The Rangers returned from a four-day break with the same result, a loss. New York played a solid first period but found themselves down 2-1 after 20 minutes. The middle stanza was more of the same but Tampa tallied all three goals, continuing the Blueshirts' poor play in that frame. End result was a 6-2 loss to the Lightning in a contest where Igor Shesterkin was pulled.
A few quick thoughts:
We knew the Rangers faced an uphill battle against a Lightning squad that came in 7-2 this month with the most goals scored and fewest allowed in December. You can't take bad penalties and Sam Carrick took a pair of them. In both instances, Tampa took advantage and scored.
Down 2-1 after one but feeling something good about themselves after a period where they carried play outshooting Tampa 17--6, it all went south again. New York's poor play in the second continued, as they allowed all three goals in the stanza and have now been outscored 22-8 in 12 games this month. The three goals against all came within the first eight minutes of the period, which pretty much sucked all the life out of New York.
The Lightning tallied two goals at even-strength, two on the power play, and even worse for the Rangers, two shorthanded. New York has now lost six of seven, outscored 25-9 in that stretch. Every time something mildly positive happens, almost immediately, a negative event happens to blunt the positive.
I think we all are frustrated, as are the players. No real concrete answer appears to be apparent. How it went from 5-0-1, despite us knowing it was goalie driven, and 12-4-1 to where we are now is a question that will be pondered for years. Finding a specific cause may be somewhat futile, but the team has cratered and cracked from within, proving to be much more mentally soft than we thought. One key move certainly looks to have been rushing Ryan Lindgren back and placing him immediately next to Adam Fox. I know Peter Laviolette will likely be the fall guy, and he has contributed to this, but to place the blame on him certainly seems like it's miscast.
Fox used to drive play, that certainly has not been the case. Igor Shesterkin basically went to the locker room after being pulled yesterday, which is about as bad of optics as you can get. Mika Zibanejad is a hollowed out soul and the young kids that were driving play and deserved more ice time have been subsumed in this tsunami that has become the Rangers season.
Another result like this Monday and you wonder who won't be coming back with the team to New York.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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