The New York Rangers were a complete no show Wednesday in their 8-4 loss to the Senators. Don’t let the score fool you, this was a contest nowhere near as close as the score was. One positive was the pair of goals from Gabe Perreault, who needs to be on the top line. That’s it, nothing more. The team has lost five straight, eight of nine and is reeling.
Game recap:
Rangers lines vs. Senators:
Panarin-Zibanejad-Lafrenière
Miller-Trocheck-Cuylle
Othmann-Laba-Perreault
Raddysh-Carrick-Brodzinski
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) Other than Perreault’s two goals, a failure up and down the lineup, behind the bench and in the general manager’s suite. The fire (Chris) Drury started early and didn’t abate the entire contest, at least for those who didn’t leave at the end of the first 20 minutes. New York lacks confidence on the ice, where the first mistake has a domino impact. No one has an answer right now, which can be seen in the post-game quotes.
One player provided salient responses, Mika Zibanejad. Captain JT Miller, who is playing through an injury and likely should be sitting, was short and clipped and dismissive with what he said. I get he is frustrated, but you have the C on your jersey and your job is to stand in front of the media and be the face of the franchise. Right now, he is failing at that role, even though any answer now would be trite. Coach Mike Sullivan, who also has no answers and is grasping at straws, is trying to motivate and keep a fractured group together so they don’t completely fall apart. But Zib is the one player who has stepped up and acted like a leader.
2) Structure: early in the season, New York lost due to an inability to convert their chances. In those contests, at least they were competitive and in games. Defensively, they were holding teams down, and when that failed, Igor Shesterkin was on his game.
The last two months, that has ceased to be the case, and the lack of structure has gotten worse. Repeated failures in their own zone with coverage breakdowns, an inability to break cleanly out of their own zone or get the puck deep in the offensive zone all have contributed to their issues. Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick have been unable to stem the tide and keep the Blueshirts in games.
Quick has especially struggled since Igor went out with his injury. Saturday’s and yesterday’s loss were not on him and Sullivan pulling him was a mercy killing. He is a proud goalie and I am sure wanted to drag his team into the fight, though he has toothless combatants on his side.
Too easy for opponents to defeat this version of the Rangers, who have become unwatchable. Five home wins on the season means they have stolen money from the local fanbase. Plus, why keep the game on when each shift looks like the prior one, a failure to perform the basic actions to succeed on the ice.
3) A GM change worked wonders in Buffalo, as they are 14-2 in their last 16 contests. The heat under Drury, despite the vote of confidence from owner James Dolan last week, has to be growing in size and volume. Failed picks, failed coaches, failed performances all eventually lead to a change.
WHEN WILL THE RANGERS ORGANIZATION GET THAT MESSAGE??
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