What a no-show by the NY Rangers yesterday in our nation’s capitol. The Rangers let the Washington Capitals walk all over them, hanging Igor Shesterkin and Jaro Halak out to dry in a dismal 6-3 loss. Defense has been optional for the Rangers recently, and yesterday was no different. There was nothing either goalie could do, and this came after Shesterkin made some wonderful saves early to keep it scoreless.
But the Rangers’ carelessness defensively caught up to them in the second, with four goals by the Caps in one of the worst periods we’ve seen from the Blueshirts all season. Defense was optional, and there was only so much Shesterkin could do. He made some big saves in the first, but when the Rangers give up 12 high danger chances in one period, even Dominik Hasek would’ve been hung out to dry.
The problem wasn’t in net, as Jaro Halak was hung out to dry as well. The difference was the Caps weren’t really pressing with a 5-1 lead, yet the Rangers still gave up prime chances. Laziness on defense, bad decision making, poor line change timing, and no help from the forwards on the back check lead to a 6-3 loss.
Even worse, the Rangers lost Ryan Lindgren to a bad looking shoulder injury. The team is already playing 11F/7D until the trade deadline, so losing Lindgren means Ben Harpur and Libor Hajek (possibly) in the lineup. It’ll be a tough stretch for the next three games until the Rangers are able to dress a full lineup.
Caps 1, Rangers 0
After a questionable tripping call on Barclay Goodrow, TJ Oshie got the Caps on the board with some solid work as the bumper on the powerplay. Watching the whole sequence, Oshie was doing the work to find open space in the high slot, and did just that with enough space to deflect the point shot past Shesterkin.
Rangers 1, Caps 1
This time around, it was Goodrow who got into open space for a deflection. The Caps have struggled all year with slot coverage, and Goodrow cut across the slot to tip the Mika Zibanejad shot past Kuemper.
Caps 2, Rangers 1
Terrible back checking by the Rangers here, as no one picked up Oshie as the third man in. Oshie had all day to pick his spot on Shesterkin. There is also a very bad read by Vincent Trocheck at the Caps blue line, jumping in to try to poke the puck away and getting caught.
Caps 3, Rangers 1
The Rangers were atrocious defensively in this one, and the goal by Tom Wilson really illustrates how bad. Adam Fox was slow to get back. Niko Mikkola made the wrong read and didn’t stop the pass through to Wilson, and there was no help as Wilson had a mini breakaway on Shesterkin.
Caps 4, Rangers 1
More bad defense by the Rangers, allowing an odd man rush and several rebound chances on Shesterkin. Eventually, Sonny Milano’s second rebound attempt got over Shesterkin and over the goal line before Goodrow could pull it back.
Caps 5, Rangers 1
Another breakaway for the Caps. The clear from the defensive zone was just a glorified turnover and a bad time for a change. The Caps caught them, and Evgeny Kuznetsov was sprung for the breakaway.
Caps 5, Rangers 2
Nice deflection by Chris Kreider on the two man advantage.
Caps 6, Rangers 2
More bad defense by the Rangers, no one picked up Kuznetsov off the bench.
Caps 6, Rangers 3
Too little too late, but nice read by Kaapo Kakko to get open.
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