Rangers Recap: Not what was drawn up

That might have been the worst home opener in recent memory. It felt like an extension of preseason despite being the first game with a full NHL lineup. Players were fumbling passes, misreading plays, and just exhibited an overall sloppiness that we haven’t seen since Alain Vigneault’s first few months in New York in 2013. I know these pains are temporary, but the team is extremely thin as it is. If the top six can’t score and if Adam Fox can’t produce offensively, this team is dead in the water.

It goes without saying that playing preseason games is key to being ready to go when the puck drops for real. This is especially true for two players in particular, Artemi Panarin and JT Miller. Both had uncharacteristically bad nights. Minuscule shot attempts, a certain hesitation to engaging in puck battles, and turnovers at inopportune times. In Panarin’s case, it makes sense seeing as this is the first game action he has seen since April.

But again, the way Mike Sullivan has the roster set up, the top six is loaded with all the team’s best players, there isn’t a distribution throughout the lineup. As the team gets more and more reps together, this should change, but what a disappointing opener.

The one player you can’t deny had a great game was the man in net. Igor Shesterkin did his best Henrik Lundqvist impression, stopping 27 of 28 shots while his offense struggled to simply get the puck out of the zone. Igor did his job, allowing just one goal. The pair of empty netters luckily won’t hurt his stat line, since he was the only one deserving of any praise last night. The team was still committing some of the defensive sins from last season, and Igor kept the game within reach.

Mike Sullivan is certainly not going to look away and be okay with the team leaving the goaltender out to dry. The first four games are against weaker opponents, so while it’s just one game, these are the games the Rangers need to bank points. This softer scheduling at the start of the year is a major plus, giving the Rangers a softer landing as they adjust.

Maybe the Rangers didn’t want to score actually, because they wanted to give Kenny Albert the honors of calling the first goal of the season. Who’s to say?