There’s nothing more to say than the headline. The Rangers were simply goalie’d against Charlie Lindgren, perhaps as a revenge game for his brother (I kid, I kid). Despite getting shutout on home ice yet again, this was a far better effort than opening night. The Rangers outshot the Capitals 35-21 and had numerous stretches of sustained offensive zone time. Lindgren stole this one for the Caps, stopping what could have been a 3-1 or 4-1 Rangers win. If this effort is indicative of what the Rangers will do daily, then they will win a lot more games than they lose.
Without Vincent Trocheck and Carson Soucy, the Rangers shuffled the personnel around, dressing Matthew Robertson on defense and Jonny Brodzinski in place of Juuso Parssinen. Robertson got more ice time than Urho Vaakanainen, which was certainly interesting.
We haven’t discussed Vaakanainen much in these recaps yet in the regular season, but he might be the biggest question mark on the backend. He not only has the offensive puck skills of Dan Girardi, but it is also funny how he tends to find himself out there each time the Rangers get scored against (along with Braden Schneider). There is plenty of time for things to percolate and unfold, but I wonder if either get dangled for an upgrade, especially if Schneider doesn’t improve.
Jonathan Quick took over where Igor Shesterkin left off, stopped all but Ranger-killer Anthony Beauvillier’s deflected puck in the 1-0 loss. Quick did his job, simple as that. The Rangers goaltending has allowed just 3 goals in 4 games and has done more than just keep the Rangers in games, allowing the offense to try to figure it out while adjusting to a new system. The goaltending will regress at some point, so let’s hope it’s met with an equal regression–in the opposite direction–by the scoring.
If that kind of loss though doesn’t fire up the offense, then perhaps Stuart Skinner is coming to town on Tuesday night with the Edmonton Oilers will. This will be the Rangers hardest test to date obviously with the McDavid and Draisaitl duo. Another strong defensive effort with some timely scoring on a weaker goalie might be just what the doctor ordered.
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