Your New York Rangers have dropped to 3-1-1 on the young season as they lose in overtime to the San Jose Sharks as David Quinn marks his return to Madison Square Garden with a win. This was a game where the Rangers dominated the first two periods but the killer instinct to put a winless team away just wasn’t there and it proved costly as the Sharks would continue to hang around and steal two points.
After two periods, the shot counter read 21-9 in favor of New York. It ended up reading 27-23 in favor of the San Jose Sharks. With the Sharks having just two shots in the overtime, you can see that the Sharks took control of the third period as they were trying to get back into the game and try to grab the two points they needed to get off the bottom of the NHL standings after their rough start.
Something that was a little concerning was how unconvincing the Rangers’ power play was during this game. Going 0/5 against a team like San Jose is really concerning. New York couldn’t capitalize, despite having even a brief 5-on-3. It’s not a promising sign. This needs to be a one-game issue if the Rangers want to have a serious shot at capturing their fifth Stanley Cup banner. Bottom feeders like San Jose need to be put to the sword with an extra man.
New York’s second period was excellent. Getting themselves back into the game and finally getting some pucks past the San Jose defense and netminder, they finally had an answer for the Sharks. It was a difficult game to watch because the Rangers were clearly faster throughout the game but the second period was the only time they could really press their speed advantage to add to the scoreline.
For the standings, this leaves the New York Rangers in second in the division behind the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s way too early in the year to be looking at the standings seriously. But as the saying goes, you may not be able to win the Stanley Cup in October, but you can certainly lose it. New York’s start to this point has been good, but they need to keep getting points where possible and making sure they’re in the playoff places.