SUNRISE, Fla. — The best thing that can be said about the Rangers’ top line was that they weren’t on the ice to concede runs, but one more game and it’s becoming nearly impossible to believe that’s enough.
The Rangers’ belief that Mika Zibanded and Chris Kreider need more power wasn’t belied by coach Peter Laviolette rotating the pair to right wing for this game, with Jack Roslovic replacing Filip Chytil and then Kaapo Kakko, but it was certainly belied by Laviolette’s public assessment of his top line after a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 4 that tied the series at 2-2.
“We’re taking a little too long on the defensive end, especially in the second period,” he said. “And that’s what happened in the last game, too, so we’re not able to get going and attack as much as we would like.”
Kreider and Zibanejed each have zero points in the series, but that statistic may actually underestimate how dire things are for the BFF.
Through four games of the series, Kreider has yet to record a shot on goal in a five-on-five situation.
Zibanejed has taken advantage of some opportunities, but his expected goals percentage in five-on-five minutes for the Rangers is just 22.92 percent, just slightly better than Kreider’s 20.43 percent.
While the line as a whole may not have conceded any goals, each of them conceded two on their own.
“Obviously, we haven’t had a lot of opportunities to play,” Kreider told The Post after Tuesday’s loss. “I think we had some chances and we missed them. Don’t ask me that question. So we’ve just got to make sure we take advantage of our opportunities.”
The top line had some opportunities in this game, but they were few and far between.
Zibanejad sent a centering pass to Kreider early in the second period, but Kreider couldn’t catch it, and in the third period, Kreider got a shot in return that was saved by Sergei Bobrovsky.
Zibanejad had a chance on a first-period power play with what appeared to be an open goal, but Bobrovsky managed to get to it before the puck bounced off the crossbar.
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Any of those could have been game-changing, but it doesn’t change the fundamental fact that the Rangers spend too much time defending when their best player is on the ice.
“I think they definitely were attacking our zone,” Kreider said, “and we’ve got to find a way to tilt the ice and attack the other way and make them do the same thing.”
They have to find it, and they have to find it quickly.
