Rangers Recap: Back to Reality for Rangers in 4-1 Loss to Hurricanes
by Nick Montemagno on Jan 20, 2011 10:22 PM EST
in New York Rangers Recaps
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PrintIt was very Ranger-like to score just one goal after a seven-tally explosion 24 hours ago, so tonight's 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes was not exactly surprising. It was little mistakes that cost the Blueshirts in this game. They had their chances but could not convert, while meanwhile Carolina took advantage of defensive errors made by New York by putting pucks to the back of the net. It is one of those losses where the Rangers probably felt they could have won if they got off to a better start and played simpler hockey, but there is no changing the past at this point.
It took just 5:39 for the Hurricanes to get on the board when Chad LaRose poked in a Jeff Skinner rebound. On this play, Skinner was allowed to walk right up the middle despite three Rangers checking him. You had both defensemen close in on the rookie, as well as a backchecking Zuccarello, yet he somehow was still able to get the shot off. Meanwhile, LaRose was left wide open since both defensemen were defending Skinner, so he easily snuck in and tucked in the loose puck behind Henrik Lundqvist.
Jussi Jokinen, at 14:43 of the first, deflected home a Joe Corvo blast on the powerplay to make it 2-0 ‘Canes. Now here the blame is on Dan Girardi for allowing Jokinen to sneak behind him and plant himself in front of the crease. After the goal was scored, you could even see Lundqvist look back at Girardi and say something while shaking his head in disgust. That was defensive mistake number two that cost the Rangers.
About six minutes into the second period, Brandon Sutter's breakaway goal gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 advantage over New York. This play started in Carolina's zone, where the puck was turned over by the Rangers. Sutter was Anisimov's man and at center ice Anisimov simply couldn't keep up and allowed him to break in on Lundqvist uncontested. Anisimov has to stay with Sutter there, because by the time Marc Staal saw him breaking in he was nowhere in position to defend since he was covering the winger entering on the far side.
The Rangers finally got on the board in the third period when Brandon Prust ended Cam Ward's shutout bid with a nifty wrister at the 11:40 mark. Both Ryan McDonagh and Chad Kolarik picked up assists on that goal, which means they each registered their first NHL point. Jeff Skinner (who else?) ended any hopes the Rangers had of a comeback, though, netting his seventeenth of the season four minutes later. Again, Skinner was Stepan's man, but Derek was fought off, allowing Skinner to tap-in the beautiful pass from LaRose.
And that was all she wrote for this tilt, as the buzzer sounded with the score at 4-1.
Continue reading after the jump....
I made it pretty clear in the recap portion of this postgame analysis that defensive mistakes cost the Rangers the game. However, we did not talk about New York's offensive efforts tonight. Although they scored only one goal, they were not completely invisible. They registered a total of 40 shots in the game, but give credit to Cam Ward and the Carolina defense, because there were not many second and third opportunities for the Rangers to capitalize on.
Ward was unbelievable in net, first off all, but the Rangers were pushed to the outside on the rush by the Hurricane D corps. They did a good job of getting the puck to the net despite that, but like I said, there were not many rebounds to pounce on.
One positive to take out of this is that recent call-up Chad Kolarik was excellent. He had four shots on goal, but I was more impressed with his playmaking abilities. The kid has great vision and is noticeably smart. If he continues to play like this, he will be up for a while.
Artem Anisimov was also a standout on offense. Get this - he had seven shots on goal. That is very high for a single game. He was definitely gripping his stick tight by the end of the game because he just could not solve Cam Ward. Wojtek Wolski also through five pucks to the net, and I am noticing that he is getting more minutes each game.
Henrik Lundqvist did not play bad at all. He was left out to dry often and I think the only goal he would like back was the LaRose one since he let Skinner's shot sneak behind him. As for the others, you cannot expect him to make those saves.
So this is a disappointing loss, sure, but not the end of the world by any means. They were sloppy defensively and that is something that can quickly be corrected. Hopefully it will be corrected in time for Saturday's game against the Thrashers in Atlanta, because that is yet another contest in which key points in the standings will be up for grabs.
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Pretty impressive
That we’re already threatened by Skinner. This means good things for the kid, and for my FH team. (Foresight anyone?)
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by Scratch and Snif on Jan 20, 2011 10:57 PM EST reply actions
The kid is unreal. So smart and so skilled on both sides of the puck. Great draft choice by the Canes.
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by Nick Montemagno on Jan 20, 2011 11:28 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
This was a disappointing game to watch
We looked tired and didnt have that fire we have been playing with at all. Prust was our allstar a goal a fight and if someone else could have put in the puck in the net on one of those pp he could have had a Gordie Howe hat trick.
I really hope someone is willing to step up and fill Dubinsky’s shoes him and Callahan missing is starting to look poor for us. Gaborik came off his best game of the season to have one of his worst he only had 2 shots on net and didnt seem to be giving it his full effort.
Has Chris Drury been playing this month at all? He has never looked so slumpy and his play has never been this poor in his history with our team. He looks like he isnt even trying, every close up on his face he looks so down. I didnt like that torts put Drury with Boyle and Prust he didnt deserve to be there and im glad he didnt stay there he wasnt trying, and that had to be his best opportunity to be productive by playing with two guys who play with the style he had two seasons ago.
Wolski-Step-MZA looked fine to me a bit tired but they were keeping the puck in Carolina’s zone the best and got a nice cycle going on a few occasions. I just really wish we would be able to get a stick on the puck when its thrown at the net it always seems to be in our feet or we are fanning shots or getting blocked never a decent swipe at it. Step let that last goal get scored but we were out of it by then anyway.
Avery was trying, Arty still has inconsistency issues, and Gaborik wasnt playing even close to his abilities.
Staal and Girardi this was there worst game as a unit hands down. lets hope they are just tired and not playing hurt because I know if its just them being tired it wont keep happening.
Our defense was pretty bad all around but I think Sauer wasnt horrible besides his penalty, McDonagh played well I feel. Is Eminger playing hurt he wasnt bad but didnt seem himself to me. Gilroy is staying solid for what he is to us.
All our kids were putting in the effort but without our skilled guys helping out they cant be relied on to win us games.
I am going to respectfully disagree with you on Gaborik. One of the things that was tossed about in recent weeks was his lack of desire to head through the slot and let it rip, which, while ineffective, he still attempted. Hiis accuracy may have been compromised, but given our other higher profile scoring threats are largely neutralized through injury, it has effectively made the team a one trick pony. I mean this with no disrespect to Zuke-Step-Wolski line, but any team can now throw all of its defensive threats to our most volatile offensive player. This is a trial by fire period for a lot of the kids and hopes are they can shore themselves up defensively.
I don't think the team played all that poorly...
…they did, however, devolve into the system which wasn’t working earlier in the year. Not enough offense to play that style of play sans excessive defensive risk. This club is quite good at the counter-attack; we should’ve stuck to that gameplan.
Nice first game by Kolarik. Good smarts around the net.
"...also I'll brush my teeth and remember to turn off the stars at night and put the hyena out." ERNEST HEMINGWAY
I didn't get to watch the game...
But my gut tells me that we’ve maxed out on our ability to adapt to the injuries. The core of our club is gone. The best we might be able to do is play .500 hockey until we get healthy. This is crucial because the conference is getting more and more tight. It looks like we’ll need to finish the season at least 10 games over .500 to seed. Anything less and we run the risk of missing the playoffs.
d
We got a ton of shots
problem was that we were getting a ton of soft shots from non dangerous areas of the ice. We were getting people into the danger area and rebounds but we werent in the right position to finish those plays or completely blew the opportunity that we created. I was frustrated but they looked tired and injury beaten I think with a little rest and some players returning after break we will have our blue collar juggernaut back, I just hope we can hold on and come out of the next five intact and not on a loosing streak.
I stopped tracking after the 3rd carolina goal, but I had the Rangers with 12 scoring chances to that point, which is a good number for ~25 minutes into the game. Getting good shots wasn’t the issue, it was the 11-12 we gave up on the other end (don’t remember the exact number) that were the biggest problem.
WIth all of our Fs broken, they can’t have D lapses like they did yesterday, especially from the top pair.
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by George E. Ays on Jan 21, 2011 8:46 AM EST up reply actions
Dignity goal by Prust is noteworthy because it was McD’s first point and Kolarik’s first point (as Nick pointed out).
Not going to lie, I fell asleep during the third period, felt like the team came into this game with empty tanks and no ammunition left after last night’s goal orgy. Disheartening loss because it was against an Eastern Conference team that is on the rise and could be challenging us for a playoff spot. Time to take the Canes seriously folks. Every game matters.
"I like a man who grins when he fights." -Sir Winston Churchill
"In Prust we Trust."
The offense played well I think, they got some good chances and had a good amount of shots. Cam Ward played great though, what else new? We’re probably his favorite team to play. But anyway, the offense played well while the defense looked very tired and slow. They got beat to a lot of pucks, they were doing lots of scrambling, they didn’t block many shots, and they kept turning the puck over and giving away odd man chances in the neutral zone. Lundqvist played well enough to win, it wasn’t his best, but we definitely could have won with his performance.
One thing on Skinner, the kid is a terrific skater. His balance, speed, everything about his skating. He can just skate on ice like he’s walking on grass, he’s got total control and his forechecking is great because of that, he was forcing lots of defensemen to go back and forth while he kept up with them with his agility and those pivot moves that I’ve only seen Crybaby Crosby do.
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Could be an over-confidence issue???
I thought perhaps our beloved Rangers felt they could score at will following the 7 they put on the board and allowed a “run & gun”, fast break 1st period but could not finish. It almost seemed they like they got away from their game plan of playing solid, 5 man, defense with a strong forecheck and opportunistic scoring because they were suddenly a big-time scoring machine.
And I wish people would use punctuation. Really hard to follow run-on sentences and paragraphs.
I post on Zipay’s blog as well and one of the things he does is a mock draft. It was great and you get to learn about the prospects in the draft. When I saw the stats on Skinner (70 goals in 84 games with 20 goals in 20 playoff games) I dug deeper and found that even though he was small in stature he loved to go to the net and didn’t mind traffic (we may have our own version in Christian Thomas, let’s hope). I chose him for the Rangers at 10 every time in these mock drafts as others in these drafts did not know much about him. Obviously he was known by the big boys as I was really hoping he would drop to the Rangers at 10. I was very disappointed. The knock was a poor skater which is laughable since he was a figure skater as pointed out in prior comments. I guess he’s the real deal, huh? I picked him on my fantasy team from the start when he had 0% ownership, lol.
i got a question good question ....
i’m going to ask this question, because i assume it doesn’t happen too often in hockey, and i’m very curious …
with McD and Kolarik both scoring their first NHL point on the same goal ,,,,, which one of them gets the game puck as a momento ? and what does the other one get? :o\
Good question
Argument can be made to give it to one or the other.
Kolarik: He’s waited longer, NHL games are far from a guarantee for his career.
McD: He’s younger, as a D he won’t get quite as many opportunities to put up points.
But McD has a solid NHL career written all over him. Let Kolarik have it.
by MyFavBaseballSquadron on Jan 21, 2011 8:51 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Sam or Joe said they needed to cut the puck in half.
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
by SimpleManiac on Jan 21, 2011 12:07 PM EST up reply actions
Drury
Time to make Drury a healthy scratch if he doesnt step it up at Atlanta. He looks awful. Is there an injury we havent heard about? Its one thing not to score but he just looks like he has given up???
by RangerFanInChicago on Jan 21, 2011 9:17 AM EST reply actions
We’re still looking to trade for a bag of pucks.
by It may HAVE to Last a Lifetime on Jan 21, 2011 9:33 AM EST up reply actions
To lighten the mood a bit
I couldn’t help but post this:
MARTY ADDED TO HIS ALL TIME SHUTOUT RECORD LAST NIGHT, WHAT DID THE QUEEN DO? ???
/sarcasm
by MyFavBaseballSquadron on Jan 21, 2011 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
I LOL’d
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
by SimpleManiac on Jan 21, 2011 12:08 PM EST up reply actions
Duh
There are no astronauts from NJ . . .
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
by SimpleManiac on Jan 21, 2011 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
This is why the excitement over Gaborik's outburst
was premature.
If he had, say 10 goals in his next 15 games (NOT counting his four-goal outburst) then yes, you can start to get excited. But one game does not a season make.
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he may be good for the next 10 games after Toronto :(.
by Richter1994 on Jan 21, 2011 11:11 AM EST up reply actions
Since I get pegged as a Staal hater anyway
I thought last night was a great example of what doesn’t sit well about him with me. On the ice, he didn’t look great, but that’s gonna happen. The Leafs had the same problem the night before. It’s an 82 game season, and in the middle, when the others guys come out a little quicker then you it can be tough to come back, even tougher with a young team.
What really bugged me was Staal’s postgame interview. I couldn’t find the link, but it was on the post game show. He used alot of “we” and never an “I”. HE was out there for 3 of the goals, HE got burned by Sutter and HE let Skinner get a step on him to get the pass off for the 4th goal.
If Staal is going to be our “anchor”, then he needs to except it’s HIS squad and needs to realize that when your a #1 defenseman your expected to make plays. When you don’t it’s YOUR fault. When the whole defense looks like crap it’s YOUR fault too. If you’re gonna lead these guys, be a leader, and take the bad with the good.
I mentioned to MoB yesterday that Staal seems like a guy content to be 1A defenseman, rather then a number 1, and his post game re-inforced that to me last night. It’s this, more so then his on-ice play that is why I’m always pulling for us to bring a vet to lead the D, or try to flip Staal for another young D who seems to show the desire and intangibles it takes to lead our young defense.
Again, this post wasn’t meant to harp on the play of the D, or Staal in general, but when I saw the post game last night, it seemed like a good example of why I’m a bit cooler on Staal then some others on here. Hope that clears things up.
I hardly think he was trying to lump Girardi into the blame game, and for the record I think Girardi had a pretty brutal game himself. Practically all players speak in the plural or “team” form, it’s how they’re conditioned to talk to the media.
The minutes he logs against the competition he’s pitted against suggest he does very well. Is he the best D in the league? No, but the gap between him and the best isn’t as wide as I think you suggest. And those players that might be better than him aren’t available unless you’re willing to part with Staal and other high ceiling guys which creates a bigger hole than it fills.
by MyFavBaseballSquadron on Jan 21, 2011 10:34 AM EST up reply actions
I’m not saying he was blaming Girardi too, I’m saying he was looking at it as a “team” issue. Others players might be able to get away with “we” but if you’re THE GUY, which is what Staal is supposed to be. If you’re gonna be the top dog, you’ve got to take responsibility. Hank is a PERFECT example of that – when he lays an egg, he takes the blame. Staal needs to do the same.
by BuckarooClub on Jan 21, 2011 11:00 AM EST up reply actions
I honestly think it’s the way that most athletes speak when addressed by the media. I’m sure he knows he made a bad play or the coaching staff went/will go over it with him.
The guy is the anchor of a very young defense that has played pretty well the last number of games. Most of the losses recently has been more the fault of the offense not scoring or burying chances. I’d say most nights Staal does his job exceedingly well and the guys up front are the ones that need to sing for their supper.
by MyFavBaseballSquadron on Jan 21, 2011 11:06 AM EST up reply actions
Nah, rationality has no place in this argument.
by Lunkwill Fook on Jan 21, 2011 11:36 AM EST up reply actions
DING!!! WINNER!
The only change I would make to your statement – it’s not the “D” – it’s the whole team.
The team as currently constructed does not have sufficient team speed to keep up with the Montreal’s and Carolina’s.
It’s games like this that they really miss Callahan and Dubinsky.
IMO the “D” speed has actually improved with Roszival’s departure.
Well, the team speed obviously sucks, but the D…I mean Gilroy can move, but Girardi and Sauer are sloths, Staal has good speed but isn’t very quick, Eminger’s a decent skater, but being a moron somewhat offsets that. McDonagh, from what little I’ve seen of him, might actually be the best skater on the D.
Oh give me a break Buck, The kid is 24 and is already one of the Top shutdown defenders in the game, according almost everyone, NHL.com says it, TSN.ca says it, everyone acknowledges his talent. Hes in the All-Star game this year. EVERYONE has a clunker of a game, and this game is hardly only his fault, this game was a clunker for the entire team. Come give me the same argument the other 75 games where Staal plays absolutely lights out and shuts down the Sedin twins when he’s on the ice for 30+ minutes. As for the interview, everyone is told to speak to the media in terms of “team” and “we”. Its the we live and die as a team mentality which is important. The only reason why Hank uses I sometimes is because goal tending is a different nature all in it self. The kid leads by example and inside the locker room you have not one inkling of what goes on, so you can’t say you don’t think he is a leader for our young D. And thats exactly the point YOUNG D, Staal is still part of that, they are all going to go through the ups and downs as a young learning unit, this will only help in the long run when our D plays as a “unit”. Next you say trade Staal to bring in someone completely foreign to the organization and is young and to take better control of the D and lead it better than Staal? I can assure there isn’t a player in the universe that can do that better than Staal. Its about time you wake up and realize this team is going places, but only if they stay the course and develop as a team instead of always trading parts away to bring in a “better” part, its the whole 1 step forward 2 steps backward and thats how we ended up in this position the first place.
by CrazyRangerFan on Jan 21, 2011 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
I’m not saying this team isn’t going places, I’m just anxious to get us there. It’s a young team and the players are still developing, and we need to handle that carefully. I think we’ve been VERY protective of alot of these guys – making it clear we wouldn’t move them, and they are “the future”. I just think we need to be careful that we don’t let anyone get too comfy. I also think that we do have some issues to address regarding our top line talent, and that’s something that’s not just going to magically appear. We’ve got alot of “good” and “pretty good” but we need a couple of “greats” to be contenders.
by BuckarooClub on Jan 21, 2011 4:41 PM EST up reply actions
Well by trading Staal(going to be GREAT in a couple years) for an already great player isn’t going to help because its creating a hole to fill a hole that doesn’t need to be filled, its just a pointless roster move at that point that could actually hurt us. I think you just need to relax and in 2 or 3 years we are going to be a serious threat.
by CrazyRangerFan on Jan 21, 2011 10:02 PM EST up reply actions
With WHO between the pipes?
Hank will be 32 in 3 years and looking for a new contract. He’s a goalie who’s handled a HEAVY workload throughout his career, and plays and agressive and athletic style. I don’t want say he WON’T still be there, but I think it’s a legit concern. If all these guys come along the way we hope, we still might a HUGE problem with goaltending. Look at teams like Washington, Philly, Detroit, and even Pittsburg and now Chicago to an extent. Can we ride a hot goalie to A cup? Sure. But if we could speed up our timeline a bit, we could have it all, win a FEW cups. That would be awesome. I don’t think we’re that far away, and if we could tighten things up in a few places we could be a contender by next season.
by BuckarooClub on Jan 22, 2011 11:21 AM EST up reply actions
As fans we have to calm down, though the inconsistency is maddening
the Rangers are a very young team, and playing with a roster full of rookies. as is, I am impressed in general how this team has fought, come back and against all the injuries and odds; they have played really really well…
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
Absolutely agree.
When the season started most of us did not expect much.
As wins — especially against teams like PIT and WSH — piled up, the expectations rose.
Nothing wrong with that – but you have to be ready for the other shoe to drop – for the ‘crash back to reality’.
When some of the walking wounded return, we can hope for the best. Right now, we should not really expect that.
From what I saw
- We have huge problems with puck moving goalies; Ward, Price and Boucher really screwed up our dump and chase capabilities.
- Anisimov needs to at least MAKE CONTACT with someone. To just skate by and show no interest in physical contact is unacceptable. On a number of occasions, Carolina D were able to take their time when they saw him coming.
- Hits generate bounces. Rangers gave up on the body check last night and Carolina hit anyone within stick length of a puck at every opportunity. I could tell from the opening faceoff, based on checks, we wouldn’t have a chance in this one.
- 94 points has been the mark to make the cut in the East. With 33 games remaining and 37 points away from 94, they need to go .560 (18-15-0) the rest of the season.
Let me know how that works out for you . . .
It’s been more like 92 or 93 points. With last season being an all time low. I think they should be seriously gunning for the 6th seed and take their chances with the NE winner. They aren’t winning the division and winning 4th or 5th probably sets them up for a meeting with the Pens of Philly, not the teams I’d want to face in the 1st round.
by MyFavBaseballSquadron on Jan 21, 2011 12:41 PM EST up reply actions
18-15 is not exactly unreasonable for this team….in fact it can be expected at least when our injured get back.
by CrazyRangerFan on Jan 21, 2011 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
RIVER HOCKEY
Fun to watch – but not if you lose.
Who were those guys and what did they do with my Rangers?
another awesome fact/reason to be optimistic:
our young guys and prospects are performing despite their lack of “experience”. next season will be even better…so let’s just enjoy what we’re seeing here, even with shitty games like this one.
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
Best thing about this game and being there was the storm squad by far lolw
by Mr. Avery to you on Jan 21, 2011 8:36 PM EST via mobile reply actions
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