rangers wild

Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images

The Rangers are going to look to forget last night’s game pretty quickly, as Minnesota ran all over them in a dominating 5-2 win. This wasn’t a question about the Rangers showing up, it was just Minnesota shut them down. They are one of the best teams in the West and put it on full display last night. They then took advantage of two rookies, which is what good teams do.

The scary moment came early in the first period when Antti Raanta, who started the game, took a Marco Scandella slap shot to the noggin. Raanta quickly went down for the count and needed to be helped off the ice. He did not return, and Henrik Lundqvist had to come into the game.

There’s really not much else to talk about for this game, except for the goal breakdowns. The Rangers got beat, plain and simple. Forget it, and move on.

As always, you can view the full videos on our video page here. All GIFs are on nyrgifs.comfiltered under the date of the game. On to the goals:

Wild 1, Rangers 0

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The actual goal

stalberg turnover

The giveaway by Stalberg

lindberg miss

The blown coverage from Lindberg

Viktor Stalberg turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and the Wild simple took advantage and transitioned. They got the puck deep, and when Thomas Vanek went for the puck low, he beat Ryan McDonagh by a step, and was able to get the pass to Mikko Koivu. Koivu, who also had a step on Oscar Lindberg because the rookie failed to cover him, beat Antti Raanta low glove.

Wild 2, Rangers 0

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The Wild scored on the powerplay here, as Brady Skjei was just a tad out of position, allowing the puck to get low to Nino Niederreiter with position. That forced Marc Staal to cut over from Matt Dumba to stop the cut to the slot, and Dumba just whacked the puck out of the air.

Rangers 1, Wild 2

Tanner Glass got in on the forecheck, forcing the puck loose for Emerson Etem to pick up the puck. Etem got the puck to Dominic Moore in the high slot, who got a quick and accurate shot off and over Devan Dubnyk’s glove.

Wild 3, Rangers 1

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With the Wild on a powerplay, Ryan Suter moved the puck very quickly from the defensive zone to Koivu at the Rangers’ blue line. By this point, Jason Pominville already had a step on McDonagh, so Koivu just had to float his pass over Dylan McIlrath to get it to him. Pominville got the puck and beat Hank short side.

Wild 4, Rangers 1

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Chris Porter caught Henrik Lundqvist off balance and leaning here. It is what it is.

Rangers 2, Wild 4

McDonagh did almost everything on this goal. First he had a nifty move at the point to keep the zone and maintain pressure. Then he skated down the boards and got the puck down around to Jesper Fast. Fast got it to J.T. Miller in the slot while McDonagh got himself open. Miller fed McDonagh, who beat Dubnyk over his glove.

Wild 5, Rangers 2

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McDonagh basically created that previous goal on his own, then gave it right back to Minnesota here. Charlie Coyle pressured him in the corner, where he coughed up the puck. Coyle hit Ryan Carter in front, who was stopped by Hank. Koivu came in as the trailer and poked the rebound home.

Score Adjusted Corsi

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Much like what you saw on TV, the Wild really controlled the pace of the game for the last two periods. They are a pretty solid team, one of the best in the West.

Scoring Chances

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Interestingly enough, the Rangers actually got better chances in the first period, before the Wild took over. But once the puck dropped in the second, the Wild took it to the Rangers. There is a very steep uptick to start the period, and then it was gradual through the rest of the game.

Individual Corsi

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I tweeted a few times that the fourth line was the best one for the Rangers, and this helps confirm that. Etem/Moore/Glass are the better performing Ranger forwards. Dan Boyle had a rough night.

Shot Locations

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This isn’t pretty.

Shift Chart

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Considering the state of the blue line, the shift chart is a bit of a mess. Alain Vigneault’s been shuffling a lot lately, so it’s tough to tell, outside of McDonagh, which guys he wants out against the opposition. Luckily Derek Stepan and Kevin Klein are coming back soon.

This is one of those games where you recognize you got beat. You then find what you can fix, then you fix it. There isn’t much time to sit and think about it with a trip to Winnipeg this morning. Best way to forget about a loss is to play right away, so hopefully they can fix a few things by tonight.

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