Someone
wake me up when Groundhog’s Day is over.
Three games at home and three straight times you saw the same basic
storyline play out. Tonight was slightly
different because the first period was the one they decided to play instead of
waiting until the third, but once again the utter lack of finish is beyond
comprehension at this point. You have to
score more goals by accident then this team is on purpose right now. Defensively every goal against is either a
deflection or a lost man in front and Henrik Lundqvist is not doing what this
team needs right now and stealing a game.
For
a change the Rangers played a dominant first period in which they controlled
the play the entire period. The team had
the fast start they keep talking about when Sean Avery gave them the lead just
3:13 into the game. The play was made
behind the net with Christensen who showed excellent patience waiting for Avery
to hit the slot and fed him a beautiful pass which Avery roofed over
Theodore. It was only Avery’s third of
the season and first since January 8th.
I guess Sean did not appreciate me talking about his 1.6% shooting
percentage this
morning.
The
strong play continued throughout the period and they should have been up
multiple goals, but as is usually the case they could not find a way to get the
second goal. They had two power plays,
one was abysmal and the other had chances including a golden one for Ryan
Callahan, but he did not lift the puck into the open net, rather shooting it
into the paddle of Theodore’s stick. When
you hold a team to 3 shots in a period and 17 minutes without a single on you
have to have a bigger lead than 1-0.
As
well as the team played in the first period, they played equally as bad in the
second. Once again the Rangers took an
offensive zone penalty and it came back to bite them. With Erik Christensen in the box for high
sticking, Kyle Brodziak would deflect the puck home to tie the game at one 4:36
into the second. Before this goal
happened the Rangers had a prime chance 2-on-1 with Callahan and Dubinsky and
they didn’t even get a shot. Dubinsky was
clearly looking pass the whole way and when that was taken away the puck
harmlessly slid off his stick and behind the net.
Unlike
the Rangers the Wild would keep coming and add to their goal total when Casey
Wellman burned Matt Gilroy and was all alone in front to deflect a Brett Burns
shot in to make it 2-1 Wild. Bouchard
would salt this one away 8:15 into the third and end the game 3-1 Wild.
In
terms of the playoff race this was also a bad night for the Rangers. Carolina and
Buffalo went to OT with Carolina winning which moved the Hurricanes into 7th
with 71 points and Buffalo within two, while having three games in hand. The red hot Leafs also beat Philly to get
within three points of the Rangers. We
keep saying this every night, but the pressure only builds on how important
tomorrow’s two points against Ottawa are.
Avery only getting 7:54 of ice tonight was awful coaching by Torts as he was going more than any other forward.
Ryan McDonagh left the game with what is being called a wrenched knee and is listed as day-to-day
The loss drops the team to 14-16-3 at home.
Anyway, the problem defensively is that the Rangers are allowing the opposition to get behind them. Miscoverages on the rush are resulting in players being left wide open around the crease, which leaves goaltender Henrik Lundqvist out on his own to try and make a desperation save. This is something that must change if the offense only plans on scoring one or two goals a night.
These three straight loses could not have come at a worse time. With Carolina and Buffalo tied 2-2 in their game at the moment, at least one of those teams, maybe both, will be getting points out of that one. This is the closest the Rangers have come to falling out of the playoff race this season, and they better hope that changes tomorrow against Ottawa, because we know they aren’t beating the Flyers on Sunday.
