Recap: Detrimental Defense Cost Rangers in Washington

After a bounce back win at home against the Anaheim Ducks over the weekend, the Rangers were back on the road to pay a visit to the Washington Capitals. This one turned out to have some wildly entertaining stretches but an abysmal night for the Rangers defensively with minimal offense outside of the Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko line became a recipe for disaster. Let's break it all down. 

1st Period:

The Rangers opened the night by starting their third line of Chytil, Kakko and Cuylle which continues to be one of the best 5-v-5 lines across the NHL. Will Cuylle got off to a noticeable start with a massive hit on Dylan Strome but it wasn’t long before the Capitals brought their own physical edge to match that. This began to create problems for the Rangers as they started turning the puck over and seemingly wouldn’t stop as the period went on. After those initial turnovers within the first two minutes, a minor scrum broke out in front of the Rangers net which set the stage for Matt Rempe. 

In his first shift after his two game stint in the AHL over the weekend, Matt Rempe dropped the gloves with former 10th overall draft pick by the New York Rangers, Dylan McIlrath. Rempe would get the worst of the scrap but it was a spirited battle that went on for quite a while. This wasn’t the first time these two have had a go at it as Rempe and McIlrath have a bit of history previously fighting in the AHL. 

The Capitals gained some momentum from the fight but more notably, the Rangers continued to struggle with clearing the puck out of their own zone. This was a major problem in their series with the Panthers and needs to be something they put attention towards throughout this season. A feed from Dylan Strome found Alex Ovechkin in the slot who was able to beat Shesterkin with a quick shot that may have taken a slight redirect off of Ryan Lindgren. 1-0 Washington. 

The Rangers were able to respond quickly as just 58 seconds later a great effort from Kaapo Kakko took the puck into the offensive zone and found Will Cuylle in the slot to beat Logan Thompson, tying the game up 1-1. A fantastic read from Kakko to not only see the opportunity, but to outwork both the winger and the defender along the boards.

While that line continued to shine for the Rangers, turnovers were making more of an impact in a negative way. Another defensive zone turnover right off a face-off ended up on the stick of Strome who chipped it ahead to Aleksei Protas. Protas had plenty of time to think his decision through and dished it over to Ovechkin at the doorstep who banged it home before Adam Fox could catch him. 2-1 Washington. 

Just seven minutes into the game, the Rangers were being out-shot 8-2 and took the first non-fighting penalty of the night as Sam Carrick tripped Michael Sgarbossa. The Capitals were able to establish some pressure but the Rangers held them off for a successful kill. However, just 15 seconds after the teams returned to even strength, a shot from Taylor Raddysh at the face-off dot took a deflection off of Connor McMichael in front to extend the Caps lead 3-1. 

This gradually began to settle down but the Rangers were absolutely atrocious in their own end of the ice and weren’t getting much generated the other way. With about five minutes to go in the period, Reilly Smith found himself on a quick breakaway which wouldn’t even count as a shot on goal as he missed the net just wide with a wrist shot. The pace picked back up in the final minutes as the Rangers gave up another odd-man rush that required a big save from Igor Shesterkin on Andrew Mangiapagne. 

The fourth line closed out the period with a nice rush after an icing call which almost brought the Rangers within one and drew a penalty as Carrick was hooked by Dylan Strome on the backcheck. An eventful period to say the least but the Rangers were looking far from the team they are expected to be and with Washington being much better than they were in the playoffs last year, it wasn’t a good start by any means. Shots at the end of the opening twenty were 20-6 in favor of Washington who also led in attempted, face-offs, high danger chances and expected goals for. 

2nd Period:

With the Rangers kicking off the middle period on the power play, they absolutely needed to get something going in order to get back in this one. Specifically, Mika Zibanejad who had another tough period and is slowly becoming the team’s third most effective center. Sure enough, a nice feed from Vincent Trocheck found Zibanejad in his usual spot which allowed for him to let a meaningful shot go that ended up in the back of the net. Of Course it would end up being Chris Kreider’s goal as the puck went in off his skate at the doorstep, 3-2 game.

The physicality continued as Victor Mancini laid out Tom Wilson in the Rangers end of the ice which is surely another example of how to win the fan base's heart. Close to four minutes into the period, Lindgren would head to the penalty box as he was called for hooking after being tied up with Mangiapagne. Kreider nearly had his second of the night as he found himself on a breakaway right at the start of the penalty kill. However, a slash from Wilson broke the stick of Kreider which should have been a penalty but as play continued, Ovechkin would end up being called for interference which brought the teams to 4-on-4. 

That ended up working against the Rangers favor as Aleksei Protas had a fantastic shift getting the puck in the Rangers zone then going right to the net to deflect a shot from Rasmus Sandin past Shesterkin, 4-2 Washington. 

Just 14 seconds later, a beautiful zone entry from Filip Chytil moved the puck over to Mancini who let a shot go that Chyti was able to redirect, bringing his team back within one, 4-3. 

The craziness continued as Connor McMichael had a breakaway that required a patient effort from Shesterkin to come up with a beautiful save. As Lindgren returned to the ice, Trevor van Riemsdyk continued to make contact with Adam Fox well after he dumped the puck in which sent him off for interference and gave the Rangers a brief 5-on-3 power play. 

As good of an opportunity as you can ask for to finally tie the game up but the Rangers wouldn’t convert. Aleksei Protas nearly found his second of the night as a great play from the Capitals bench did a great job of getting him a new stick after he broke his prior to a potential breakaway chance that Shesterkin was able to turn away. 

Nearing the midway point of the game, Mancini sent the puck over the glass to give Washington another power play. Another successful kill from the Rangers settled this game back into some normality as both coaching staffs were able to start rolling their lines business as usual. It was a front heavy period as things settled down through the rest of the second. The Rangers were still struggling significantly with generating offense and the Capitals weren’t showing any signs of slowing down theirs. Shots at the end of two were now 33-13 in favor of the Capitals who continued to have control of this one. 

3rd Period:

The Capitals headed back to the power play just three minutes in as Mika Zibanejad was called for interference. A tough break as Reilly Smith nearly tied the game with a one timer off the post moments prior. Shesterkin continued to make some brilliant saves to help keep his team in the game and to eventually kill off Washington’s fourth man advantage of the night. It’s also worth mentioning that the defense pairings went back to Lindgren - Fox and Miller - Trouba to start the final period of regulation. 

Shesterkin continued to play a key role in the score remaining 4-3 as he made a pair of big saves on yet another Washington odd-man rush. With just under nine minutes to go, the Chytil line continued to be the Rangers most effective line as Kakko found Chytil open in a prime scoring chance to nearly tie the game up. Outside of that line, the Rangers really weren’t getting much done on either side of the ice. 

WIth under two minutes to go, the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker and with exactly 60 seconds left, the Capitals iced the puck which allowed for a crucial moment. The Rangers opted not to use their timeout to try and take advantage of a tired Washington group but that became a bit counteractive as Washington iced the puck for a second time and eventually found the empty net with 35 seconds to go. A rather disappointing ending to a game the Rangers really had no business being that close to competing in. 

The final shots on goal tally would be 46-19. You’re not going to win many games when you’re averaging a little over six shots on goal per period let alone in a game where you just don’t show up defensively. Lots to take away from this one as the Rangers need to be better in all areas. Not just defensively, but offensively as their top players have some competition with how good that third line has become. They’re back at it on home ice Friday Night as they’ll host the Ottawa Senators.