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New York Rangers Notes

Rangers vs. Hurricanes: A Familiar Kind of Loss

The Rangers fell at home 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes. At least it was a more traditional, less terrible loss than what we saw last weekend?

Rangers vs. Hurricanes: A Familiar Kind of Loss
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
  • Last weekend, as the Rangers were getting boat-raced by the LA Kings, if you were told the Rangers would lose this game to the Hurricanes by a score of 3-1, with the third goal being an empty-netter, you'd probably sign up for that right? Not that you'd ever want to sign up for a loss, but at least 3-1 would sound semi-competitive compared to that atrocity against the Kings. And, let's face it, the bar is still pretty low at the moment. That's the absolute state of the New York Rangers right now.
  • Let's dispense with the Matt Rempe of it all immediately. After being offered an in-person hearing for his hit on Miro Heiskanen in Dallas, Rempe was suspended for eight games, the first of which was this one against Carolina. I'm going to have a piece up later this morning about the big picture problem facing Rempe and the Rangers right now, but for this game, Rempe was out and Jimmy Vesey slotted in on the fourth line.
  • And that Vesey-led fourth line immediately paid dividends for the Rangers, as Vesey crashed the net and redirected an excellent pass from ::checks notes:: Chad Ruhwedel to make it 1-0 Rangers only 17 seconds into the game. You could not have asked for a much better start to this game than getting a lead only 17 seconds in, and getting it from the fourth line. We'll come back to that fourth line in a bit here.
  • After that early tally, the first period was fine. The shots on goal were 6-5 Canes when the horn sounded. And the Rangers looked decent enough. At times they seemed like they were buzzing. Were they building on that win they notched in Dallas on Friday? Would this be the turning point in this dreadful season for this team?
  • LOL. LMAO, even.
  • The second period was back to normal, and by normal, I mean very bad. Adam Fox recorded a shot on goal at 18:16 of the period. The next shot they'd record would come with 2:16 left to play as Adam Edstrom was stopped twice on a break away by Hurricanes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov. Since I told you there would be no math, or if I didn't tell you that just always assume I've said there will be no math, that's a full 16 minutes of game action without the Rangers recording a single shot on net. New York Rangers hockey is back, baby. And while, yes, that did include six minutes of penalty time the Rangers had to try to kill, that's still not ideal.
  • Congratulations to everyone out there who bet Jack Roslovic anytime goalscorer, because you knew it was happening. The former Ranger put the Canes ahead for good with a tally on a four minute double-minor penalty he drew on Alexis Lafrenière for high sticking. Dagger of a play, too, as it came with only seconds left in the penalty kill.
  • There are times when the Rangers offense just looks unbelievably inept. And by times, I mean most of the second and third periods of this game.
  • But, hey, at least we got to see Alexis Lafrenière doing his Saquon Barkley impression. (Or, his Jeremiah Love impression, if you prefer as I do. Go Irish, beat Georgia!) Now if only anyone could ever finish any of his passes.
  • The only reason the Rangers were within a goal late in this game with an opportunity to tie it was Igor Shesterkin. He was brilliant again, just as he was in Dallas on Friday night, with saves like this one on Sebastian Aho:
  • But as brilliant as Igor was, he can't score the goals the team needs to win on his own. Actually, speaking of goalies and scoring...
  • Canes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov notched secondary assists on the Roslovic goal that put Carolina up 2-1 and the Sebastian Aho empty-netter that put the game away. For those of you keeping track at home, that means the Carolina Hurricanes goaltender recorded more points in this one game than Mika Zibanejad has in the last 7 games, dating back to that disaster against the Chicago Blackhawks. Yiiiiiiikes.
  • But at least there's Will Cuylle, who always plays like he cares. How do we go about finding 11 more of him?
  • So, once again, with time expiring and an empty net at the Rangers end, coach Peter Laviolette sends out there: Zibanejad, Kreider, Panarin, Lafrenière, Trocheck, and Fox. Gotta slam that square peg into that round hole with Mika and Kreider every chance you have, right? Gotta reward players that don't deserve to be rewarded based on their play, right?
  • I realize how ridiculous it sounds in a vacuum to say Laviolette should have sent the Vesey-Carrick-Edstrom line out there trying to tie the game up with time expiring and an empty net at the other end. But they were the most consistent line throughout the game. And they produced the Rangers only goal of the game. Lest you think I'm exaggerating:
  • Laviolette's insistence on sending out Zibanejad, Kreider, and crew with the extra attacker is almost as frustrating with his insistence on sending out the same, non-functioning PP1 unit game in and game out. If it's not fixed, then why break it, or something.
  • The Rangers take the ice again this afternoon in New Jersey against the Devils. I have bad feeling about this. Parting shot (again):

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