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AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Different day, same Rangers. The Blueshirts came out sloppy last night, and their turnovers wound up in the back of their net for the first three Leafs goals. It wasn’t just the turnovers, though, as the good guys looked like they couldn’t care less about playing hockey. Now we know that’s not the case, but boy was it convincing.

In a game where the Rangers needed to prove to management that they should buy at the deadline, they laid a giant egg. There was nothing about this game, outside of a Michael Grabner rush and a few Rick Nash chances, that showed the Rangers could turn it around. This goes to show you that when Henrik Lundqvist is even remotely human, the Rangers can’t win.

On to the goals:

Leafs 1, Rangers 0

Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over, which led to scrambling. Zach Hyman got in behind both Nick Holden and Peter Holland for the screen. Justin Holl’s shot looked to go off Hyman.

Leafs 2, Rangers 0

Mats Zuccarello mishandled the puck at the blue line, which led to a turnover. Nikita Zaitsev quickly turned it with a stretch pass to Tyler Bozak, who made a nice touch pass to Connor Brown. Zucc was slow on the back check as well, as James van Riemsdyk got two steps on him. Brown hit him on the tape for the easy tap in.

Leafs 3, Rangers 0

Brady Skjei turned the puck over in the neutral zone, forcing the Rangers to back up. Nazem Kadri had his shot blocked by Skjei, but the rebound went right to Patrick Marleau, who fired it by Hank.

Leafs 4, Rangers 0

Zach Hyman actually had his rush broken up by Marc Staal. But the puck went right to Auston Matthews, who got the puck back to Hyman behind Staal. He just walked right in as Jesper Fast just watched him score. Sure, there was a guy about 10 feet from Fast, but that pass wasn’t a viable option because, 1) lefty, 2) proximity to the net, and 3) distance between skater and net.

Score Adjusted Corsi (even strength)

Lol. Fewer than 30 attempted shots through two periods (25), and only 12 actually got through to Curtis McElhinney. Then the Leafs turtled in the third, but still outshot the Rangers. Amazing.

Even Strength Scoring Chances (not score adjusted)

Woof.

Another game, another 30+ shots on goal allowed by the Rangers. Let’s face it, this team is a tire fire defensively. We’ve covered the many reasons why. At this point, do you think they can legitimately compete in the playoffs?

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