No need to panic after ugly 6-2 loss to the Blues

Mar 10, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Jake Walman (46) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Jake Walman (46) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports
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Mar 10, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Jake Walman (46) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues defenseman Jake Walman (46) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports /

The New York Rangers came out with a lousy effort in St. Louis, losing to the Blues 6-2 in a game that saw Igor Shesterkin chased for only the second time in his career.  It was one of the worst efforts of the season for the Blueshirts, but you could see it coming.

The Rangers, comfortably in a playoff position, are in a stretch of games against teams desperate for wins, fighting to make the post season.  Their opponent, the Blues are not only in a playoff fight, but they had dropped four in a row.  That they were going to come out on fire was no surprise and the Rangers played right into their hands.

What’s bizarre is that the Blues have Igor Shesterkin’s number.  Twice in eight days, they scored three goals against him in less than 2:36.  In their last game in New York, the Blues tallied three times in just 2:14.

Any chance of established flow and a system went out the window for the Rangers when they took three penalties in the first eight minutes of the game including 1:07 minutes down two men.

The Rangers’ penalty kill was fabulous, holding the Blues to six shots. but it didn’t help to establish any offensive flow.  A minute after the third penalty ended, Dryden Hunt came in on a two-on-one with Ryan Strome who fed Hunt facing a wide open net.  Hunt proceeded to shoot the puck into the pad of Blues goalie Ville Husso who wasn’t even looking at him.

That was a turning point.  Instead of building off a great penalty kill and taking the lead, the roof fell in.  Two minutes after the Hunt miss, Robert Thomas scored for the Blues as they scored three goals in 2:36, the second time in eight days that they had done it  to Shesterkin.

Down 3-0, the Rangers got one back on the power play as Ryan Strome scored ending the period down 3-1.

But just 15 seconds into the second period, Mika Zibanejad fell and coughed up the puck to a wide open Ryan O’Reilly who put one past Shesterkin.

Gallant thought enough was enough and pulled the Ranger goalie.

Seven minutes later, the Blues put two pucks past Alexandar Georgiev, scoring twice in 38 seconds for a 6-1 lead and it looked like it was going to be a massacre.

To their credit, after K’Andre Miller scored on the power play midway through the period and that was it for scoring and the game ended 6-2 after a scoreless third period.

Coach Gerard Gallant didn’t mince words saying  “We looked soft.”  Asked what words he had for his players, he replied, “It wasn’t too positive. I just shut my mouth and let them play.  There’s not many good things you can say.  You’re frustrated.  That fourth goal was a rough one to swallow.  15 seconds into the period after playing the way we did in the first….It was real disappointing. ”

He said that coverage in the slot has been a problem all year and that they need to “defend it better.”

He was especially upset about the way they played in front of their goalie. “How many times can you do it.  He had no chance on the first goal.  A couple tap-ins, no chance at all. You get frustrated and you hope you wake your guys up…it didn’t really. But they should be be embarrassed the way this guy plays for them all year and then they they come out here tonight and play like, especially after a game in Minnesota we weren’t too good in. ”

One issue that Gallant raised was the fact that they are down some key players and it is starting to show.  The loss of Kaapo Kakko has really hurt the top six and they are beginning to see the consequences of Kevin Rooney and Greg Mckegg  being replaced by Johnny Brodzinski and Tim Gettinger.

Rooney and McKegg may  not have been scoring lots of goals, but their defense is much, much better than the players who have replaced them.

Here’s a video recap of the game, if you can bear to watch.

The Rangers got away with playing an AHL lineup earlier in the season, but now, when they are playing teams who are fighting for a playoff spot, it isn’t enough.    We may think that players like Brodzinski, Gettinger, Barron and Greco are the answer, but it’s clear that they aren’t when push comes to shove.

Still, it’s no reason to panic.  Every team in the NHL has played a couple stinkers and the Rangers were overdue.  They key is how they respond Saturday night in Dallas.

Mar 10, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) looks on in a game against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) looks on in a game against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports /

Notes on the game

The Rangers record dropped to 36-17-5, but they remain in second place with the tiebreaker over the Penguins (34-15-9).   They have both played the same number of games.

It’s not like the Rangers didn’t have their chances in this game.  Hunt missed the open net and Filip Chytil, Artemi Panarin and Julien Gauthier couldn’t score on breakaways.

The Zibanejad line had a very bad night.  Zibanejad  and Alexis Lafrenière were both -3 on the night and Chris Kreider was -4.

The only bright spot on the night was special teams play.   The power play went two for three and the penalty kill was successful all three four times. Jake Walman did score when the Rangers were going to be called for a penalty and the Blues had six skaters on the ice.

Igor Shesterkin got the first point of his career when he assisted on the power play goal by Ryan Strome in the first period.

Igor Shesterkin was pulled not due to injury only once before in his career, in a game against the Devils in his rookie season.

Down four goals in the third period, Gallant gave the bottom six a lot of ice time and also mixed up his defense pairings, using Adam Fox with Patrik Nemeth and teaming up Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider.

It was a bad night for Lindgren and Fox whose plus/minus was -4 for both players.

Both teams had two-man advantages though the Rangers’ lasted only one second. The Rangers were down two men for over a minute. It was the fourth time they have been down two men, but the first time it was for over 10 seconds. They haven’t allowed a goal when down two men.

Jonny Brodzinski shot the puck into the stands when he rushed to clear the puck. It was the fourth time the Rangers have done that and they have killed all four penalties.

Five minutes into the second period, Dryden Hunt fought with Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola.  It was Hunt’s first fighting major and the Rangers’ 15th of the season.

Adam Fox played 17:46, the fewest minutes he has played in a game in over two years. He assisted on both Rangers’ goals, giving him 50 assists, fourth most in the NHL.

New York Rangers right wing Barclay Goodrow (Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports)
New York Rangers right wing Barclay Goodrow (Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports) /

My 3 Rangers stars

  1. Barclay Goodrow gets the top star for his work on the Rangers penalty kill as they held off the Blues three times.  Goodrow got a lot of ice time and was very physical, right through the third period.
  2. K’Andre Miller played 25:30, the most ice time of any Ranger and scored a beautiful power play goal, the first of his career.  On a night when the Bluehshirts defense was very ordinary, Miller was the best.
  3. Alexandar Georgiev gets the third star for surviving in an awful situation and keeping the game respectable.  He did allow two goals, but was hung out to dry on both and he stopped 16 of 18 shots, including some excellent stops in the third period.

The official 3 stars

  1. Robert Thomas
  2. Ville Husso
  3. Ryan O’Reilly

What’s next

The Rangers wrap up their four game road trip with a visit to the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. If they can steal a win it will have to classified as a “successful” road trip.   Game time is 8pm as the Blueshirts play their last game of the season outside of the Eastern Time Zone.

Look for the Rangers to rebound Saturday with a solid defensive effort.  If not, look out.

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