Recap: Rangers Head West After Uninspired Effort in 4-1 Loss to Nashville

After falling behind early in this one, the Rangers picked up their second loss of the season in what quickly became a “burn the tape” kind of night. Coming off a gritty win in their home opener, it would have been ideal for the Rangers to carry some momentum into their first lengthy road trip of the season but alas, they now find themselves 2-2 through their first four games.

One pregame note; all thirteen forwards took warm ups for the Rangers after Nick Bonino had a maintenance day yesterday. Any potential line-up changes would be a game time decision and it ended up being Jimmy Vesey returning in place of Tyler Pitlick.

1st Period:

It was a slow start to the night as neither team was really able to get pucks on net or generate much of anything. The first look at special teams came six minutes in when Adam Fox got tied up with Yakov Trenin behind the Rangers net, getting called for hooking in the process. Kind of a questionable call as Trenin had initially tripped Fox, which resulted in his stick wrapping around the Preds forward. A successful kill by the Rangers kept the game scoreless but did not result in any spark in their play whatsoever.

Just as Sam Rosen mentioned that the Rangers hadn’t been able to sustain any offense, Filip Chytil couldn’t get the puck out of the zone which led to Tyson Barrie firing the puck on net from the point. The puck snuck through Igor Shesterkin just enough to stay out of the net, but a diving effort from Cole Smith put the loose puck home to make it 1-0 Nashville.

A tough start for the Rangers as things would only continue to go south as the night went on. With about five and a half to go in the first, the Rangers got their first chance at the power play as Cole Smith tripped up Fox. The power play units had some zone time but weren’t getting many shots off. Just as time was winding down, K’Andre Miller put a little too much sauce on his pass intended for Erik Gustafsson. The puck bounced right past him and onto the stick of Cole Smith who was fresh out of the penalty box. Smith beat Shesterkin clean on the breakaway with a shot on the glove side for his second of the night to give Nashville a 2-0 lead.

Cole Smith, nearly doubling his career goal tally in the opening period of the game against the Rangers.

The Rangers had one decent chance to end a very lackluster period. Neither team reached double digits for shots on goal but on the bright side, the Rangers were still winning the majority of the face-offs. Intermission couldn’t come soon enough for the team that trailed 2-0 in desperate need of a chance to regroup and reset.

2nd Period:

New period, same storyline. The Rangers couldn’t get anything going, Adam Fox took his second penalty of the night and right off the face-off, Nashville quickly moved the puck around until Ryan O’Reilly beat Shesterkin from up close in the slot to make it a 3-0 game. What’s more rare, Fox taking two penalties in one game or Shesterkin getting beat on a clean shot twice in one game?

Shesterkin would face another breakaway not long after the O’Reilly goal, this time, his opponent was Jusso Parssinen. Igor came up with a big save and for a moment, the game’s pace felt as if it was picking up. That moment quickly passed following a TV timeout. The Rangers couldn’t get their forecheck going, were struggling to make passes and other simple plays, and the Garden was growing noticeably silent. This team needed something, anything to bring some life back into the building and they just couldn’t seem to figure it out.

Just over the game’s midway point, Artemiy Panarin took an awful stick infraction penalty as Nashville iced the puck. Less than a minute in, Filip Forsberg danced around the Rangers zone, taking the puck to the right side of Shesterkin where he let a slap shot go that went flying past the Rangers netminder up high to make it 4-0. This would put an end to Igor’s night as Jonathan Quick would make his official Rangers debut in relief of the Rangers star goaltender.

In hindsight, this would have been an ideal game to have Jonathan Quick start with a tough road trip around the corner.

A pair of Nashville penalties towards the end of the second period gave the Rangers 75 seconds of 5-on-3 hockey. Adam Fox ended up down low on the left side and threw a puck on net that bounced off former friend Ryan McDonagh, under Jusse Saros to finally put the Blueshirts on the board. Fox is now on a four game point streak, with one goal and four assists to start the season.

After forty minutes, the score was 4-1 Nashville as they out-shot the Rangers 18-14.

3rd Period:

The Rangers kicked off the third with another 45 seconds of power play time but were unable to convert for a second time. Quick was tested early in the third as he came up with a couple of big saves in the first three minutes. Zibanjead would go the other way with it, drawing another Nashville penalty, this time from Roman Josi. Again, the Rangers struggled despite a couple shots on Saros and one off the post.

Time was quickly becoming an enemy to the Rangers. With eight minutes to go, Vincent Trocheck found the back of the net to supposedly bring his team within two. Alas, the Rangers had a third goal successfully challenged for offsides this season, which brought them back to the three goal deficit that would stick through the final buzzer.

A brutal night that quickly became one to forget. Final tally on shots was 27-25 in favor of Nashville who also blocked double the amount of shots as the Rangers 20-10. The Rangers were 1 for 4 on the power play and 1 for 3 on the penalty kill, just barely having the edge in face-offs at 54%.

The Rangers will have their work cut out for them as they head to Seattle for their first of five games on their West Coast road trip. Puck drops at 10pm on Saturday Night.