The New York Rangers opened Monday’s game strong, but the same issues on display previously came to the fore, resulting in the team’s fourth straight loss. Kaapo Kakko (two assists) and Ryan Lindgren (one helper) left New York with a 3-2 win over their former team. From the postgame, what became even clearer is that the Blueshirts are struggling mentally with the term “fragile” utilized.
Game recap:
Rangers lineups vs. Kraken:
Panarin-Zibanejad-Cuylle
Miller-Trocheck-Perreault
Othmann-Laba-Lafrenière
Brodzinski-Carrick-Raddysh
Gavrikov-Schneider
Robertson-Borgen
Soucy-Morrow
Quick
Martin
Scratches: Rempe, Vaakanainen
IR: Shesterkin (lower-body injury)
LTIR: Edström (lower-body injury), Sheary (lower-body injury), Fox (lower-body injury)
A few thoughts:
1) inability to score and maintain structure: New York tallied twice in the first period but none thereafter. This is what has become a recurring negative pattern overall. Evidence is from this stat: 27 times in 49 games, the Blueshirts have scored two or fewer goals
As Peter Baugh noted, after a strong opening 20 minutes for the Blueshirts, where they forechecked hard and really controlled the pace of play, everything suddenly fell apart. It’s like they went into the locker room and the Monstars stole their mojo. In the first period, the Rangers led in score, shots, shot attempts, and expected goals at five-on-five.
New York was a completely different team after the first intermission. The Rangers seemed to lose confidence, struggling to break out of their own zone, committing uncharacteristic turnovers, and failing to sustain pressure, indicative of their 20-11 shot deficit over the final two periods. Tied heading into third, Seattle dominated action with an 88 percent expected goal share five-on-five, with New York having zero threats until the end of the period and game.
Steve Valiquette noted above in the post-game, Seattle mainly scores off the rush, failing to create much off structure. Yesterday, two of the three goals were tallied in that manner. Defensive breakdowns helped lead to the goals, including Gabe Perrault, JT Miller, and Brennan Othmann. But, off a good first period, a goal allowed in the first minute of the second psychologically damaged a team that waits for the next shoe to drop.
2) Failure: confidence begets confidence. Failure begets failure. The more the latter happens, the more likely negative thoughts creep in, which is what certainly has happened to the team. The comments below from coach Mike Sullivan and Mika Zibanejad, who is one of only two forwards to have continual success, reflect a team that is fighting themselves and expect to lose rather than win. Braden Schneider used the term failure as well.
Until the team has any sustained success, this mentality will continue. It’s a catch-22, vicious cycle. You won’t think positively unless you have success, but you won’t have success until you think positively.
“When you don’t have success, nobody feels it more than us,” Sullivan said. “I understand the circumstance we’re in, but the answers are inside our locker room. That’s where we have to look for them.”
“It stings obviously. It’s not fun to lose,” Zibanejad said. “Trying to look for answers, trying to find answers. Maybe it doesn’t look it at times — I understand — but try to do everything we can to try to get a win.”
“When you’re fragile as a group, in a way where things haven’t gone your way, I’m not standing here trying to make excuses for us, but it’s trying to also explain what goes through your mind when things are not going for you. Maybe at times we’re looking at someone else to solve the problem. Four guys may be looking. That doesn’t work in this league.”
3) Miller struggled on and off the ice. As Baugh noted, he committed a penalty in the first minute of the game and fought the puck constantly. The player who lifted his teammates up by their bootstraps last year after arriving was mostly invisible yesterday, a situation all too evident this season. Yesterday, the Rangers had only 13.83 percent of the expected goals with him on the ice at five-on-five, the worst rate of anyone on the team. As a captain and member of the top six, that’s inexcusable.
After the game, Miller, who has been forthright and vocal all season, lacked any answers. He has been taken to task on social media for that lack of leadership. I am not sure what people want him to say. He is frustrated, both at his own play, which I think is partially impacted by the injury that has not fully healed, and the team’s overall performance. The answers he provided earlier in the season and recently would be the same ones he says now, so repeating that message likely would fall on deaf ears again. Maybe if he got angry and took some to task, including his own game, that would mollify a few. But it would be lip service.
4) Lines: Alexis Lafreniere’s poor performance resulted in his move to the third line. Sullivan and Laf both noted he has to be better, though we knew that already. Perreault, who moved up a line, was not great. But if he is to learn, mistakes will happen, and everyone needs to be willing to live with them. Same with Othmann, who was decent paired with Noah Laba.
Right now, this is a team who wait and expects a bad event, and when it happens, a domino effect happens where it builds on itself. The end result then is the same.
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