Category Archives: Game Recaps
Rangers poor defensive effort hands Minnesota their 10th straight win
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After getting embarrassed at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rangers (23-12-1) had yet another disappointing effort, losing 7-4 to the Minnesota Wild (20-8-4) and giving them a franchise record 10th straight victory.
The Rangers offense was fine tonight, scoring four goals, but the defensive struggles continued. This time, goaltending wasn’t there to bail out the constant defensive miscues and blown coverages. Henrik Lundqvist was not at his best, allowing two weak goals, but there was nobody there to help him. Antti Raanta came in and gave up two goals, both two completely wide open Wild defenders.
You can complain as much as you want about the goaltending, the forward injuries, the lack of “grit” or “toughness,” but none of those issues are as big as this defense. It’s a tire fire at times and the usual offenders (Girardi, Klein) are not getting any better. Yes, it’s still December, but it’s better to solve this problem now. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers use three goal third period to comeback against Carolina; Kreider scores twice
Alexandra Russo
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
It was kids’ day at the Garden, and the Rangers gave their fans a reason to celebrate. Kreider and Stepan led the way for the New York Rangers, as they skated off with a 4-2 victory over division rival Carolina Hurricanes.
The Rangers practiced spending time in the opposition’s zone on Friday because that has been their main area where they’ve struggled, and boy did it pay off! Derek Stepan put his team on the board less than five minutes into the game. Originally, the call on the ice was no-goal, but upon further review it was clear to see Stepan had notched his fifth of the season.
JT Miller nearly allowed the Hurricanes to respond when he gave the puck away in his own zone. He then made up for his mistake by making a few saves in the crease to keep the game in his team’s favor. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers blow late lead in a disappointing loss to the Buffalo Sabres
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
The Rangers (16-8-1) saw their team fall apart, giving up two late goals and blowing a lead against the Buffalo Sabres (9-9-5), dropping their fifth game in their last eight contests.
Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash and Marc Staal combined to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead after two periods, but it all eventually fell apart. Jack Eichel, in his second game back from injury, scored two big goals, including the game winner.
It was a game the Rangers never really should have won, because they were outmatched for the majority of the game. It was another concerning showing from the Blueshirts, one that has now become a pattern. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers get a lot of shots, but are shut out by Anderson and the Senators
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers (15-7-1) could not make it two wins in a row, as they were able to get more shots on goal but could not covert that into offense, falling 2-0 to Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators (14-7-1) despite a 33-20 edge in shots.
Recently, the Rangers have been the ones getting outshot and out possessed, but coming away with wins for the most part. Despite turning the tables tonight, they were shut out, mostly because their shots were not from high danger areas. The Rangers had some pretty good chances when they were able to break through the Senators’ defense, but Anderson answered the call.
There wasn’t a lot going on for the Blueshirts in terms of their usual breakaways, because the Senators did a really good job eliminating the Rangers’ speed game. Ottawa clogged up the neutral zone, pushed the Rangers skaters to the outside and mostly eliminated a lot of the good scoring chances. It was a pretty disappointing effort from the Rangers coming off of a game where they barely came away with a win over the Flyers, nearly blowing it in the third period. Read the rest of this entry
Lundqvist leads Rangers to a win past the Flyers; Hayes records 100th career point
Bobby Bevilacqua
Matt Puempel gets hi fives from teammates after scoring in his Ranger debut. Photo courtesy of Led Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images.
The Rangers (15-6-1) got back in the win column in a thrilling victory over the Flyers (9-10-3), mainly due to a fantastic performance from Henrik Lundqvist, who made 40 saves in this game.
Alain Vigneault’s squad did a better job of scoring today than they did against the Penguins, but the Flyers still managed 42 shots on goal, which was 19 more than the Rangers had. Realistically, Lundqvist stole this game away because the Rangers could have easily lost this game.
It’s slowly becoming the norm where the Rangers get outshot and post pretty dismal possession numbers, but still come away with a win. They’ll win either because they score a lot of goals with an unsustainable shooting percentage, or the goalie performs extremely well. Over the course of a whole season, that is not what you want, because there will be regression. Read the rest of this entry
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