Blues expose Rangers' Core Flaws in front of Fans at MSG

The New York Rangers have finally come to their senses. This core isn't the answer.

The record reads 12-7-1, but me and you can both agree it's a mirage. We've watched the same story unfold since Igor Shesterkin was called up in Jan., 2020. I remember being at Madison Square Garden that JaN. 7 night, watching Shesterkin and Artemi Panarin lead the Blueshirts to a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche. It felt like the beginning of something special.

Fast forward to today, and here we are, still clinging to the same pieces — Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba, the recently added Vincent Trocheck, former Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, and the younger guys like Kaapo Kakko and K'Andre Miller.

I was at MSG again on Monday night, and it felt like the beginning of the end. The St Louis Blues rolled into town with a new head coach in Jim Montgomery, who recorded his first win as a Blue against the same squad he scored his first NHL goal against as a skater for the music note. the Blueshirts entered with their core on the hot seat as their GM Chris Drury, leaked the riot act earlier in the day.

But instead of showing fight, the Rangers laid another egg in the empty net and abetted a 5-2 loss. It's the same story we've seen far too often: sloppy play, no energy, and zero answers when it matters most.

The energy in the building was off, and so was the team. Captain Trouba's leadership simply wasn't there, and neither was he available to talk to the media postgame.

Franchise icon and the struggling winger in Kreider was out with a lower-body injury, which fans on social media speculated it could be a disguise for a healthy scratch, and the trade rumors swirling around him only made it worse. The visitors came in ranked 26th in goals per game, yet they outclassed the Rangers in nearly every way.

What's more frustrating is the disconnect between management's intentions and what's happening on the ice. Drury wanted to shake things up, sending a clear message to the NHL GM's WhatsApp chat (Yes, there's a chat for that) and telling Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman to put Kreider, Trouba, and beloved defenseman Ryan Lindgren (-3 tonight) and Miller on the trade block.

Did it work? Absolutely not. Trouba was on the ice for three of the Blues' goals, including one where he got wholly outmuscled by Brayden Schenn trying to retrieve the puck after his fellow core mate's lazy turnover behind their net.

That would be Zibanejad, who's been on the ice for 10 of the last 12 New York goals against in the previous three games, did the opposite of making a case for his best friend Kreider to remain a Blueshirt amid the headline circus. 

He made a weak pass that led directly to Schenn finding Jordan Kyrou, who tied things from the slot in the first period. He was beaten down low in the second, when Zach Bolduc gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead on a rebound for his first goal of the season. He also burned the Blueshirts again in the third when he outworked Artemi Panarin and beat him to a loose puck to double the Blues lead.

But that was merley throwing gasoline following anothger gaffe from the $8.5 million man wearing No. 93. Moments into the final frame, he forced a pass that turned into a Scott Perunovich outlet for Schenn and a go-ahead Blues breakaway tally. Former Ranger Pavel Buchnevich iced the three goal stanza with an empty netter. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves on 42 shots, kept New York afloat as the defensive dizziness continued, as they allowed over 30 shots for the third straight game.

Yet through the darkness, there remains a small light, the fire of Will Cuylle who has eight points in the last seven games. The kid is the lone bright spot right now. Six goals in his last nine games, ncluding a scrappy one off his skate while net front to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead, and another off a forced turnover when Brett Berard, the Rangers 2020 5th round pick, who made his NHL entrance fed him down low to square the score in the second period. 

That assist gave him more apples than Kreider has the entire season. But the face of the "Baby Blueshirts," is Cuylle, who plays with heart, hustle, and physicality — everything this veteran core lacks. Watching the duo's work and considering the grittiness of Adam Edstrom and the recently extended 22-year-old Lafreniere's emergence alongside the longstanding fresh bread baked by Panarin makes you think it's time to hand the keys to the kids.

The same group that reached the Eastern Conference Finals twice and even won the Presidents' Trophy under new head coach Peter Laviolette last season needs to be more in sync. The current skid has them 7-7 in their previous 14 games, but they're lucky it's not 3-11 (Would still give them San Jose, Seattle, and Vancouver victories), given how poorly they've played defensively. The lapses have made the Rangers look disorganized and reactive instead of proactive, turning games into shooting galleries.

The team looks sluggish, when moving the puck up the ice. Even low-scoring teams like the Blues are finding ways to exploit them.

On the backend, Fox, usually a Norris Trophy contender, has had a less-than-stellar start to the season, and with him playing for a new contract, and now a trade candidate hasn’t stepped up. The power play hasn’t clicked in four games, giving up a shorthanded goal in the process and managing just five power-play goals in the past month.

They're lost, and the front office knows it. Monday night wasn't just another loss; it was a message.

The fans were booing, the veterans were invisible, and the young guns alongside their world-class goaltender were the only ones showing up. It's time for the Rangers to face the music and blow this core up. The fans, who've seen one title in 85 years deserve better than this passive, uninspired hockey. If management wants to turn things around, it starts with bold moves. We're still waiting to see a team that's run out of answers.