was able to stop one of the league’s best power plays five of six times. The Rangers outhit the Avalanche and finished with 28 shots to 31 for Colorado. Possession-wise, the Rangers played the Avs even. They also won a challenge for goalie interference.
The bad news was the Rangers got off to an awful start yet again. While they were able to kill five of six penalties, they lost all momentum and then compounded it by taking two penalties in the last 13 minutes when they were desperate to tie. The worst news was that the desperation and passion came much too late, when they were down 3-1 with only four minutes left.
It’s going to be a “I told you so” game for the doubters as the Rangers have lost eight of 12 games against playoff teams. They will tell you that the Rangers have been feasting on the wannabes and don’t have what it takes to beat the “really good teams.”
Don’t tell that to Gerard Gallant. He was pleased with the effort. “I thought we played a good, hard game against a real good hockey team that played really fast. I liked our effort. We made a couple mistakes, but overall we played a good game.” He continued, “I thought we had a gutsy effort. We played 60 minutes…they’re a good team, they made some good plays. We battled back and we never quit.”
That was echoed by Ryan Strome. “There’s a lot of nights when we’ve had a win and we’re not happy with the effort, I think tonight it was a pretty good effort. If we play like that in a majority of our games you’re gonna be be successful in this league.”
This game does expose some flaws that have been masked so far this season. So far, the Rangers have succeeded behind a potent power play and superlative goaltending. Now, the lack of scoring from Mika Zibanejad is becoming a problem, especially now that Chris Kreider is in his first slump. The team has a real depth scoring issue that must be resolved. And there is a lack of skill in some key roles with few options to increase it.