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New York Rangers Notes

Rangers vs. Capitals: A Playoff Preview?

We got a look at how rough a first round series between these two teams would be, and also a pretty good sense of how it would end.

Eric Kohn

Eric Kohn

— 5 min read
Rangers vs. Capitals: A Playoff Preview?
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
  • In the interest of full disclosure, Joe and I were recording the podcast—episode #22 out now, listen and subscribe!—during last night's game. I had it on in the background, and you'll hear us refer to it a few times throughout the show. So, while I saw the full third period and overtime, my thoughts here on the first two periods are informed by having watched the Condensed Game at NHL.com.
  • Before we really get to it, I'm going to indulge the privilege I have as the eldest person involved with Blueshirt Banter to complain about the game start times. Yes, at this point I know that if the game is on TNT or ESPN for national broadcast, then I should read that 7:30pm ET start time as the start time for the broadcast, but that the puck won't drop for another 20 minutes, at least. You want to have 20-30 minutes of your hosts and analysts talking hockey and previewing the game? That's fine. Then start the broadcast at 7pm, with puck drop at 7:30pm. Or at least just tell people exactly when the actual game starts. </old man rant>
  • Coming in to last night, the New York Rangers officially held the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. If that held up through the end of the regular season, that would mean a first round playoff matchup with these very same Washington Capitals. Yes, my friend, another Rangers/Capitals playoff series.
  • It would be a pretty wild inversion from last year's first round where the Presidents Trophy-winning Rangers faced off with a Washington Capitals team that somehow despite a -37 goal differential on the year, snuck into the playoffs. This year, the Capitals are a legit contender for the Presidents Trophy and the Rangers, with just a +3 goal differential are trying to sneak into the playoffs. What a difference a year makes.
  • The Rangers had neither a good start, nor a good end, to this game. The Capitals scored their first goal 1:04 into the first period. For those of you keeping track at home, that's now the 12th time the Rangers have surrendered a goal in the first two minutes of a game. As we discussed on the podcast about the infuriating frequency of too-many-men-on-the-ice bench minors this team has taken, in any individual incident, this failure is on the players. The players are the ones hopping over the boards, and they're the ones who need to be sure there aren't too many men on the ice. The players are the ones who are out there playing and need to make sure they don't come out flat and give up an early goal. But as a macro trend, it falls on the coaching staff to address. And both bench minors and early goals just keep happening.
  • The Rangers first goal was a very nice one to see:
  • Great breakout rush, great passing. Great to see Alexis Lafrenière involved in the offense again. But it's Zac Jones who made that goal happen, first with the breakout pass to Lafrenière and then with the shot/pass to Artemi Panarin for the deflection and the goal. Speaking of Zac Jones:
  • If you've been reading me over the last several months you know that I've been ready to be officially done with Peter Laviolette since Christmas. Joe and I get into his refusal to play Arthur Kaliyev in the podcast. Yes, Jonny Brodzinski had a nice few games, but ::gestures at the above chart:: that's really who Brodz is. Nothing really wrong with it, other than that he's a 31-year old journeyman on a league-minimum contract whose future on this team is extremely limited, as opposed to Kaliyev, who is 23 and an RFA after this season and could be here much longer.
  • The same sentiments apply to Zac Jones. Amazing that when you put a player with some talent in a position to succeed (because your hand was forced by the injury to Adam Fox, but nevertheless) he starts succeeding. It's one of the things that has constantly infuriated me about Laviolette. When Lindgren went to Colorado, I saw someone say, "well, he'll certainly benefit from playing fewer and more sheltered minutes." To quote Rick and Morty, "okay then, that was always allowed!" Laviolette could have just chosen to play Lindgren third pair minutes against less challenging competition. Similarly, he could have actually given Zac Jones a meaningful run, but chose not to because he apparently didn't think that was allowed until he was almost completely out of warm bodies on defense.
  • For the most part, the Rangers held their own against a Washington Capitals team that—we must admit—is much better than them. And wow, did this game get chippy. Not shocking when it's a game that involves, one, Tom Wilson. And if this ended up being a first round playoff matchup, I don't think it would be a long series, but I do think it would be some very rough-and-tumble games while it lasted.
  • That said, when you have a one-goal lead going into the third period, you probably don't want to get out-shot and out-chanced the way the Rangers did. Final shots in the third period were 8-3 Capitals. And, thanks to a really bizarre set of circumstances that I don't know that I've ever actually seen in a game before, Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play for the Capitals to tie the game (obligatory note that he's now 10 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record), which wiped out the power play, but not the delayed penalty call on the Rangers. So right off that game-tying goal, the Caps went right back on the power play.
  • Getting to overtime against the best team in the Eastern Conference and getting a much-needed point was good. But I can't say I loved the effort in overtime. Given the chippy, in-your-face way most of this game was played, the passive neutral-zone regrouping the Rangers did was kind of deflating. I understand the purpose, but I was hoping to see them press a little harder.
  • Then there's the Tom Wilson game-winner:
  • Two issues here. First: the cross-slot pass by Mika Zibanejad. It's a low-percentage play. Vincent Trocheck had a similarly aggravating low-percentage play earlier in OT, when he throw the puck at Charlie Lindgren from a bad angle and it resulted in change of possession. Similarly, the pass Mika made, seemingly, more often than not in 3-on-3 OT, results in exactly what we saw: a change of possession and the puck going the other way on an odd-man break.
  • The second issue: What was that defense from Braden Schneider? We talked a little about Schneider on the podcast, but I'll quickly make the same point here.
  • I feel the Rangers view Schneider as a defense-first player, when the analytics I see about him show me two things: 1) he's just an okay player overall, and 2) his offensive acumen is better than his defense. I think we saw that on display on that OT goal. It's about as poorly as you could possibly defend that situation. Schneider going down so early created the opening for Dylan Strome toe-drag the puck around him and find Tom Wilson for the game-winner. We already know that Rangers have a problem understanding what they have in defensemen ::gestures wildly at Ryan Lindgren and Zac Jones:: but I really think they misunderstand the value of Braden Schneider.
  • Parting shot:

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