There's no need to sugarcoat this. To do so would be an insult to the Rangers' intelligence and the audience. Even if you hunt for hours, you still won't be able to find and pinpoint the qualities that make up for Tuesday's 6-1 paddy pummeling by the rapidly approaching 'Canes' at the Garden.
“We certainly let each other down,” Vincent Trocheck said after the game, when the teams chased from the 1:49 mark and Carolina scored the first of two power-play goals in the first half. Ta. “Divisional games, right behind us in the standings, are very important at any time of the season.
“Those are hard things to swallow.”
The loss dropped the Rangers to second place overall in the NHL, but more importantly, it brought Carolina within five points of first place in the Metro Division with a 7-1-3 record. It's too early to focus on this, but there are some strong candidates in this race, even though the Blueshirts have played two fewer games than the Canes.
The Rangers did a great job on both ends of the special game and moved to the top of the league. They were first in the NHL on the power play and fifth on the penalty kill. Their combined special teams coefficient of 115.8 was the highest in the league, surpassing the Bruins' 113.2.
Thanks to their work, they were able to overcome their mediocre performance at 5-on-5, where they entered the game with just one more goal than they allowed. At the end of the game, it was reversed and the Blueshirts were down 5-5, minus-1.
Do you know why that makes sense in evaluating whether the Blueshirts fit the profile of a Stanley Cup champion?
Since the NHL first expanded to 12 teams in 1967-68 and the playoffs were expanded from two rounds, only one team has won the Cup by a 5-5 margin. That team was the 2011-12 Kings, who went 5-on-5 and allowed one more goal than they scored, slipped into the playoffs as the final seed in the West, and ran through the tournament behind a young goaltender named Jonathan Quick. .
But again, the Rangers overcame the inefficiency with full and even strength at 5-on-4 and 4-on-5. Prior to this game, the Blueshirts had allowed multiple goals on the power play only once, in Game 4 of the season against the Predators on October 19th.
The Canes went 2-for-4 on Monday, extending their lead to 1-0 when his nephew Jack Drury beat Igor Shesterkin with a one-timer from the left circle at 1:49, and at 19:29. extended their lead to 2-0. Andrei Svechnikov took advantage of poor reporting.
And up until this game, the Rangers had had three or more power-play opportunities in 24 games. They had at least one PPG in 22 of those games. However, the club went 0-for-3 on Tuesday. Not only that, but the power play, which had been progressing smoothly at 30.9 percent, was unable to get out on its own against aggressive penalty kicks that approached the line and in decisive opportunities.
The Blueshirts had 6:00 on the man advantage. They lost 3-2 with just three attempts. This was Opposite Night. That wasn't flattering. Through the first two periods, he was just barely acceptable at 5-on-5 and couldn't chase things down. And while the team conceded three goals, it looked like they were playing just to qualify.
The Rangers were unable to get inside. They were consistently unable to prevent the “Canes” from reaching the front. The question of whether a team that had success this regular season will be able to successfully transition into the postseason is exacerbated by this team as time and space shrink for elite talent and skill takes precedence in rock-paper-scissors competitions. It's going to happen.
Between now and the March 8 deadline, it's up to general manager Chris Drury to shore up his team with players who fit a playoff profile, not necessarily big-name names or flashy scorers. By the way, that's what happened to him in 1994. That was the role of Stephen Matteau's Tony Amonte, Craig McTavish's Brian Noonan and Todd Merchant.
Thirty years ago, GM Neil Smith didn't have to deal with the cap. He didn't have to deal with a no-movement clause. At the time, one of them would certainly have been recognized by Mike Gartner. And oh, how Mike Keenan would have liked that! By the way, it was certainly harder for Smith to handle Keenan than it would have been to handle Cap, if any.
“I think we can do more, but they're a good team that's big and strong and plays physical and doesn't make too many mistakes,” said head coach Peter Laviolette, who played better in the third period than in the first. He said he was disappointed. two. “They didn't [make mistakes], so we had to take what they gave us. ”
It was a bad night for special teams. It was a mediocre night, 5-on-5 on both ends of the ice. The Rangers got exactly what they got against a team that will very likely stand in their way in April or May. It was nothing.
Uncle Chris Drury must have noticed.
