This one hurt as Rangers drop shootout loss to Red Wings
For the second straight game, the New York Rangers came from behind to tie a game in the third period. After a thrilling overtime, the game went to a shootout, but there were no Blueshirts heroics this night. In fact, in the shootout, Ryan Strome had the win on his stick and inexplicably missed a wide open net.
This will not go into the record books as a good effort by the Rangers. They were outplayed for long periods by an energetic Red Wings team. They certainly has their chances, but they hit two posts and Detroit goalie Thomas Greiss played like an all star in stopping 37 of 39 shots.
For the second straight game, the power play was kept off the ice until late in the third period. It saved them as they were able to tie the score with less than nine minutes left.
It was a letdown from the Boston game. As tightly defended as that game was, this one was sloppy for both teams. Numerous neutral zone turnovers resulted in odd man rushes for Detroit.
Coach Gerard Gallant was not pleased. “The first half we came out real flat obviously and Detroit took it too us pretty good. It should have been more than 1-0 but Shesty played real good.” Gallant continued, “The second half we played good enough to get back in. We probably got the one point that we deserved, but no more.”
The good news is the Blueshirts have allowed only 10 goals in their last five games. The problem is that they have scored only 13 with just eight at even strength.
It’s games like this that will convince Chris Drury that he needs to improve secondary scoring. They’ve got the defense, but look at these numbers. In the 23 games since December 8 here’s the scoring for the players currently on the bottom six: Chytil 3, Reaves 2, Gauthier 2, McKegg 1, Rooney 0, Hunt 0. In the same 23 games, Chris Kreider by himself scored 16 goals compared to eight for this sextet.
After the game, Adam Fox was more resigned to the result and happy to get the one point. “You always want to come away with two points, but one point is better than none…it was just one of those games.”
The team still looks hung over from their two week vacation. It’s worth noting that the Red Wings played four times while the Rangers were off. The Rangers have been guilty of slow starts all season and they need to fix that. As Fox said, it’s difficult to play from behind and although the Rangers are second in the NHL in games won after trailing first with 12, they have allowed the opposition to score first in 25 games. Consider that they are 19-3-2 when scoring first.
About the game
That early Detroit goal came just 2:18 into the first period and it was the result of a bad bounce. Troy Stecher took the shot and it was headed wide of the net until Zac Jones deflected it right into the Rangers net past Igor Shesterkin. The Ranger goalie had no chance.
The Rangers were pretty badly outplayed the first half of the period and despite picking up their play, taking two penalties didn’t help their cause. The Red Wings had the first nine shot attempts and the first four shots on goal. The Rangers finally had a good shift eight minutes into the period and they followed with several excellent scoring chances by Lafrenière and Zibanejad.
The Blueshirts held the 1-0 deficit going into the second period. They actually ended up with more high danger scoring chances despite being outshot 11-8.
The Rangers were much better in the second period and had three scoring opportunities on one shift when Strome shot a point blank shot wide and Goodrow and Panarin were stopped by Greiss.
On the next shift, K’Andre Miller finally got the Rangers on the scoreboard at the 12:18 mark with an outstanding offensive move.
Barclay Goodrow won the offensive zone draw after an icing and Miller swept into the zone, around the net and used his long reach to score on the wraparound.
With the crowd into the game the Rangers promptly gave the goal right back when Dylan Larkin whipped a shot past Shesterkin. It was another odd bounce as it came off a shot by Danny DeKeyser that missed the net, but hit the boards and bounced right to Larkin who as perched on on the left side of the Rangers goalie.
You could feel the goal coming as it was scored on a lengthy shift in the Rangers’ zone. The Rangers got caught running around and Kreider lost a board battle when he had a chance to clear. The goal came just ninety seconds after the Miller goal.
So the Rangers were faced with another one goal deficit starting the third period. To their credit, they had to kill a penalty at 9:29 when Dryden Hunt took an additional two minutes after he took on Givani Smith who had leveled Julien Gauthier from behind. It could easily have been called a charging penalty, but it ended up as a Detroit power play. It worked out for the Blueshirts when Robby Fabbri tripped Adam Fox behind the Rangers net, negating the penalty.
The Ranger got the man advantage after 18 seconds and made short work of the power play. After 26 seconds with the extra player, it was a Mika Zibanejad one-timer on a set up from Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin.
The teams exchanged chances before going to overtime. The OT was relatively calm until the last two minutes when both teams had outstanding chances. Greiss stopped Zibanejad and Shesterkin stopped Tyler Bertuzzi. With 20 seconds left Panarin had a breakaway but was stopped by Dylan Larkin who made the defensive play.
The shootout went six rounds. Lucas Raymong and Zibanejad were the first two shooters and they both scored. Then Shesterkin stopped Larkin, Adam Erne, Tyler Bertuzzi and Sam Gagner while Greiss did the same to Panarin, Fox, and Lafrenière. Ryan Strome was the fifth shooter for the Rangers and Greiss tried a poke check, but missed and Strome had a wide open net to shoot into with Greiss prone on the ice and out of the play. Strome shot the puck wide.
Pius Suter then beat Shesterkin and Filip Chyil was stopped by Greiss and the Rangers lost a point that they should have had.
Here is a full video recap of the game.
Despite not playing well, the Rangers could and should have won this game. They hit two posts and Greiss played out of his mind. Of course, the Strome missed shootout attempt will be something Ranger fans won’t forget for a while.
The Blueshirts have slipped into a stretch of .500 hockey and with games coming up with Washington and Pittsburgh, they need to get their game back.
Notes on the game
With the shootout loss, the Rangers improved to 67 points and a record of 31-13-5. The Penguins lost to Toronto so the Rangers picked up a point of Pittsburgh with 70 points. The Rangers have two games in hand on the Pens and are very close in points percentage (.686 to .684).
The Rangers have still lost only four times in regulation this season at Madison Square Garden, second only to Florida in the East.
The Blueshirts record against the Atlantic Division is 13-2-1, getting 27 of a possible 32 points. Pretty good.
The Rangers power play is fourth in the NHL with a 26.2% success rate, one tenth of a point behind the mighty Edmonton Oilers power play.
The Rangers have had only two power plays in their last two games, the second time that has happened this season. They need to work on drawing penalties.
The Rangers were outhit 15-13 and the 13 hits was the fewest for the team in any game this season.
Mika Zibanejad’s power play goal was his 11th of the season. He is fifth in the NHL with Chris Kreider still leading with 17.
Chris Kreider has lost his lead in the goal scoring race. Leon Draisaitl scored his 34th goal of the season to go ahead by one goal.
Adam Fox notched his career high 48th point, assisting on Zibanejad’s goal. He is fourth in the NHL in assists with 41, eight behind Jonathan Huberdeau. Fox is now third among defensemen in scoring, one behind Cale Makar and two points behind Victor Hedman.
Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves on 33 shots. He improved his league best save percentage to .938 and moved into the league lead with a 2.05 goals against average.
The Rangers played a video tribute to Marc Staal halfway through the first period. He received a standing ovation from the crowd, something the television audience didn’t see, of course.
Thomas Greiss has never lost to the Rangers with a lifetime record of 6-0-1.
This was the Rangers first loss to Detroit since March 2019.
My 3 Rangers stars
- Artemi Panarin played like a man possessed. He led the team with six shots on goal and had the most shot attempts. This was a game where he wasn’t helped by his linemates and he tried to take it in his own hands. He did assist on Zibanejad’s goal, but got no luck or help in scoring.
- Igor Shesterkin made some really special saves and had no chance on the two Red Wings goals. He stopped 31 of 33 shots and but for Ryan Strome, should have won his second straight shootout.
- Adam Fox was off his game early, but picked it up and was outstanding as the Rangers tried to get back into the game. He made a headman pass off the backboards to spring Chris Kreider and he also drew the penalty that resulted in the Rangers’ tying goal. In the shootout, a role he not comfortable with, he lost control of the puck and couldn’t get a shot off.
The official 3 stars
- Thomas Greiss – Detroit
- Pius Suter – Detroit
- Igor Shesterkin – Rangers
What’s next
The Rangers take a quick trip to Canada to play the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. It’s a late afternoon start with puck drop at 5pm. It won’t be an easy game as Ottawa has a lot in common with the Red Wings. The Blueshirts will have three days to prepare for their game with Washington next Thursday in their first game in New York against Tom Wilson and company. Then, they meet the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time next Saturday, a game that every Ranger fan should be looking forward to.