Oh boy, nothing went well tonight. The New York Rangers discovered tonight that they are going to be beaten by any team that gives their all for sixty minutes. With the consistent inconsistencies that currently plague the original six franchise. This is a concerning time for the Rangers. New York is in trouble given its current situation. They cannot continue to play like this and if the Rangers do, they will find themselves wasting another year.
Tonight the penalty kill was just not good enough. Allowing the Blackhawks to score three powerplay goals was never going to be good enough to give the Rangers a shot tonight. With the roster changes before the game and the omission of Filip Chytil, there was not enough defensive structure today. It felt like the Rangers were a step behind and that may have been fatigue due to being in the second half of a back-to-back.
There are a ton of flaws with the way this roster has been put together and the more I rewatch the highlights tonight and think back to the game I watched, the worse it gets. New York needs help with its defense. Whether that is the blueline or the structure is unclear but what happened tonight was not good enough. Something has to change on the back end for the Blueshirts if they are going to attempt to live up to expectations.
After this crime of a game, the Rangers remain outside the playoff places, but they have now played 3 games more than the Detroit Red Wings who hold the second wild card, 2 more than the Panthers who are a point behind, 2 more than the Canadiens who are 2 points behind. It’s a really bad situation to be in for the Rangers and if they do not figure it out, they will be watching someone else compete for the cup from the couch like the fans.