The Rangers and Oilers decided to take it back to old time, high scoring hockey in honor of Glen Sather’s banner ceremony, with twelve goals in three periods of hockey. Some dreadful defensive play from the Rangers allowed Edmonton to take advantage – you’ve got to hope that the Rangers make some changes in response to the kind of play we saw tonight. Despite momentary hope for a comeback, the Rangers just couldn’t get it together and dropped this one.
Oilers 1 Rangers 0
An excellent transition by the Oilers and some lackluster defending from the Rangers leads to their first goal against of the evening. The play starts in the Oilers’ defensive end with a long stretch pass. The recipient (couldn’t read the number on youtube, sorry) then beats Dan Girardi in the offensive zone and swings a centering pass right in front of the net, and although the initial shot is unsuccessful Lauri Korpikoski cashes in on the rebound. All in all not the Rangers’ best defending.
Oilers 1 Rangers 1
After some scrappy play in front the puck is kicked back to the point where it’s kept in by Dylan McIlrath. McIlrath gets it down low, and while Chris Kreider fans on the shot in front the puck fins its way once again back to DMC at the point. Another shot from McIlrath is defelcted in front to Zuccarello who spins and puts it home for the goal. An excellent effort from Dylan McIlrath and a great example of how sustained pressure can lead to a goal.
Oilers 2 Rangers 1
The play starts with a shoot in at the blue line into the Rangers defensive end. Dan Girardi goes to cover Matt Hendricks behind the net but Hendricks is able to work the puck in front of the net where once again Lauri Korpikoski finishes. Another tough goal against for the Rangers.
Oilers 3 Rangers 1
A nice passing play by Edmonton leads to this Teddy Purcell goal. Purcell makes the initial pass to Draisatl as the latter player is exiting the Oilers’ defensive zone, and the gifted center carries it cleanly through the neutral zone into the Rangers’ end. He sends a pass across to Hall from circle to circle, with Hall centering it to Purcell for the eventual goal. Edmonton walked all over the Rangers on this one, but it’s worth noting that Draisatl and Hall have been two standout players for Edmonton lately.
Oilers 3 Rangers 2
A quick transition play leads to the first of two Rangers goals in the second period. The play starts back in the Rangers’ own end with Lundqvist clearing the puck up the ice to Mats Zuccarello, who turns at the half boards and centers it for Chris Kreider coming down the slot. A quick little move by Kreider to control it on his backhand and he scores the Rangers’ second of the night.
Oilers 3 Rangers 3
Derick Brassard gets the Rangers’ third of the game to tie it midway though the second. With Miller and Brassard working the puck in down low, Rick Nash comes in around the half boards and gains control of the puck, showing off his stickhandling and reach as he carries the puck from along the boards into the slot. Nash then passes the puck to Brassard waiting at the high slot, where he rips the shot and ties up the game. Great work by the Rangers here down low and along the boards to maintain possession and get some offense out of it.
Oilers 4 Rangers 3
Not unlike the other goals allowed by the Rangers, this one involves a lack of defensive coverage in front of the net. With the puck tied up behind the net Taylor Hall finds his way in front, and when the puck is passed out in front scoops it and sends it home. This was an easy goal for one of the league’s most dangerous offensive players.
Oilers 5 Rangers 3
The puck is sent back to the point following and Edmonton face off win, where it’s sent down low and bounces along the boards at the goal line. A quick pass to the open man at the bottom of the circle sets up this goal, as it’s then sent from the bottom of the circle to across to Darnell Nurse directly in front of the net, where he finishes.
Oilers 5 Rangers 4
Brassard gets his second goal of the game to bring the Rangers within one. This one is pretty straight forward – an outside shot by Rick Nash as he’s entering the zone trickles through Nilsson’s pads and Brass cashes in.
Oilers 5 Rangers 5
The Rangers keep hope alive on a tying goal during 6 on 4 hockey. After a face off win the puck is sent back to point and then along the blue line to Boyle, who lets loose a shot. Rick Nash then catches the rebond and after a couple of whacks at it puts it in the back of the net. Exactly what you want to see from a team looking to stay in late in the game but…
Oilers 6 Rangers 5
Edmonton immediately regains their lead on a odd-man rush. This was simply a brutal defensive moment from both Ryan McDonagh and Jarret Stoll, and a disappointing moment for sure.
Oilers 7 Rangers 5
Empty netter. Korpikoski gets the hat trick.
Score Adjusted Shot Attempts and Scoring Chances
Here in both shot attempts and scoring chances we can see that while the Rangers had some momentary spurts of offensive production, Edmonton pushed the pace of the game throughout most of three periods. Not exactly what you want to see from the Rangers, and it underscores in general terms their specific defensive breakdowns on the evening.
Shot Locations
Again, not great for the Rangers, but it’s also worth noting that while they had a very difficult time covering the area right in front of the net, the Rangers had a decent amount of chances down low as well (although not as many, and a good amount were blocked).
Individual Corsi
Here’s the individual possession chart for the evening. As we can see here Yandle, Boyle, and McIlrath had positive games, with McIlrath in particular making some nice plays. Brassard and Nash were among the stand outs for the forward group, with each of them getting points during the game, in addition to Etem, Lindberg, Fast, and Miller’s positive possession games.
This game against Edmonton was a crazy night of goal scoring that the Rangers almost managed to make a win out of, but no matter the result the Rangers have got to answer for their defensive mistakes. Although Yandle and McIlrath played positive games it’s hard to say the same of almost any other Rangers d-man, with the exception maybe of Dan Boyle. The Rangers have been playing a poor defensive game for a while now, with tonight being a flagrant example of it, but regardless this team needs to get it together if they hope to have a successful season and make a deep playoff push. This kind of play won’t cut it against the top teams in the league – it doesn’t even cut it against teams like Edmonton.
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