Recap: Same Old Song & Dance, Rangers Lose 3-2 in St. Louis

It would be a completely different set of line combinations for the Rangers in the second half of their back-to-back but it was the same sad story. The Rangers stumbled their way through another gutless performance, found a burst of life late in the third to make it interesting just to fall short yet again. With Artemiy Panarin listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Kaapo Kakko being a healthy scratch in a truly mind boggling coaches decision, this is what the lines looked like: 

1st Period:

Joe Micheletti called it a conservative start to the game as both sides had just one shot on goal each through the first four minutes but really, it was another slow and uninspired start. Sure, both teams were in the second half of a back-to-back, coming off a night of travel but for the Rangers, that’s irrelevant. I’ve said this several times as of late but with how disastrous things have been going for them, there’s no room for excuses of any kind regarding how this team should be going into games night in and night out.

After an uneventful first half of the period, the Rangers headed to the penalty kill as Jonny Brodzinski was called for tripping. As always seems to be the case, the Rangers came alive whilst at a disadvantage, seeing a pair of quality scoring chances. The first on a point blank shot from Adam Fox and the other off a rush from Vincent Trochcek. 

The Rangers followed up the successful penalty kill with a strong shift from the new version of the Lafrenière line but that would become one of the few scoring chances they really saw throughout the opening twenty. As for the Blues, with just over a minute to go in the period, Jake Neighbours found Pavel Buchnevich wide open across the slot that allowed for the former Ranger to fire a one-timer straight to the back of the net. 1-0 Blues. 

Overall, it wasn’t as terrible of a period we’ve seen from this team in recent showings but hardly anything to feel good about. Shots were 8-7 in favor of the Rangers who saw the majority of attempts and hits but trailed in the face-off dots and were behind in the high danger count 2-1. Oh, and they still trailed on the scoreboard 1-0. 

2nd Period:

St. Louis nearly extended the lead within the first thirty seconds of the second. Another turnover led to Alexei Toropchenko taking the puck to the net, picking up his own rebound for two quality scoring chances that required huge saves from Jonathan Quick. This would be the beginning of another slow start to the period for the Rangers who went nearly five minutes again without registering a shot on goal. 

About six and a half minutes in, the Rangers watched Jordan Kyrou walk into the zone and let a shot go off the post and in to beat Quick and make it a 2-0 game. Yet another brutal fumble from Ryan Lindgren which left for a half-hearted backchecking Chris Kreider to just watch the goal unfold… 

Robert Thomas nearly made it a 3-0 game immediately following the shift that led to the second goal as he ripped a shot off the crossbar. After failing to do anything to remotely change the tide of this game, the Rangers got caught in the offensive zone with too many guys deep which allowed for an odd-man rush the other way. Robert Thomas waited for Braden Schneider to hit the ice and the second he did, the puck was in the back of the net. He may have hit the crossbar earlier but he found the net this time around. 

The response from the Rangers? Same as it has been, absolutely nothing. Not a slam of the stick, no visible frustration, barely any big hits or noticeable efforts that could potentially change momentum. For yet another night, this team was seemingly rolling over and accepting defeat without the slightest fight. 

Shots 19-14 after two with all five high danger chances of the period belonging to the Blues. While Chris Kreider may have been listed on the fourth line tonight, Mika Zibanejad had the least amount of ice time through the first forty minutes. 

3rd Period:

The Blues continued to play a tight game and the Rangers couldn’t sustain any offense or get anything going through the first half of the third. For the longest time, Connor Mackey had the team’s best scoring chance on a wrap-around attempt which good for Mackey but was not a great look for 90% of the roster. 

One interesting note, the Rangers seemingly demoted Kreider to the fourth line with Sam Carrick and Adam Edström but it really felt like they were out there every other shift. Meanwhile, Zibanejad continued to see the least amount of ice time as any Rangers forward. 

Finally, just over halfway through the final period of regulation, Brett Berard continued to be one of the few players in a Rangers uniform playing with any kind of urgency and found the back of the net on a shot that surprised Joel Hofer. 3-1 game. 

Just 79 seconds later, a good effort from Connor Mackey kept the puck in the zone which allowed for Chytil and Lafrenière to go to work down low. Their efforts paid dividends as they were able to dish the puck out to Will Cuylle in the slot who let a one-timer go to bring his team within one, 3-2. 

This prompted the Blues to call a timeout as all of a sudden, the Rangers had some momentum. That slowed things down for a bit and with two and a half to go, the Rangers pulled Quick for the extra attacker. They maintained possession for the majority of that time but once St. Louis managed to clear the zone with about thirty seconds to go, they ran out of gas and couldn’t make their way back. It was too little too late and another sad loss for the New York Rangers. 

Truly an unfathomable decision to not have Will Cuylle, one of the few players giving an honest effort, not to mention, the man responsible for the team being in this one goal situation to begin with, on the ice in a 6-on-5 desperation moment. Where instead, you decide to patronize Mika Zibanejad who barely played all night with the chance to tie the game to force overtime. This very well could have been Peter Laviolette’s last game behind the Rangers bench. The same could be said for some of these players. Perhaps there’s even bigger changes to come but the fact of the matter is, this team can not go on without some sort of serious shift in performance and mentality. 

The road trip continues as the Rangers are back at it in Nashville to take on the Predators Tuesday Night at 7:30pm.