For the second straight day the New York Rangers went to
overtime and came out on the losing end, though this time it took a shootout
for the Rangers to fall to the Anaheim Ducks.
Bobby Ryan scored the lone goal of the shootout during his fourth round
attempt. The shot from Ryan appeared to
be a one he fanned on and got lucky as the puck slid Henrik Lundqvist. Artem Anisimov attempted to go backhand on
his attempt and missed giving the Ducks the extra point.
While it is disappointing to get to the shootout and not get
the second point, the honest truth is that the Rangers did not even deserve the
point they got today. Without Henrik
Lundqvist making multiple stellar saves in this game the Rangers get blown out
by 4 or 5 goals. Once again he was the
best player on the ice and if there is anything good to take out of these two
games it is how sharp Lundqvist has looked early in the year. Aside from Callahan, Girardi, Anisimov and
McDonagh the rest of the team has a lot of work to do in the next week before
the Rangers step back on the ice.
For much of the game it looked like despite Lundqvist’s
performance the Rangers were going to get nothing from the game, but then Brad
Richards scored a beautiful goal with only 2:15 remaining in the game. A hard-working shift from Brandon Dubinsky
and a smart feed from Ryan McDonagh to Richards down low set the Rangers huge
offseason acquisition up with a chance to save a point and he delivered. Richards stepped out in front and roofed a
perfect shot over the left shoulder of Jonas Hiller to New York the tie.
The Ducks goal came just 9:26 into the game when Andrew
Cogliano on a tip-in from the goal crease.
The Ducks rushed the puck up the ice and while both defenders went into
the corner so did Derek Stepan leaving Cogliano wide open in front for the
garbage. Both Eminger and Stepan deserve
blame on the play as Eminger is supposed to stay in front, but once he left that
spot Stepan has to recognize it and cover the area.
- Another sloppy game filled with penalties
- Too many defensive breakdowns that left Lundqvist out to dry
- Power play was awful going 0-7 and generating very little.
- Callahan and Girardi have been the team's best skaters
- Stepan has been invisible for two games
