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The Rangers no-showed at home on Thursday against Nashville and lost 4-1. At 2-2, they now head out on their longest road trip of the season.
Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.
1. It’s hard to believe the Rangers team that played a near-flawless game in Buffalo last Thursday is the same Rangers team that played the Predators this Thursday. In a week’s time the Rangers went from looking like a team ready to take the next step in their quest for a championship to looking like a team that’s on their third head coach in four seasons for a reason.
“It was definitely our worst game of the season so far,” Jacob Trouba said. “We got outworked. We got out-battled. We got out-competed. We got beat.”
2. The Predators were playing an oddly scheduled, mid-week game in New York City sandwiched between four home games, and yet they never for a second of play looked like the visiting team that had the opportunity to explore everything the city has to offer the night before. Everything about the 4-1 loss was ugly, leaving nothing positive to take away from the fourth game and second loss of the season.
3. The Rangers were sloppy in all three zones, missing passes, overskating the puck and turning it over whenever pressured. Their defense lacked structure and organization, leading to costly mistakes and high-quality scoring chances for the Predators throughout the game.
“We gave up eight odd-man rushes and two breakaways,” Peter Laviolette said. “You’re just not going to find success unless you button that up.”
4. The first of those two breakaways gave the Predators a 2-0 lead when Cole Smith (who scored the Predators’ first goal on a rebound off a Tyson Barrie shot) hopped out of the penalty box to receive the gift of all gifts. A K’Andre Miller D-to-D saucer pass sauced right over Erik Gustafsson blade’s and landed on Smith’s tape, fleeing him for a breakaway opportunity that he successfully converted with 3:38 left in the first.
Just 3:22 into the second, the Predators extended their lead with a Ryan O’Reilly power-play goal, and 10 minutes later, they put the game away. Filip Forsberg carried the puck inside the Rangers’ zone, briefly fell to his knees, maintained possession, skated the puck to the right hash and blasted a slap shot over the left shoulder of Igor Shesterkin, ending Shesterkin’s night and essentially the game.
5. The remaining 26 minutes were nothing more than a formailty. There would be no Rangers Classic, game-of-the-year-type comeback. The only goal the Rangers were able to muster came on a 5-on-3 when an Adam Fox pass through the crease was deflected in by Ryan McDonagh. I can only imagine McDonagh was trying to pay homage to his former Rangers D partner Dan Girardi by inexplicably lying down in the crease to inadvertently score on his own goal. It was a beautiful tribute and one that likely conjured up some dark memories for Henrik Lundqvist.
6. Fox’s game on Thursday night summed up just how bad the Rangers were. Despite the fortunate, deflected goal, Fox had arguably the worst game of his career. He took two hooking penalties in the first 23 minutes of the game, misplayed the puck several times, couldn’t maintain his handle on the puck in the neutral zone on a 6-on-5 delayed penalty call and looked lost the entire night. Aspects of the game that come so easy to Fox, qualities that make him one of the best defensemen in the league vanished against the Predators and he spent the entire night fighting the play.
It’s not like Fox isn’t entitled to an off-night and it’s not as though he was even close to being the Rangers’ biggest issue in the loss, but it was startling to see him not be himself for an entire game. I guess if he were going to pick a night to play the way he did, he picked a good one, since the rest of the team played the same way.
7. Most offensive zone entries were met with a turnover, and in the rare instances when the Rangers were able to gain entry, their opportunities were one-and-done. There were no second chances and there wasn’t any sustained pressure for the entire game.
“Slow” would be the best way to summarize the Rangers’ effort. After the second period, Stephen Valiquette opined on MSG that he “anticipated the Rangers tonight looking like they did in Buffalo” and instead “It looks like they’re playing in quicksand a little bit.”
8. So far the Rangers have played four very different games. They have been at their absolute best (Buffalo), they have played well and lost (Columbus), they have played well and relied on their goaltending when they couldn’t find the back of the net (Arizona) and they have also not shown up (Nashville). As difficult as it is to remember a game in the last few seasons when the Rangers looked as good as they did against the Sabres, it’s equally as difficult to remember a game when they looked as bad as they did against the Predators.
9. This sporadic type of play was to be expected early in the season with a new head coach, a new system, a quarter of a new roster and new line combinations. The Buffalo game immediately set a standard for what the Rangers are capable of when everything goes right, but expecting that kind of game and effort each game was never realistic. Even still, I thought we may see it more nights than not.
That hasn’t happened. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen. It’s possible that version of this team (the very best version of this team) will be the team that takes the ice in Seattle on Saturday night. Given the way this team has historically played on the West Coast and in Western Canada, it’s not easy to envision.
10. About to embark on their longest road trip of the season, a five-game stretch in Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg, I think everyone expected a better all-around game for the home team that won’t play at home again until November 2. Rather than head out on the road on a high note, they leave having scored three goals in two home games, while committing 10 penalties. They leave with a 2-2 record against four teams that all missed the postseason a year ago, and will likely all miss it this season as well.
We know what the Rangers’ best looks like (Buffalo). We hopefully now know what their worst looks like (Nashville). Which version of the Rangers will show up on the West Coast and in Western Canada? I wish I knew.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
Rangers Thoughts Presented by Vintage Ice Hockey: Nothing Against Nashville added by Neil Keefe on
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