Rangers get shutout by Capitals in a disappointing performance
By Conor Power
This looked like the Rangers team we saw before the roster heated up. It was a bitterly disappointing performance in the sanctity of the Garden. With more woes in the most storied building in all of hockey, the Rangers’ home record is slowly sinking their season. If the Blueshirts cannot figure out how to restore the Garden to the fortress it has been in years gone by, this could be a very difficult season in New York.
New York’s penalty kill couldn’t kill off a Washington powerplay early in the first and the Marcus Johanson goal would put the Rangers in a hole that they found it impossible to dig themselves out of. Moving further into the game, it just seemed like this was beyond the roster. While it is unreasonable to expect the penalty kill to be perfect, being able to deny the goal that eventually turned out to be the game-winner would have been nice.
Despite having 5 powerplays the Rangers still couldn’t get themselves into this game with the help of the man advantage. With the struggles the powerplay endured, it became evident quickly that there was going to be no way of reliably getting aid from the powerplay. Going 0/5 against a divisional opponent is going to see you lose that game more often than not. Special teams are just too important and New York’s were just not up to it in this one.
Shesterkin had himself a subpar game by the lofty standards of the Russian netminder. Despite making a highlight reel save, allowing three goals is not going to sit well with the reigning Vezina trophy winner. When Shesterkin allows more than 2 goals, the Rangers’ record is almost exclusively losses and it showed. This is not on Igor because it means he gets no goal support, but it is a really awful warning sign.
Following this defeat, the Rangers find themselves sitting in the second wild card spot inside the playoff places by just a point. While having the same number of games played as their city rivals gives them no immediate danger behind them, the Rangers are the last team in the East that would make the playoffs. There will need to be a change if the Rangers want to kick their season forward and get into the playoffs.