AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

After two wins against the worst two teams in the league, the Rangers faced the third worst team in the league looking to take advantage of the soft spot in their schedule. Instead the Rangers laid an egg, spotting the Sabres a 3-0 lead and eventually falling 4-1. There aren’t many good things to say about this game, except that Nick Holden continues to defy logic and reasoning with his career-best pace. He might be this year’s Kevin Klein.

Speaking of Klein, he and the defense had a horrific night. Two of Klein’s turnovers led directly to goals, and another by Ryan McDonagh led to a goal. It wasn’t much better for the forwards, who looked like they had cement in their skates. All 18 skates hung Henrik Lundqvist out to dry, providing little help. Hank wasn’t his elite self, but there wasn’t much he could do this game.

On to the goals:

Sabres 1, Rangers 0

There was a bunch of bad by the Rangers on this one. Brady Skjei lost the puck behind the net to Brian Gionta, who drew three Rangers to him, including an over pursuing Derek Stepan. Gionta dished to the front, but the puck went off of Dan Girardi’s skate right to Zemgus Girgensons, who ditched Chris Kreider. Girgensons had Hank out of position with the odd puck bounce and was able to finish with a good move.

Sabres 2, Rangers 0

Kevin Klein elevated a pass out of the zone that Mats Zuccarello couldn’t handle. With the help of a line change, the Sabres were able to turn this to a 2-on-1. Hank was able to make the first stop, which handcuffed him a bit blocker side, but couldn’t get the rebound by Evander Kane. Nick Holden almost got back, but Kane is too fast. Also worth nothing that Hank usually controls that rebound, but didn’t this time around.

Sabres 3, Rangers 0

Kane forced Klein into a turnover, the second of his that would result in a goal. The turnover went right to Justin Bailey, who was able to get a shot off despite a sliding Klein trying to recover. The shot beat Hank five-hole.

Sabres 3, Rangers 1

J.T. Miller gained the zone after a touch pass from Jesper Fast, and was immediately taken down to draw a penalty. While sliding, Miller made a solid play to get the puck across the ice to open space, where Oscar Lindberg picked up the puck. Miller found Holden trailing the play at the top of the circle. Jack Eichel had his back to Holden, watching the puck on Miller’s stick instead. Holden one-timed it past Nilsson to get the Rangers on the board.

Sabres 4, Rangers 1

After a hooking call on Jimmy Vesey, the Sabres got the three goal lead back on the powerplay. Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over along the boards, which went to Matt Moulson. Girardi had to go to Moulson at the high slot, which drew him out of net front. Moulson got the puck to Sam Reinhart with a quick touch pass as Eichel got to the front of the net. Girardi was unable to completely block the pass to Eichel, who had the easy tap in. After the McDonagh turnover, the Sabres basically had a 3-on-1 against Girardi.

Even Strength Corsi

This game is a microcosm of the quantity vs. quality debate. The Rangers were slow out of the gate, but started getting a decent number of shot attempts around the middle of the first period. However once down 3-0, score effects started to have a major impact as Buffalo started to shell. That said, not many of these shot attempts were true dangerous chances. Anders Nilsson wasn’t really tested all night.

Even Strength Scoring Chances

More to the blurb above, the Rangers didn’t get anything of quality on Nilsson all night long. Their first real chance didn’t come until 15 minutes into the game. Just not a good showing at all.

The good news is that the club doesn’t have much time to dwell on this poor effort, as the Flyers come to town tonight. The Rangers and Flyers always play each other hard, so it’s tough to expect a second straight letdown game. Then again, didn’t really expect the Rangers to play down to their opponent three games in a row, so what do I know?

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