Recap: Rangers Fall to .500 With 2–0 Loss to Basement Dwelling Nashville

Make it three in a row, again. Despite a somewhat decent start to the outing, the Rangers went for another Sunday skate and allowed one of the bottom feeding teams in the standings to embarrass them once again for another abysmal loss. Not only does this loss add insult to injury regarding all around vibes, this team is now officially a .500 team and even further out of the playoff picture. 

Prior to the ongoing sadness that is this team, there were some accolades to acknowledge. First off, an exciting night for Urho Vaakanainen who finally made his New York Rangers debut after coming over in the infamous Jacob Trouba trade a few weeks back. Additionally, it was a milestone night for Jimmy Vesey who suited up for his 600th career game against the team that originally drafted him back in 2012. Stick taps to both players but unfortunately, wouldn’t be much of a night worth celebrating. Let’s break it down. 

1st Period:

It was a bit of a slow start with the Predators icing the puck four times within the first five minutes of play. On the other hand, that made for a good start for the Rangers who had a couple of chances to get on the board early and seemed to have good control of play. They were much quicker on pucks, dominated puck possession and were forcing Nashville turnovers left and right. 

With about seven minutes to go in the first, a failed breakout attempt from the Rangers resulted in a point blank chance for Michael McCarron. Following the shot on goal, the puck went off the glove of McCarron and danced across the top of the net before the Predators wrapped the puck around and put it in the net after the whistle already blew. The goal horn sounded briefly but the puck never even crossed the line let alone would have counted as the puck was hit by the hand of McCarron. 

Of course one minute later, a turnover from Chad Ruhwedel led to an odd-man rush for the Predators that again, left the Rangers chasing and resulted in the first goal of the game. Jonathan Marchessault, one time New York Rangers product people forget, would get the final touch on it, making it a 1-0 game. 

Aside from the goal and a couple of good looks from the Rangers, particularly through the first half of the period, there really wasn’t much to note. The officials were certainly sitting on their whistles as there were a couple situations that could have been a penalty but alas, it was a full twenty of even strength hockey. Shots were 9-8 in favor of the Rangers who played a better period but again, found themselves behind on the scoreboard. 

2nd Period:

Sam and Joe started the second period by talking about how the Rangers have gone four periods without a power play chance. Sure enough, about two minutes in the Rangers got their chance as Gus Nyquist was called for holding Alexis Lafrenière. Of course that wouldn’t help the Rangers much as they two minutes came and went with some decent looks, primarily right at the end, with the score remaining the same. 

Right at the midway point, things heated up after a flurry of saves from Igor Shesterkin. Luke Evangelista hit Will Cuylle from behind which resulted in Lafrenière going after him. Cuylle, who was understandably irate over the matter, ended up in a wrestling match with Michael Del Gaizo that eventually escalated into a proper albeit short-lived fight. 

Ironically enough, Evangelista and Cuylle apparently work out together in the summers. We’ll see if that continues moving forward. 

Nevertheless, the Rangers somehow ended up with a power play once all was said and done. With Lafrenière in the box, Filip Chytil took his place (in place of Panarin) on the top power play unit. The Rangers spent the entirety of the two minute advantage in Nashville’s zone but still could not seem to find the back of the net. Turns out not getting power play’s wasn’t the problem, scoring in general seemed to be. 

Play picked up a bit from there as both teams went back and forth with chances off the rush. Steven Stamkos had a partial breakaway that was eventually broken up by Braden Schneider as the Rangers went the other way with it, Kreider had a chance on an odd-man rush but couldn’t get enough of a shot off. Lots of back and forth that wouldn't amount to anything for either side but the pace of the game was certainly increasing.

With three minutes to go, the Predators got their first power play chance as Reilly Smith was called for interference off an offensive zone face-off. Not a great place to take a penalty. The Rangers always seem to get their best scoring chances while shorthanded and this one was no exception. Vincent Trocheck ended up on a breakaway off a nice outlet pass from Jimmy Vesey but was turned away by a key save from Jusse Saros. 

The Rangers successfully killed their first penalty of the night but just as the second period was coming to an end, they were called for having too-many men on the ice which would leave them shorthanded once again to start the third. After forty minutes of play, shots were now 22-17 in favor of Nashville who were also leading 14-8 in high danger chances. The Rangers needed to kill another penalty and find a way to get on the scoreboard heading into the second intermission. 

3rd Period:

The Rangers took care of business to return to even strength unscathed within the first two minutes of the period. Lafrenière nearly tied the game on a shift soon after as he was incredibly patient with the puck and walked in all alone on Saros who unfortunately didn’t budge and shut down the scoring chance. 

Outside of that, the first half of the third was quite the wash. Only five shots on goal from the Rangers who were again, struggling to clear the puck out of their own zone, posing minimal threats in their opponents end of the ice. With Nashville on the scoreboard and time continuing to tick, things weren’t looking great. Sure enough.. With eight minutes to go in regulation, a long shift in the Rangers end resulted in a highlight reel goal from Norris Trophy Winner Roman Josi…excuse me that’s *checks notes* Adam Wilsby.. First career NHL goal. 

Reilly Smith could not have looked less interested in throwing a hit or productively defending the play in any sense. 

The game wasn’t over but it may as well have been. This team couldn’t complete a pass, couldn’t maintain any meaningful pressure. Peter Laviolette opted to have his fourth line out there with Chad Ruhwedel and Ryan Lindgren who weren’t even a pairing on defense with three minutes to go. He finally got his big name guys out there and pulled Shesterkin with about two minutes to go and honestly, it wasn’t even worth the effort. This team didn’t have it in them, just as they haven’t since late November. 

The Rangers are now 3-11 in their last 14 games, 2-5 since they traded their captain away. The results speak for themselves, this team is practically asking for more drastic moves to come. The schedule doesn’t get any easier as the Rangers are back at it Friday Night as they head south to visit the Dallas Stars.