Blue Line Station
Fansided

Tough night for the Rangers as they lose 5-2 to the Wild

By Steve Paulus

Mar 8, 2022; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno (17) scores a goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 8, 2022; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno (17) scores a goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 8, 2022; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno (17) falls on New York Rangers defenseman Patrik Nemeth (12) during the third period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 8, 2022; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno (17) falls on New York Rangers defenseman Patrik Nemeth (12) during the third period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports /

Notes on the game

  • The Penguins lost to Florida so the Rangers held onto second place in the Metropolitan Division despite the loss.  The teams have the same 77 points, but the Rangers have played one fewer game.
  • The Rangers lost the season series to Minnesota with the Wild joining Calgary and Colorado as the teams that have done the same.  The Blueshirts are 7-5-1 versus the Central Division.
  • Offensively, the game was pretty even.  5v5, both teams had 46 shot attempts while the Wild had 25 shot attempts to 20 for New York.
  • This was the first time this season the Rangers didn’t have a power play.  That happened three times last season.  They have had 18 power plays in the last 10 games and average of 1.8 per game.  They had 144 over the first 47 games, an average of 3.1 power plays per game.
  • The shorthanded goal was Mika Zibanejad’s first of the season and the fifth for the Rangers. He has led the Rangers in shorties the last three seasons and it was the 10th of his NHL career.
  • When Dryden Hunt scored in the second period, it was his first goal in 31 games.  He had last scored on December 1. Considering that he has spent a lot of that time playing with Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin, it’s a pretty depressing statistic.
  • Georgiev’s statistics took another big hit in this game.  Of the 47 NHL goalies who have appeared in 20 games or more this season, he is 45th with a .893 save percentage and his 3.15 goals against average is 37th.    He has allowed 60 goals this season while his expected goals against total is 51.47.
  • This was the 10th time this season that the Rangers have allowed five goals or more. Shesterkin was in net for two of the games, Adam Huska for one and Georgiev for seven.
  • 20 year old Matt Boldy is having a very impressive rookie season with nine goals and 21 points in 24 games.  He was drafted 12th overall in the 2019 draft.  If there is a lesson to be learned, he played two seasons at Boston College after being drafted and 24 games in the AHL before being promoted to the NHL where he is excelling.  It makes you wonder where Kaapo Kakko would be if he had been given development time similar to Boldy.
  • It was a return home for K’Andre Miller, Ryan Lindgren and Jonny Brodzinski, all Minnesota natives and it didn’t work out very well.
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