Nothing good to say about a 7-2 beatdown by Penguins

There’s not much to say about the New York Rangers’ performance in their 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Coach Gerard Gallant summed it up in one word, calling the effort a “disappointment.”  There are a few other words that work.  Humiliation, embarrassment, inexplicable and disastrous.

The Rangers were actually ahead once in the game after an early goal by Alexis Lafrenière.  A totally needless penalty by Patrik Nemeth resulted in a power play for Pittsburgh and they made short work of the Rangers’ penalty kill, scoring after 40 seconds.

Still, the game was tied after one period and the Rangers were in the game.  Not for long. Pittsburgh scored two goals in the first four minutes, added a fourth at 11:22.  The Rangers pulled within two on a lucky bounce off a Pittsburgh skate and with the score 4-2 the Blueshirts had a life.  Two more Penguins goals in the last two minutes of the period and the rout was on.

It’s not worth going into the gory details.  Suffice to say that the team forgot how to hit, check, play defense, make smart passes, and pretty much every other thing a hockey team has to do to remain competitive. They hung Igor Shesterkin out to dry and he was chased for the second straight game.

Alexandar Georgiev played the third period and did yeoman’s work, making some fine stops and allowing one goal to Evgeni Malkin.  This game could have ended up 10-2.

So, for the first time in team playoff history, the Rangers have allowed seven goals in back-to-back games.  True, the last two goals on Saturday were empty net tallies, but it’s still 14 goals in two games given up by the team that finished second best in the NHL in team defense.

What has gone wrong?

What’s gone wrong?  There’s a long list.  For some reason, the team refuses to play the shutdown defense that got them here. Their best players have been outplayed by Pittsburgh’s best.  They lost every battle on the boards.  They lost every important faceoff in the defensive zone.

For the first time since he became coach, Gerard Gallant looked overmatched. He refused to use a timeout when the team needed it badly (after the first two goals in the second period).   While Gallant said the team played “softly,” obviously nothing he could do or say had an impact.  It’s disturbing.

The Rangers continue to bleed shots with the Penguins totaling 41 shots to the Blueshirts’ 24.  But that’s not the frightening number.  The Rangers had 50 shot attempts to 62 for the Pens.  Not so bad, right?  Well, the Penguins had 22 high danger scoring chances compared to two for the Rangers.  That’s right.  Two.

The Rangers continue their infuriating habit of passing instead of shooting.  For the second time this series, an attempted pass deflected off a Penguin into his own net.

The Rangers best players were awful.  Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider were on ice for three Penguins goals.  Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller were on ice for four goals against.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were on ice for three Pittsburgh goals.  But Penguins scoring was scattered throughout the lineup with 10 of the12 Pittsburgh forwards getting on the scoresheet.

Did anyone play well?  We would be remiss if we didn’t single out the kid line.  Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafenière and Kaapo Kakko generated shots, threw body checks and actually scored.  It wasn’t until Gallant moved Lafreniere up to the second line was any of the kids on ice for a goal against.

Can they fix it?

Can the Rangers turn this around?  Before the game even ended,  they looked like a beaten team and the lack of push back during this game doesn’t bode well for Wednesday.  No one seized the moment and made a difference.  This was one game where the carousel of alternate captains just didn’t work.

It’s remarkable how much the Rangers miss Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Lindgren.  Of all the players who could have been injured, losing those two has been devastating. Goodrow’s experience, penalty killing and defensive play have not been replaced.  Lindgren’s physical play and defense has been missing.  Don’t forget that it was his big hit on Rickard Rakell that took him out of the series.   And we are really seeing how much he helps Adam Fox as his steady partner.   Replacing him with Justin Braun just isn’t the same, though no one will say it.

If they get Lindgren back on Wednesday, it would be a huge boost for the Blueshirts.

We all thought that Igor Shesterkin would have a bounceback game.  Instead, he gave up six goals.  Were they his fault?  He wasn’t as good as he has been because his defense was running around and he was busy trying to compensate for their failures.  We have rarely seen Shesterkin out of position on so many goals.

Shesterkin will be in net on Wednesday according to Gerard Gallant and while we’d like to  predict a rebound, if the defense plays the same way, look out.

If you can stand it, here’s a video recap of the game.

Positive thinking

Okay, let’s be positive.  In the last four series that the Rangers have fallen behind 3-1, they have come back to win twice.   The Montreal Canadiens did it to Toronto last year, the Rangers could do it again.

As bad as this game was, this series could be 3-1 in favor of New York.  If the Chytil goal in Game One had stood up, they would have won.  Igor Shesterkin wouldn’t have faced 83 shots and Ryan Lindgren wouldn’t have been injured.

If the Rangers had been able to score just once on the three power plays they got late in Game Three, they could have won.   Yes, they could be up 3-1 and it would be the Penguin with their backs to the wall.

There wasn’t much good when it comes to the Rangers in this game and that makes this game the exception in this series and not the rule.

The Rangers can still win this series.  One game at a time.