Recap: Sunday Scaries at MSG, Rangers Lose 7-5 to Seattle

Sunday Afternoon hockey at the Garden never fails to entertain and this one was a story before the puck even dropped, specifically with regards to the goaltending on either side. The Rangers made last minute call ups to Connor Mackey and Dylan Garand. Mackey to be the 7th defenseman (newly acquired Urho Vaakanainen is still injured) and Garand to backup Quick seeing as Igor Shesterkin’s wife went into labor with their second child. A congratulatory week for the Shesterkin family continues.

On Seattle’s end of things, their starting goaltender Joey Daccord was ruled out with an illness, forcing them to sign Michael Matyas to an amateur tryout just hours before puck drop. A 33-year old local finance working from Calgary, Matyas spent a few seasons playing NCAA hockey in Alaska but never sniffed the NHL. What a beautiful game it is where on any given night a random man can have the chance to live the dream. Unfortunately for the Rangers this game would be far from beautiful as what seemed like an easy win turned into an ugly loss real quick.

1st Period:

Sloppy start for both sides as is often the case with afternoon games. The Rangers had an early chance on an odd man rush with Alexis Lafrenière giving Artemiy Panarin a beautiful feed towards the slot that went just wide of the net. Turnovers were happening early and often here as Jonathan Quick nearly gifted Seattle one by passing the puck right to them which led to their first shot on goal. 

Just under four minutes in, a shot from K’Andre Miller at the point just snuck through Phillip Grubauer which left an easy rebound in the crease for Reilly Smith to tap home, 1-0 Rangers. 

Not long after the goal, a quality rush from Filip Chytil drew a Kraken penalty on Matty Beniers for slashing. A good start to the power play for the Rangers but once Seattle was able to clear the zone, their pressure dwindled significantly. With 11 seconds to go on the man advantage, Filip Chytil collided with Grubauer which not only gave the Rangers their first power play of the outing, but gave Seattle quite the scare. Grubauer was incredibly slow to get up and with Joey Daccord already out with illness, resorting to the guy they just signed to an ATO a few hours ago, that early into the game would be the furthest thing from an ideal situation. 

Seattle’s power play didn’t pose any problems for the Rangers who appeared to have a confident grasp on the game through the first half of the opening period. As the period went on, the Rangers were buzzing at times with the Panarin line in particular coming close to extending the lead early. Filip Chytil was also noticeable creating a chance off the rush practically every time his line took the ice. 

A late shot on goal from Panarin resulted in a brief scrum to close an all-around solid period from the Rangers who took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Shots on goals after twenty were 12-6 in favor of New York. Both teams were 0-for-1 on the power play with the Rangers winning 67% of the face-offs, leading in high danger chances 4-0 and expected goals for 1.2-0.3. All things considered, one of the Rangers better periods in recent memory which is definitely an encouraging sight. 

2nd Period:

Tough start to the second as Ryan Lindgren was called for elbowing just 14 seconds into the period. A 5-on-4 advantage that basically became a 5-on-3.5 once Mika Zibanejad broke a stick with about 30 seconds remaining. Sure enough, a nice pass from Chandler Stephenson found Oliver Bjorkstrand right in front of the net to send the puck past Jonathan Quick, tying the game up 1-1. 

The Rangers were quick to answer as they made it a 2-1 game just 54 seconds later. Filip Chytil dipsy-doodled around several Seattle players in his own end which led to a great breakout from the Rangers third line. A perfectly executed passing play from Will Cuylle to Kaapo Kakko back to Chytil for a shot through traffic in the slot found the back of the net to wrap up another incredible shift from that line. 

Soon after, the Rangers were back to the power play as Brandon Montour took down Panarin with a cross check. Almost could have been two penalties for Seattle as Reilly Smith ended up taking an elbow from Montour immediately after Panarin went down. Nevertheless, the Rangers made them pay. Right off the face-off a shot from Adam Fox went wide with Chris Kreider right there to get a stick on the arrant puck which ended up right on the stick of Vincent Trocheck who had nothing but net to shoot at, 3-1 Rangers. 

Reilly Smith had the chance to pick up his second of the night as he found himself on a breakaway that gave Grubauer a bit of trouble with a quick release. Nearing the midway point of the period, the Rangers were seriously pressuring the Kraken once again as Victor Mancini had a great scoring chance that created another for Panarin, requiring a key save from Grubauer. The Rangers were firing on all cylinders looking to really put this one out of reach. 

With just under six minutes to go, the Kraken went to work in the Rangers end, cycling the puck with Lindgren getting caught chasing the play. Branden Tanev worked his way to the front of the net to sneak one past Quick, taking a little bit of wind out of their sails, 3-2 game. 

The Rangers were almost quick to respond, to the point where even the guy working the goal lights thought they found the back of the net. However, Seattle didn’t let that affect their recent efforts to bring some life back in this game and sure enough, they tied it up moments later. Another disjointed defensive effort allowed for Bjorkstand to throw the puck out to the high slot where Eeli Tolvanen ripped a slap shot up high to beat Quick again, tied game just like that. 

Things went from bad to worse with just over thirty seconds to go as a shot from Montour at point took a redirect in front of the net to give Seattle a 4-3 lead which they would take into the second intermission. A truly strange game as the Rangers had borderline dominated play through the first 34 minutes of the game then in a span of 88 seconds, the game was tied and almost as quickly, they were trailing. Shots after two were 24-17 in New York’s favor who still led in scoring chances both high danger and normal. All things considered, the Rangers were playing better and limiting chances in their own end but somehow still found themselves down. 

3rd Period:

From bad to worse once more as exactly 60 seconds into the final period of regulation, Vince Dunn let a shot go from the point that fired through traffic and past Quick, 5-3 Seattle. If that late goal in the second wasn’t a wake up call, this one certainly needed to be. 

During a TV-timeout nearing the midway point of the period, I accidentally leaned on the remote control and turned the TV off. Perhaps that was a sign because shortly after, Shane Wright came into the zone flying past everyone and beat Quick off a nice dish from Tolvanen. This team needed to show some urgency and get something going to turn this thing around and as has become a theme, they had nothing to offer, at least not yet. 

Finally, the Rangers had an answer. A weird angle shot from K’Andre Miller in the corner hit off the helmet of Grubauer and found the back of the net to bring his team back within two. This seemingly woke the team up a bit as the Rangers were showing signs of the team that dominated most of this game through the first half of play. 

Just over two minutes later, Adam Fox led a fantastic breakout that Trocheck sent up to Panarin to enter the offensive zone. After whiffing on a pass, Panarin remained calm, cool and collected to dish it back ahead to Trocheck who then found Lafrenière wide open at the doorstep to fire a shot home, bringing the Rangers back within one. Life was back in the Garden. 

At least for a moment in time, the Garden had a roar that has been sorely lacking as of late. The Rangers pulled Quick for the extra attacker with roughly two minutes to go which pretty much put an end to the game right then and there. This team’s conversion rate with the net empty can’t be too far from zero and sure enough, Yanni Gourde sent it down the ice and in to seal the deal 7-5. 

Truly, a baffling game. The Rangers were the dominant team for more than half of it yet it seemed each and every mistake they made resulted in a goal for Seattle. In a normal season, you’d chalk this one up to it being a flukey afternoon outing but the Rangers haven’t been in a position to make excuses for weeks now. They have to be better and the longer it takes for them to do so, the louder that alarms are sounding. 

The Rangers have little time to waste as they’re right back at it on home ice tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks. If they can’t manage to muster up two points against the worst team in the league, Trouba may not be the only one hailing a cab out of town.