Devils 3, Rangers 2.
Click here to read my game story from lohud.com.
Click here for the boxscore with links to the game summary, etc.
Thoughts:
1) The Rangers’ special teams are a tire fire. Plain and simple. They can talk all they want about all the good they did 5-on-5 again – and they did. Alain Vigneault can go on and on about how his staff had the Devils at zero scoring chances 5-on-5 through two periods … and while I was surprised to hear it was that good, I thought they were the better team at even strength, at times by a wide margin. But the special teams continue to kill the Rangers. Both of them.
2) “We obviously need to get our specialty teams units going, and that’s my responsibility,” Vigneault said after the game. I am waiting to start wondering/deciding what I think about the job he’s doing until I figure out how bad the personnel really is. It seems like this team, on paper, shouldn’t be that much worse than the team that won the Presidents’ Trophy. I didn’t think it was as good, coming into the season, but I didn’t think it was this bad, either. The team most certainly is a lot worse through 50 games. If we think the personnel is good enough, then the coach and his staff (who run the special teams) are doing a bad job. If we think the personnel has fallen off a cliff so swiftly, then it’s hard to pin much of it on Vigneault and his assistants. We’re going to have a good idea soon.
3) We’ll get to the PK in a minute. The power play is just lunacy, how they keep on trotting out the same guys to do the same things over and over and over. And how J.T. Miller, the one player who does anything on a consistent basis, gets just 3:16 out of 8:00, mostly scraps, and how Keith Yandle, the only guy on the roster (besides the Dan Boyle of long ago) with some power-play excellence on his resume, gets 2:47. Mind-blowing, actually.
4) Related to that, Derick Brassard – of whom I am often critical, but who, I thought, had a better overall game against New Jersey than he had in his five-point night vs. Buffalo eight days earlier – had the puck alone in the slot, 15-20 feet out, and made a pass to Mats Zuccarello on the wing. The pass was soft enough that Cory Schneider had time to get across and effortlessly stop Zuccarello’s one-timer. It’s choices like that one that make for terrible power plays. Again, not piling on Brassard, because I thought he showed up big-time in this one. But that’s an example of why it doesn’t work.
5) And another reason it didn’t work is that Schneider was really, really outstanding, as he has been all season in keeping that faceless team in the race.
6) Speaking of which, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn and New Jersey all won. The Rangers’ hold on second place is down to one on the Isles, two on the Penguins and Newark.
7) Now, on to the PK. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Opponent goes right to the paint, in Henrik Lundqvist’s grill. Not only is he untouched, but neither Rangers defensemen (in this case Marc Staal and Kevin Klein) is within five yards of him. The puck gets through, either on a shot or a pass (in this case a shot) and the uncontested player puts in the rebound (as if the Nicklas Backstrom goal with 5.7 seconds left didn’t teach the Rangers enough of a lesson).
8) So this time it was Lee Stempniak, with the too-easy gimme putt. I don’t want to hear what a mistake it was to trade him last season. He didn’t do much at all here last year. He was slow. He was ineffective. He was hardly in demand as a free agent last summer. But, yeah, he was probably better than some guys who are here now. His 15 goals and all those points are a mirage, and a product of the ice time he gets because the Devils are so thin. And good for him, having this kind of year. But, please …
9) And Stempniak, moments before the second Devils PPG – partly a result of Brassard breaking his stick blocking a shot, had an almost identical chance with his feet at the paint and both Staal and Klein five yards away. That also came moments after Ryan McDonagh found himself on a short-handed breakaway and … missed the net. The pass that got through the box, this time, hit McDonagh’s stick, but because Brassard was going for a new stick, and because Dan Girardi and McDonagh were on the same side of the ice, David Schlemko scored the uncontested winner.
10) The Rangers have scored two power-play goals in the last 14 games, one of those off the rush. They have allowed two power-play goals six times in the last 18 games, 16 overall in that span, and that includes the four games prior to last night, when they only faced a total of five power plays and killed them all.
11) The Rangers did, indeed, do some good things again. But they can’t keep saying “we did some good things” after losses like this. They can’t. I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not sure if it was in the blog proper, or in a chat, or in the comments. Losing and insisting you “did some good things” is what, I imagine, Toronto has been saying all these years, or what the Islanders were saying before last season, or what Edmonton is still saying. I understand, you want to be positive, and that’s the coach’s nature, too. But it sounds terrible 50 games in.
12) Once more, I didn’t think the Rangers were terrible all night long, or that they didn’t compete – they sure did – or that they were affected by the layoff to any noticeable degree compared to the Devils. I thought they could have won this game, many times over, and if they had, it would have been a good win. But they didn’t. Their “upward trend” has become an endless stream of fits and starts, 8-6-1 in the last 15, one step forward, one back, and so on. The definition of mediocrity. They have won two in a row just once since Nov. 21-23. It’s now February (Hey, Costanza, is it Feb-Uary or Feb-Ruary?).
13) Where the hell would the Rangers be without Miller, the one player that consistently plays at or above the expected level?
14) The one goal the Rangers allowed 5-on-5 made four Rangers look awful. Derek Stepan was standing still in the offensive zone before the puck came out, a too-easy outlet by Andy Greene. The Rangers were changing, Vigneault said, and blamed the trouble on the gap the change caused. OK. But Blandisi went past Zuccarello like he was standing still, then left Girardi in his dust, then beat Lundqvist short side, just an unacceptable goal for him to allow at that point of the game (or any point) just 1:07 after Miller’s second goal had given the Rangers a 2-1 third-period lead.
15) Do the Rangers ever allow goals shortly after their own goals, or shortly after opponents’ goals, or early or late in periods? Just wondering.
16) It wasn’t the only time Girardi was left in the dust. In this game. Poor guy has nothing left. I mean, if it’s his cracked kneecap, then he needs to sit down and get healthy. If it’s not his kneecap or some injury, then what the hell can the Rangers do about him or with him? Early in the season it was his decisions. Now his decisions aren’t as terrible, but he can’t keep up. And McDonagh, I have to say, usually plays better with another partner when he gets that chance.
17) Now you’ve got the Klein injury, and it looked bad – I didn’t see a good replay, but from what I saw I didn’t think it was a dirty hit by Reid Boucher. I might be wrong. But it looked like Klein was hurt pretty seriously the way the glove came out and he grabbed his wrist/forearm/hand area, and the way he struggled off the ice then went directly to the lockerroom. Hard to believe that 15-20 minutes after the game, AV hadn’t checked on Klein’s injury status, as he claimed.
18) So now all those who scream and stomp their feet that Dylan McIlrath must play will get their wish, maybe for a while. And I’m not disagreeing that the kid deserves to play a lot more than he has, especially with the way Dan Boyle has performed, and the way Girardi has faded. Only now it will be Girardi, McIlrath and Boyle down the right side. I joked with those Free McIlrath people on Twitter last night that if McIlrath had played, the Rangers would have won 7-2 (when in fact, they would have lost 3-2). But people on Twitter don’t even get it when you mock them. So they agreed with me.
19) Another who had an awful game was Derek Stepan. Just putrid. Didn’t skate, did very little on the special teams, and took a lazy, unnecessary and terribly-timed offensive-zone penalty. He said he thought the Devils player “sold it” and maybe he did. But you have to be a lot more aware of the time and situtation, with a 1-0 lead, 5.8 seconds left in the first period, especially a hockey-IQ guy like Stepan.
20) At least the Rangers killed off the 5.8 seconds allowing only one shot on goal. Then Stempniak scored when the penalty carried over into the second period. AV challenged that, though I didn’t think there was a snowball’s chance in Jamaica that it would be overturned.
21) I also thought, though their start in general was pretty good, that the Rangers dodged four bullets early, including two defensive-zone breakdowns and two short-handed 2-on-1s, one of which was created when McDonagh missed on a pinch and Zuccarello fell down. That Rangers power play had zero shots. Zero.
22) There was another moment in the game when Zuccarello held the puck behind the net as the Rangers changed. This is something they do a lot. Only as Zuccarello waited and waited for the change to be completed, the Rangers only had four skaters on the ice for several seconds. Seemed longer than that, actually. Holy shishkebab.
23) And there was some good, certainly. Klein blocked a shot/pass, Jesper Fast made a terrific chip pass off the defensive-zone wall, sending Brassard out 2-on-1 with Miller. Brassard waited for Schlemko to go snow angel-ing by, and set up Miller for his 14th. Miller’s 15th came moments after Schneider stopped Fast’s deflection of a Yandle shot. Boyle got it back to Yandle, who have it to Miller for a one-timer from the circle.
24) Then Joe Blandisi happened.
25) And the Devils’ fans got to sing “Hey, You suck” so at least they were going to go home happy, win or lose.
26) The Oscar Lindberg penalty that led to the winning goal? Not sure if it was pansification or legit or what. But you just knew that the referees were “managing the game” at that point and that the Rangers having had three power plays to one for the home team, in a one-goal game, were getting the next penalty. And after New Jersey scored, you knew the Devils were getting the next one. They did.
27) How about Seth Helgeson’s headshot on Daniel Paille? The officials correctly called it an illegal hit to the head. Not sure how or why in holy hell, in today’s NHL, an illegal hit to the head is only a minor penalty. I’m sure the NHLDPS has already approved it? And I don’t believe the Rangers’ response was nearly strong enough. Once again, the power play failed to make an opponent pay. Then after the power play expired, Viktor Stalberg stole the puck and got two in-close chances. Klyle Palmieri flattened him and gave the Rangers another power play. Another wasted opportunity.
28) Boy, the Rangers really miss Rick Nash.
29) FWIW, among the many scouts here is ex-Ranger Mark Osborne, who works for LA. He’s seen several NYR games recently. Another who’s been around a bunch is ex-Rangers assistant coach Jack Birch (from Ted Sator’s staff), who scouts for Winnipeg.
30) One scout I spoke to doesn’t think Brady Skjei is ready to come up and play if Yandle is indeed traded. And that Ryan Graves, who has opened a lot of eyes in the AHL, needs to work on his skating.
31) Well, at least referee Tim Peel and Brassard seemed to get along this time.
32) When I left lovely Newark, I was thinking, boy, this is going to be one short game review. Guess I was wrong again.
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My Three Rangers Stars:
1. J.T. Miller.
2. Jesper Fast.
3. Derick Brassard.
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Your poll vote for Three Rangers Stars:
1. J.T. Miller.
2. Derek Brassard.
3. Keith Yandle.
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