Sloppy Rangers lose matinee to Devils

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Once again the Rangers found a way to play down to the level of an opponent. What was a fast start by the Rangers was in fact a false dawn. The Rangers came out quick in the first period creating chances, pressuring the Devils defense into mistakes and using their speed to enter the Devils zone all of which was evident in Derek Stepan’s opening score. A turnover forced by the impressive Oscar Lindberg resulted in the Rangers going the other way up ice and Lindberg’s excellent cross ice pass found a streaking Stepan who went to his backhand to put it under Corey Schneider.

As the game plodded along however, the Rangers progressively lost control of the game. The Devils outworked the Rangers in the second and deservedly tied it up following a turnover by the Rangers in their own zone. The Rangers coughed up the puck along the boards and Adam Henrique put the puck on net with a kneeling Dan Girardi screening Henrik Lundqvist. Lundqvist may have been unsighted on the play and maybe wasn’t tight enough to his post which allowed Henrique to follow up his own rebound to tie the game. That’s how the game stayed until overtime. The remainder of regulation saw a few chances exchanged but the Rangers never really had significant offensive zone time, a few isolated shifts aside.

Overtime was when this game (finally) came alive. The Rangers generated two huge chances and could have closed the game out quickly. First up was Rick Nash whose shot was spectacularly cleared off the line by Andy Greene who bailed his goalie out after Nash had cut to the net and put the puck beyond Schneider. Soon after and Chris Kreider broke in on Schneider as he cut in from the right hand side but saw his shot stopped by Schneider. Both sides traded chances with Lundqvist making a spectacular stop on a wide open Kyle Palmieri right in front before Derek Stepan blasted one off the post from between the circles. Right after Stepan’s blast the Devils went straight up the ice and had a two on one (such is life in three on three). Ex Ranger Lee Stempniak beat Lundqvist with a onetimer to end the game in OT.

Thoughts from the game

• Dan Girardi continues to get in his own way. Whether it was his losing an edge late in the game, his unfortunate play on the Devils second period goal or his inability to make a simple first pass, Girardi continues to undermine the Rangers ability to generate offense from the back end.
• Kevin Hayes holds on to the puck too long but did create several chances and had some strong shifts in part because of his ability on the puck. Hayes looked dangerous with JT Miller.
• Oscar Lindberg continues to prove he could turn out into a quality NHL’er. While his turnover and quality pass for Stepan’s goal were the highlights, Lindberg simply makes good decisions and looks composed with the puck on his stick.
• Rick Nash again worked hard, and again had some chances. Nash (and Chris Kreider) continue to struggle to finish. Nash was predominantly on the perimeter but when he did go to the dangerous areas of the ice he created some quality scoring chances. His willingness to backcheck and always exceptional work rate did draw a penalty though.
• What’s wrong with Ryan McDonagh?
• The Rangers powerplay continues to be inept. They struggles to set up and for some reason, the powerplay refuses to move their feet; it is much too stationery and easy to defend.
• The Rangers were better defensively albeit against an offensively challenged team. The defensemen were more selective when choosing to pinch and the Rangers gave up far less odd man rushes although they ironically lost on an odd man rush in OT.
• Derick Brassard was the Rangers best forward for large parts of the game. Much better defensively, he created chances for himself and his teammates and seem much more engaged. It was definitely a step in the right direction for Brassard.
• The Rangers really need to sort out their fourth line.
• Victor Stalberg may be the next Ranger to take a seat as he was invisible in this game despite registering four hits.
• Keith Yandle’s willingness to shoot was noticeable but he needs to be better with the extra man. It’s why the Rangers went after him and gave up so much to get him.
• Why are the Rangers on a three game losing streak? Far too many core players haven’t yet found their groove (Nash, Kreider, Girardi, McDonagh, Brassard to name but a few).

The Rangers are next in action as they host the Sharks Monday night. Given the losing streak don’t be surprised to see Lundqvist again despite the need to get Raanta into a game.