The Rangers lost 5-1 to the Devils. New York was done in by a slow start - again - and then every mistake made seemed to end up in the back of the net. MSG was a morgue by the third period, save for the New Jersey fans, and the Blueshirts remain searching for answers as to where their season has gone after a hot start.
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1) Different day, same mistakes: irrespective of what day it is, the same problems arise. Monday, another slow start contributed to the loss. Issues were evident right from the get go as Nico Hischier almost scored on a partial 2 on 1, 35 seconds in. No lessons were learned from that error. A poor read by Artemi Panarin resulted in a 2 in 1 by New Jersey with Jesper Bratt beating Igor Shesterkin short side. Dawson Mercer made it 2-0 with another breakdown resulting in Jack Hughes getting loose on a breakaway less than a minute later that was stopped by Igor.
New York was better late in the period and to start the second. But Jacob Markstrom was up to the task. Chris Kreider fanned on a 2 on 0, then a pair of so so penalties resulted in a 5 on 3 and Devils goal. Hughes, who along with Bratt, was buzzing all game scored to make it 4-0. Kreider got a PPG for window dressing and to provide some hope. But another late goal against, the second while shorthanded and second for Jack Hughes, who has beaten Igor nine times in his career, ending any thoughts of a comeback.
2) Steve Valiquette was front and center in criticizing this team. You can disagree with his views, as many do, but the one thing he does have, which has been lacking from so many in this squad, is passion and heart. His take on Hughes’ attempted Forsberg is an interesting one. I agree to a certain extent that Hughes owns Igor, as sen by the stat above, and he figures he could try almost anything and score. But I don’t think he was attempting to embarrass Shesterkin. On the flip side, no one from New York responded to try and send a physical message, clean, not dirty, to New Jersey, who walked up and down Garden ice.
1st Period Intermission Report with Vally. Vally had some words about Jack Hughes here that you're doing to want to here. #NYRpic.twitter.com/5B5Q5fLWID
3) Microcosm of season: the two videos below are a good microcosm of where the season is now. On the first, down 2-0, Kreider came in on a 2 on 0 and completely fanned on the shot. It happens, but given the struggles he and the team are having, this occurring seems to encapsulate all that is going off the rails and wrong.
On the flip side, as noted in the NHL.com recap, the Devils killed a penalty on Dougie Hamilton at 9:16 by blocking five shots, including four off Mika Zibanejad's stick, in a 30-second span after Brett Pesce's stick broke. Pesce had three of the blocks. Bratt and Haula had the other two. Markstrom finished it with a save on Kreider on a redirect from the left post.
New Jersey put forth a massive effort on the PK. That type of all in approach looks to have been lacking for New York the last few weeks. Granted, end results also drive viewpoints, so if they were winning or at least playing well in certain aspects, our collective thoughts might be different.
Right now, all looks to be off the rails or going off the rails. Some kind of shake up is needed. The players can talk all about needing to dig deep and finding a way out of this mess and darkness, but each game seems to bring the same result driven by the same mistakes. Coach Peter Laviolette benched Panarin and Filip Chytil in the first and allocated ice time during the game to try and send a message. However, I am not sure it was received, or New Jersey is just so much better than New York it didn’t matter.
Part of the challenge now is to tamp down the apathy surrounding the organization and find a way to slow down the negativity. But when each error or mistake or misread seems to lead to a prime scoring opportunity against or goal, it has a snowball effect. It’s probably good that they are off until Friday. Video and on ice sessions should be what’s on the docket the next three days to try and find a resolution to the problem. But the cause right now looks like the personnel, so you could spend eons working on it and that might mean nothing.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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