Rangers vs. Kings: Exactly What You Expected
Lame. Boring. Uninspired. Enough to make you want to cut yourself. These are all good ways to describe the New York Rangers.
- After the drubbing the New York Rangers took at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets, I started the Game Notes by quoting Arrested Development, "I don't know what I expected." The joke, of course, is that the Michael Bluth was told exactly what to expect when he opened the bag in the fridge that said "dead dove, do not eat." Well, we don't even have to play around this time. You knew exactly what you expected this game against the Los Angeles Kings, opening a three game west coast swing, to be. And that's exactly what it was.
- Coming into that game the Kings were an astonishing 25-3-4 at home this season. Make that 26-3-4 now. Again, you knew exactly what was going to happen.
- Honestly, three west coast games at this time of year, with this team playing like it's played all year, is adding insult to injury. Staying up for 10:30pm ET puck drops should prompt a wellness check by the authorities, and possible institutionalization. Even if the Rangers were coasting to the playoffs right now, this swing would be rough. But that's why Blueshirt Banter is here for you, to watch these games so that you don't have to.
- Believing that the Rangers will come out at the start of one of these games with the sense of urgency that the moment necessitates—they remain one point behind Montreal for the second wild card spot and just behind the New York Islanders (yes, the Islanders, you read that right) in points percentage, but with both of those teams having two games in hand on them—is up there for the most delusional I've ever been in my life. Right up there with getting an undergraduate degree in music. There are a million ways this team is completely different from last year's team, but the most striking way is how boring they are to watch. There's no excitement to their game at all. The closest you get is to getting your blood pressure up is Igor Shesterkin's goaltending (more on that in a moment). It's just bad, uninteresting hockey. Every team facing the Rangers between here and the end of the regular season has to be salivating over it.
- Let's send out a hearty congratulations to Sam Carrick, who missed this game and is back in New York for the birth of his son! If his wife needs to get some sleep to recover, might I suggest turning on a New York Rangers game? That'll lull you into dreamland in mere moments.
#NYR lines to start this one have looked like...
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) March 26, 2025
Panarin – Trocheck – Othmann
Kreider – Zib - Cuylle
Laf – JT – Brodz
Aube-Kubel – Parssinen – Rempe
- I'm sticking to my pledge to not care about the lineup until Peter Laviolette has been fired, but two things. First, practicing with Jonny Brodzinski as RW1 is all the confirmation you need that Laviolette both reads Blueshirt Banter and that he's dedicated to trolling Chip. At this point if you can't laugh at this stuff, what can you do? Second, Nicholas Aubé-Kubel made his Rangers debut after being called up with Carrick out and slotting in over Brett Berard. If you watched the game, do you remember seeing him? You'd be forgiven if the answer is "no," because he only played 5:39 of that game. To round out the rest of the fourth line, Matt Rempe played 5:40, and Juuso Parssinen 6:28. Brennan Othmann, who started the game on the first line played the next least amount of time, 11:46. Look, I'm just a guy, but I can't imagine it's easy when your coach is only rolling two and a half lines on any given night.
