|
Game 24: PIT 4 NYR 2, Rangers drop second straight to Penguins |
|
|
|
|
|
The Rangers dropped their second straight contest to the Penguins, 4-2 on Tuesday. New York fell behind 3-1 before mounting a furious third period rally. After cutting the deficit to a goal, the Blueshirts were unable to get the equalizer despite peppering the Pittsburgh net. Tristan Jarry was brilliant between the pipes, stoning New York down the stretch.
A few thoughts:>
1) Keith Kinkaid - coach David Quinn made the decision going with the veteran net under after his relief performance Sunday. Kinkaid played well enough in the loss, hard to really fault him for any of the goals against in the loss. If Igor Shesterkin is able to go Thursday versus Boston, I would play him. If not, go with Kinkaid again.
2) K’Andre Miller - a rough few games for the rookie. As you have heard me say in the past, defenseman growth is not linear. Teams now have a book on Miller, forcing him to pivot and adjust and change directions quickly, as seen on the short handed goal by Teddy Blueger (though a little bit of a moving screen by Brandon Taney) to . Miller now needs to adapt and rectify his recent issues. I could see giving Miller a game or two off to let him recalibrate and watch from above. Libor Hajek, scratched for some reason last night, should be back in Thursday.
3) Power play - woof bad. Second unit’s inability to gain the zone resulted in the turnover and counterattack by Pittsburgh and SHG. The first unit wasn’t always much better. I could see some tweaks again, but we see here just how big the absence of Artemi Panarin is.
4) Jack Johnson - as tweeted before the game, unsure why Johnson was in. I looked stupid when he scored New York’s first goal, thanks to a strong forecheck by Julien Gauthier. But was then redeemed after his poor neutral zone pass forced Filip Chytil to loop back into the defensive zone. The ultimate result was a broken stick by Ryan Lindgren on a pass, leading to Jake Guentzel’s goal.
5) Brendan Lemieux - sat as well yesterday. Unsure I understand the move. Lemieux isn’t having a great season but been solid enough on the forecheck and brings a level of aggression others lack. Colin Blackwell got back in after sitting Sunday. But once again, Brett Howden, who yes, has helped the penalty kill, remains in the lineup. These decisions are head scratchers, maybe one day we will understand them. We will see if Lemieux plays Thursday, as he should.
6) Late goals A killer again this year. Guentzel’s marker came with 64 seconds left in the first. Then, late in the second, and we all saw this coming as Pitt was in the New York zone for just under a minute, a killer tally with 19 seconds to go. Those late scores suck the wind out of a team, sending them to the locker room a down note, forcing a major reset between periods.
7) The push by New York came in the third. The Rangers hot off to a slow start and Pittsburgh gained momentum as the game wore on. New York completely dominated the third, but once again, couldn’t get the tying tally. That has been a hallmark of the season, carrying play at times, making a strong push, but lacking the ability to finish. Give Jarry credit, he was brilliant, stoning Pavel Buchnevich a few times as well as Mika Zibanejad, but the Rangers have made this too often of a pattern this season.
8) Standings New York entered this back-to-back with Pittsburgh trailing the Penguins by four points. After a pair of losses, not only do they trail the Pens, who moved from fifth to third in the conference, by eight points, but they are behind the Bruins in fourth by seven points. The Rangers head to Boston for games Thursday and Saturday. After which, the Blueshirts will face Philly twice and then Washington on consecutive days next Friday and Saturday.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»