Backup goaltender Jonathan Quick allowed six goals on 27 shots and was denied his 400th NHL win for the Rangers (17-20-1), who have lost five of six and have not won consecutive games since a three-game run from Nov. 14-19.
This time, they were bested by the Washington Capitals in a 7-4 loss on the road.
Before the Rangers quickly flip the script to travel to Chicago on Sunday, let's breakdown exactly how the Rangers got their latest loss with four key takeaways from the matchup.
1. The Overturned Goal
According to the NHL, Video review determined that rookie Brett Berard preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was in an off-side position prior to Will Cuylle’s goal. According to Rule 38.9,“The standard for overturning the call in the event of a “GOAL” call on the ice is that the NHL Situation Room, after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the On-Ice Official(s), determines that one or more Players on the attacking team preceded the puck into the attacking zone prior to the goal being scored and that, as a result, the play should have been stopped for an “Off-Side” infraction; where this standard is met, the goal will be disallowed.”
The result was the call on the ice being overturned, with no goal being awarded to the Rangers.
“That’s a frustrating point," head coach Peter Laviolette said on the matter postgame. "If the goal stands, then you’re going on the power play. That’s definitely a swing.”
Now while the Rangers did lose by three goals, this was a significant change in momentum that could have made the matchup play out much differently.
2. Special Teams
Despite Mika Zibanejad being back on the Rangers PP1, special tems play did not thrive for the Rangers during the Saturday matinee.
“It's frustrating. A lot of games, that's the difference, I think. Down one and you get a power play, if you're able to score it's a different game," Adam Fox said of special teams play postgame. "I think everyone would love to have an answer for not getting it going. You look at the score and the special teams and obviously a big difference."
3. Scoring More than Three Goals
Despite the final scoreboard, the New York Rangers have scored more than three goals for the first time in 12 games. It was also the first time the Rangers have scored four or more goals in a game since Dec. 8 when the Rangers lost to the Kraken 7-5 at Madison Square Garden.
4. The Need to Stay Confident
This quote from Zibanejad to the media following play against Washington says it all.
"That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? What's our option? What's our option? Just say, 'We're done with the season?' No, we can't. I think we have a lot of faith in the guys that are here. We have a lot of faith in the room. From the top down, we have to work. We have to keep working," Zibanejad said of how to stay confident despite not winning as of late. "I think we have to take the little things that we do well — we've done a lot of good things 5-on-5 -- we have to take that and build on it. That's the only way we're going to get forward. Yes, it's not easy. Yes, it's not going to happen overnight. But if it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. We have a challenge, and we just got to accept it and keep working. We have no other option. We have no other option than try to stay positive, try to work. And just think about it: Tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity to get two points, a new opportunity to get a win and that's what we have to do."