Rangers vs Blues: Rangers Embarrassed 6-2 In St. Louis

After a tough 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night, the Rangers failed to show up and were embarrassed from start to finish by the St. Louis Blues. The Rangers actually had the early edge in this game, but just couldn’t convert on their opportunities at 5-on-5. Dryden Hunt had the best chance but wound up putting the puck right back into Ville Husso’s pad with an entire net to shoot at. Igor Shesterkin tried the best he could given what he was dealt, but only lasted 15 seconds into the second period before Gerard Gallant yanked him.

1st Period

Robert Thomas (9) - Jordan Kyrou (32) & Colton Parayko (17) - 13:05

After being absolutely robbed by Ville Husso at the other end of the ice, the Blues came right back down moments later and carved up the Rangers’ defense. Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas connected on a beautiful give-and-go that fooled both players back for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin didn’t stand much of a chance with the final pass going back against his momentum and landed right on the tape of Robert Thomas for the easy tap-in to make it a 1-0.

Ivan Barbashev (18) - Brandon Saad (14) & Torey Krug (23) - 13:50

Just 45 seconds after their opening marker, the Blues continued to pressure the Rangers in the offensive zone, and they doubled up their lead. The faceoff loss signaled trouble for the Rangers as they immediately lost possession, and the puck was cycled down below the goal line. Brandon Saad was able to quick shoveled a no-look pass back out in front of the net where Ivan Barbashev was ready and waiting. Ryan Lindgren was caught down too low towards his own goal, and that left plenty of space for Barbashev to pick his spot.

Robert Thomas (10) - Jordan Kyrou (33) & Vladimir Tarasenko (30) - 15:41

The wheels completely fell off of the wagon a few minutes later as the Blues tacked on their third goal of the period as the Rangers continued to be a complete mess. The dup of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou connected once again after a rebound landed right in front of Igor Shesterkin. Unfortunately, he had zero help from anyone as all five Rangers were caught puck watching as Kyrou fed a pass back up into the high slot. Thomas absolutely smoked a shot under the crossbar, and suddenly the Rangers were in some deep trouble.

Ryan Strome (13) - Adam Fox (49) & Igor Shesterkin (1) PPG - 18:37

With under two minutes remaining in the first period, the Rangers salvaged some of the momentum with a late power play goal. Special teams has been the Rangers’ saving grace so far this season, and this goal was another big one to halt the momentum. Adam Fox made a great individual play after picking the puck up from Igor Shesterkin and going the full length of the ice. He was able to draw two defenders towards him before passing the puck to Ryan Strome, who was wide open on the far side of the ice. Strome wound up for a heavy slap shot, and finally beat Husso through the legs to pull the Rangers back within a pair of goals.

2nd Period

Ryan O’Reilly (13) - Brayden Schenn (17) & David Perron (18) - 0:15

Jake Walman (3) - Robert Bortuzzo (3) & Ryan O’Reilly (25) - 7:07

David Perron (14) - Marco Scandella (10) & Brayden Schenn (18)

Rather than breaking down each of these goals, it’s probably better to just group it all together. The Rangers didn’t do much to help themselves early in the second period, and the Blues were able to add on three more goals to make it a 6-1 lead. Igor Shesterkin was pulled after allowing the fourth goal, and didn’t really get much help at all from his team in front of the net.

K’Andre Miller (5) - Artemiy Panarin (48) & Adam Fox (50) PPG - 12:23

The Rangers finally stopped the bleeding once again, and made it a 6-2 game courtesy of K’Andre Miller on the power play. Artemiy Panarin created the entire play with a clean zone entry on the power play, and slowed up as he approached the right faceoff circle. K’Andre Miller was absolutely flying towards the back post, and Panarin found him with a beautiful centering feed through the middle of the ice. Miller got just enough of the puck to deflect it over Ville Husso.

3rd Period

No scoring.

There’s not really much you can say about this game other than that the Rangers were absolutely miserable in their own zone. The dropped their second game of the road trip with 11 goals against to the Wild and Blues. The Rangers will close out their trip with one final meeting with the Dallas Stars on Saturday night before returning home to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.