Recap: Lack of Urgency Costs Rangers, Lose to Kings 3-1

The Rangers kicked off a three game road trip in California as they took on the Los Angeles Kings for the final time this season. Once again, the Rangers came into this one in a position where two points would go a long way in the standings which would be no easy feat against this Kings team who is 25-3-4 on home ice this season. It would also become the NYR debut for former Stanley Cup Champion Nicolas Aubè-Kubel who was called up yesterday with Sam Carrick not making the trip for personal reasons.

Despite it being a close game on the scoreboard for most of the night, the Rangers continued to show a serious lack of urgency which cost them yet another important pair of points in the playoff race.

1st Period: 

It was all LA through the first six and a half minutes leading up to the first TV-timeout of the night. Shots were 3-2 in the Kings’ favor but the Rangers were chasing in the defensive zone, struggling to enter the zone let alone generate anything and continuing to make extremely questionable decisions with the puck. Specifically from Carson Soucy who thought throwing the puck up the middle of the ice from behind the net as Shesterkin was still returning to his crease from playing the puck was a good idea. Thankfully, Shesterkin appeared to be at the top of his game from the start here. 

The Rangers’ best chance of the period came on a point blank chance for Matt Rempe but a fantastic defensive effort from Vlad Gavrikov got in front of it to block the shot. An interesting tidbit regarding Rempe which at this point, was the only interesting thing going on in this game; Jonathan Quick grabbed dinner with Anze Kopitar and other veterans on the Kings and took Rempe along with him which was a really cool move by the veteran netminder who has been a key mentor to Rempe along with the rest of the team all season. 

This was right around the midway point of the opening period and soon after, the Rangers would get the first man advantage of the outing. Vincent Trocheck had a chance in the slot but was tripped up by Andrei Kuzmenko. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t come as much of an advantage as neither power play was able to set up or maintain possession in the offensive zone at all. 

About two minutes later, the Rangers would head to the penalty kill as Zac Jones was called for holding in the midst of a net front battle in the defensive zone. It would be a successful kill as the Rangers held them off to keep the game at zeros heading into the first intermission. The bright side? The Rangers doubled their first period shots total since their last game. The bad? They doubled it from one to two. The Kings had five high danger chances to the Rangers zero but the most telling stat line was the Rangers with a 0.02 expected goals for rate. 

2nd Period:

The Rangers doubled their shot on goal tally within the first two minutes of the period which was certainly encouraging. Philip Danault immediately going the other way and ripping a shot off the post was not so much. The Rangers best shift of the game came from the latest version of the top line as Alexis Lafrenière had a chance with a bouncing puck on the doorstep and J.T. Miller had an even better one atop the crease that Darcy Kuemper was able to get a pad on. 

The officials actually decided to review the play to check and make sure the puck didn’t completely cross the line. As it turned out, the puck did fully cross the line before Kuemper got the pad on it which gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. 

The Rangers were much better through the first half of the second as they were playing a bit more aggressively and were actually generating meaningful, more consistent offense. Right around the midway point of the second, the Kings were back to the power play as Matt Rempe was called for existing. Excuse me, that was “slashing”.  Adrian Kempe had an outstanding chance at the doorstep but Shesterkin was able to shut the door on him. The Rangers wouldn’t have as much luck the second time around as a fantastic pass from Kuzmenko set up Kevin Fiala for the tip-in to tie the game 1-1. 

With four and a half to go in the period, Matt Rempe and Tanner Jeannot, who was throwing late hits and playing hard against the Rangers all night, exchanged some words in the neutral zone and agreed to drop the gloves. Neither player really connected on much and Rempe ended up falling after losing an edge which put an early end to the scrap. Jeannot even tried to help Rempe backup quickly as they both wanted to keep it going but alas, that was the end of that. 

Meanwhile, the Rangers would be shorthanded with three and a half to go as K’Andre Miller was called for tripping Quinton Byfield. Certainly felt as if the Rangers were tempting fate by continuing to give this team power play chances and that indeed became the case. After failing to clear the zone, Trevor Moore got a shot on goal that created a rebound goal for Danualt in his 700th career game. 

Soon after, the Rangers would get another chance on the power play as Joel Edmundson was called for interference with under two minutes to go. That would come to an early end as Adam Fox took Byfield down near the point to keep the power play ice cold. 

With the team’s skating at 4-on-4, the period came to an end in an exciting sequence as the Rangers had an odd-man rush that was interrupted by a strong backcheck from Byfield. The Kings then had an odd-man rush the other way that resulted in a strong save and clearing effort from Shesterkin who batted the loose puck out of the zone. 

Better period but it came at the cost of the lead as the Rangers were now trailing 2-1 after forty minutes of play. Shots on goal were now 18-16 with high danger chances 8-5 both in LA’s favor.  The Rangers would need a big third period if they wanted to come out of this one successful.

3rd Period:

The Rangers killed off the brief power play the Kings would have once the penalty to Edmundson expired. After four and a half minutes of play which included a really strong chance on a nice passing sequence from the Rangers' top line, Kempe was called for hooking Will Borgen. If there was ever a time for the Rangers to score a power play goal, it was right here. 

One for their last 27, the Rangers top unit took to the ice and had probably one of their best chances in recent memory which included three shots on goal but it wouldn’t be enough. Make it one for their last 28 as this team can’t seem to buy a power play goal. The statline gets worse and worse the deeper you look at it. 

Nearing the midway point of the third, Igor Shesterkin continued to stand on his head and the Rangers were struggling to clear the zone or regain any serious possession. Will Cuylle taking and then receiving big hits throughout a shift prompted a change of pace for the Rangers and with less than eight minutes to go, they came real close to tying the game up following more sustained offensive zone pressure. Of course, Darcy Kuemper decided this was the best time to do his best Jonathan Quick circa mid-2010 impressions and robbed the Rangers on a flurry of chances.

With just under four minutes to go, Kevin Fiala had a partial breakaway on a clear from Alex Laferriere but Zac Jones was able to get back enough to slow him down and Shesterkin held onto the puck for the whistle. Time was beginning to escape the Rangers as Shesterkin headed to the bench with under two minutes to go. Just like they have all sense, this team lacked any sense of urgency, fumbled the puck left, right and center and with 15 seconds to go, Fiala picked up the empty netter to make it 3-1.

This team's inability to convert 6-on-5 has been a detrimental problem among several this season.

And that's that. The Rangers kick off the road trip on the wrong foot and are running out of chances to regain positioning in the playoff race. They'll have plenty of time to think over this one as they're off for two days before heading to Anaheim to take on the Ducks Friday Night.