Defense fails Rangers against Leafs

Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images

After dropping into a 3-1 hole in the first period behind some spectacularly bad defense, the Rangers fought back and took the lead with three straight goals. Then two straight Toronto goals in the third led to the Rangers first regulation loss since the Montreal game on October 25. I DVR’d MSG instead of MSG2 last night, so there’s no goal breakdown, but I’m able to get my incoherent thoughts on paper. Bullet points are fun, right?

• Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Someone needs to teach me how to DVR properly.
• I’m still trying to figure out why Chris Kreider wasn’t on the ice when the Rangers pulled the goalie, but both Matt Hunwick and Dan Girardi were. I understand that the Rangers are shorthanded on the blue line, but if that’s the case, then put your best scoring threats out there. Kreider and Mats Zuccarello were on the pine when the Rangers needed a goal.
• Hunwick and Girardi paired up for the awful giveaway (Hunwick) and snow angel (Girardi) that led to the Leo Komorav game winner. First, Hunwick basically just passed the puck to Jake Gardiner. Then as Gardiner walked in at a bad angle, Girardi left Komarov in the slot to snow angel towards Gardiner. He neither stopped the shot nor the pass, and Komarov had an easy game winner.

• Speaking of Girardi, he’s lucky his throat didn’t get slashed by that errant skate.
• Cam Talbot was never a .941 SV% goalie, and he is crashing back to reality hard. I laughed a bit when people thought the Rangers could trade Talbot for a legit prospect or player. He’s a decent backup goalie, and is capable of stealing a game here or there. He wasn’t the issue in this game, but he’s not that “trade Hank and start Talbot” guy.
• Also, if you ever said “Trade Hank, we have Talbot” around these parts, I know who you are. I remember. I hope you’re having as much fun laughing at that as I am.
• Most of the roster had a bad game last night, even those that scored (Kreider) were pretty terrible on defense. It was one of those games where everyone forgot how to play defense.
• Dan Boyle will bring stability to the powerplay, if only because he’s a legitimate threat to shoot from the point. That keeps defenders honest, and means they can’t jump the pass for a shorthanded attempt.
• Conor Allen was invisible, but he was playing with Mike Kostka. I’d like to see him play with a legitimate partner, just to see how he does. Now’s the time to see what he can do.

The Rangers are 5-2-2 in their last 9 games, and 6-5-2 while dealing with an AHL blue line. I’ll take that.