Rangers vs. Kings: Absolute Utter Trash
"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
- Where do you even begin with that game, that (lack of) effort, this embarrassment of a team?
- The first goal against was the same old story for the Rangers. A bad pinch by Zac Jones leads to a two-on-one the other way and a goal for Alex Turcotte (do the children of former Rangers count in "ex-Rangers scoring against the team" thing?). How does this keep happening? What do they work on in practice? As Casey Stengel said of his 1962 Mets, "can't anybody here play this game?"
- Jones was skipped for his next shift after that goal. And, fine. Accountability and whatnot. Wake me up when we get to the accountability for Ryan Lindgren or Mika Zibanejad or, for that matter, any other veteran on this team. (Actually, more on that in a moment.)
- The theme of the Rangers as spectators on defense was present on the second goal, with Warren Foegele having no problem getting to his own rebound after Quinten Byfield made some Rangers look silly, but it was the fourth goal where I lost my mind:
What are they even doing here? pic.twitter.com/P5kWwyw4Lb
— Blueshirt Banter (@BlueshirtBanter) December 14, 2024
- All five Rangers on the ice for that goal should be charged premium ticket prices because they were spectators. Every. single. one. of them just puck watching. That back pass from Kopitar to Kempe right in front of the net for the goal is the kind of low percentage play that I'd expect to see the Rangers try with no success. It wouldn't succeed because most of the other 31 teams in this league defend at least somewhat competently. But because the Rangers can't actually concern themselves with playing defense, it worked!
