The good news is that in his debut wearing number 8, J.T. Miller scored twice for the Rangers. The bad news was on display the rest of the game as the mistake prone Blueshirts managed to ruin Miller’s debut in a bad 6-3 loss to the Bruins in Boston. It was their third consecutive loss in regulation, dropping them to six points out of the second wild card which the Bruins now occupy with 58 points in 54 games. The Rangers remained at 52 in 51.
By continuing to lose this week, they failed to gain any ground on the competition that now includes the Islanders, who have won six in a row to vault up to 53 points. While the Red Wings and Islanders have been hot lately, the Canadiens have dropped two straight and the Lightning have only won twice over their last six. Currently, the Blue Jackets are in the first wild card with three consecutive wins moving them up to 59 points. The Lightning have 57 in 50 games. The Rangers are tied with the Flyers in points, ranking behind the Bolts, Red Wings, Islanders, and Canadiens. With 31 games left, they must start winning consistently or risk digging a bigger hole for themselves.
Not much went right for the Blueshirts in what amounted to an important game against the Bruins on ABC, which was preempted by the late conclusion of the Panthers defeating the Blackhawks 5-1. They didn’t start until 3:50 due to the scheduling on national TV. It didn’t seem to help.
Despite Miller threatening to score on his first shift while playing with Artemi Panarin and the mismatched Mika Zibanejad who shifted to the right wing, a loss of discipline put them behind halfway through the first period. With Urho Vaakanainen already serving a cross-checking minor, Ryan Lindgren took an ill-advised cross-checking minor when he decked Matthew Poitras into the boards causing a ruckus. The refs correctly gave Lindgren the only penalty for his foolishness. That put the Bruins on an abbreviated 14-second five-on-three.
Just as Vaakanainen’s penalty expired, David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha combined to set up a Charlie McAvoy power-play goal at 10:21. His one-timer whizzed by Igor Shesterkin upstairs to give the Bruins a lead that didn’t last long. Back at even strength, Panarin got a piece of a loose puck to send it right to Miller, who blasted a one-timer by Jeremy Swayman to tie the score only 34 seconds later. It was Miller’s first goal as a Ranger since Feb. 25, 2018. A day later, he was traded with Ryan McDonagh to the Lightning in an ill-fated move that netted Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, Nils Lundkvist and Karl Henriksson.
When they were put on the power play, Peter Laviolette had Miller on one point with Adam Fox. The top unit also included Panarin, Zibanejad, and Vincent Trocheck. For some reason, Chris Kreider wasn’t featured as the net front presence. He was on the second unit and got a shot right on Swayman when they came on. The continued catering to Zibanejad has become nauseating. Predictably, he didn’t score for the fifth straight game. He has only one goal over his last 13 games.
After the power outage, Pastrnak struck for the first time when he was left alone in front to bury a Poitras feed to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead with 2:51 remaining. On a Brandon Carlo dump-in, Poitras outmuscled Fox to find Pastrnak open for his first goal of the game. He was just getting warmed up.
Following the period, both Mark Messier and P.K. Subban criticized Fox for not being harder on the puck in a lost defensive battle. It wasn’t the only time in the game, either. Both Fox and Lindgren struggled mightily against the forechecking Bruins, who won all the battles in a lopsided second period that saw them outscore the Rangers 2-0 and hold a decisive edge in shots (10-2). The Rangers barely touched the puck in the period of the long change. It’s been a theme for most of the season.
On a smart play from Bruins captain Brad Marchand, he sent the puck up for an Andrew Peeke shot that Charlie Coyle tipped in to make it 3-1 less than four minutes into the second. Marchand beat Fox behind the net to make the play while Lindgren failed to close out Coyle in front.
With most of the play at even strength, the Bruins dominated shifts for long stretches by continuing to get pucks in behind the Rangers defense and create opportunities. The entire period basically saw them a couple of steps behind chasing the play against an opponent that isn’t known for their team speed. It was pitiful.
Topping it off, the Bruins added a second power-play goal late in the period to extend their lead to 4-1. With Will Borgen off for a tripping minor that was clearly embellished by Morgan Geekie, it took Boston just 25 seconds to take advantage. On a bit of a broken play, Elias Lindholm’s attempted pass deflected right to Pavel Zacha in front for his 12th at 17:10.
Trailing by three on the scoreboard, the Rangers were put on the power play when Marchand interfered with Vaakanainen. The penalty came with 1:20 remaining in the period. It took them a while to capitalize, but Miller tipped in a Zibanejad shot pass for his second of the game 35 seconds into the third period. In a rarity, Kreider picked up an assist for only his third helper of the season. One can only hope that it’ll get him going.
As only they can do, the Rangers gave it right back. On a clean check by Pastrnak on Reilly Smith that forced a turnover inside their own blue line, Poitras retrieved the puck and sent it across for a Pastrnak blast past Shesterkin for his second of the game to make it 5-2, answering Miller’s tally just 46 seconds later.
With less than 10 minutes left in regulation, Jonny Brodzinski scored in his return to the lineup. Playing in place of Arthur Kaliyev, who’s the latest young player to be in witness protection, Brodzinski tipped in a Lindgren point shot for his fourth to cut the deficit to 5-3 with 9:13 remaining.
While it’s nice that he scored, Brodzinski is another 31-year-old player on an aging roster. This isn’t a knock on Brodzinski, who always gives an honest effort when he plays. It’s more an indictment on the Rangers organization that doesn’t emphasize enough opportunities for younger players.
There are some exceptions. Will Cuylle has had a good sophomore year with 13 goals and 14 assists for a total of 27 points. He leads all Rangers skaters in hits with 187 after recording six more in the loss on Saturday. He’s become a good penalty killer replacing the exiled Jimmy Vesey, who is the latest Ranger to go to curmudgeon Larry Brooks and voice his displeasure. Unfortunately, Cuylle hasn’t produced as much since being put with Zibanejad. Maybe that’ll change if he plays with better players. Zibanejad has been a black plague at even strength. Someone should tell Laviolette that.
Alexis Lafreniere hasn’t supplied the Rangers with the kind of year that was expected. Held without a point on Saturday, he remains stuck on 13 goals and 17 assists in 51 games with his minus-14 rating the second worst on the team behind only Zibanejad’s minus-26. It’s awfully hard to win in this league when your best players are performing so poorly.
Look no further than Pastrnak’s empty net goal that gave him a hat trick. With Shesterkin off for an extra attacker, the Rangers lost a faceoff and then two battles that allowed Geekie to easily find Pastrnak for the 18th hat trick of his career. Both Zibanejad and Panarin made little effort to prevent it. It was embarrassing.
There isn’t much left to say about the lackluster effort Panarin’s given defensively. He’s fallen back into the same bad habits he did under Gerard Gallant two years ago. When Gallant openly criticized him in front of teammates, that spelled the end of his tenure. Even though I didn’t love Gallant due to his failure to make adjustments and his impatience with line combinations, he has been proven right about the core. They can’t seem to handle any criticism.
Laviolette was much tougher in Year 1 and it led to a very successful season. He’s scaled back in Year 2 and they’ve been a disjointed team this season that looks like it’s destined to miss the postseason. Something even the biggest Rangers hater couldn’t have foreseen.
Did Chris Drury break the Rangers by unceremoniously dumping popular locker room leader Barclay Goodrow on waivers in a prearranged deal that sent him to a team that was on his no-trade list? It looks like it. There was the lead to Brooks that tried to force Jacob Trouba to accept a trade out of Manhattan when he clearly prioritized wife Kelly. Eventually, that ended in bitter fashion with a disenchanted Trouba forced out by Drury in lethal fashion – winding up in Anaheim when given a choice between being placed on waivers or accepting a trade. They got Vaakanainen, who’s played every game since arriving while Zac Jones rots away in the press box. Even when he has a bad game like today, you can fully expect Vaakanainen to dress for tomorrow’s game against the Golden Knights.
We saw how things played out with Kaapo Kakko, who went off after being made a healthy scratch by Laviolette when he was the least of their issues. All because the coach is afraid of his shadow to make an example of Zibanejad. Neither Zibanejad nor K’Andre Miller ever were sat out for their struggles. Kakko got his wish when Drury traded him to the Kraken for Borgen and a pair of draft picks. At least it’s worked out well for both sides, with Kakko putting up 15 points in 20 games while Borgen performed well enough to sign an extension that’ll keep him in the Big Apple for a while.
With the arrival of Miller, who will do well in his second stint back with the team that drafted him, it probably spells the end for Zibanejad. Even if he does have a no-trade clause, it doesn’t make sense for Drury to keep him. I’d imagine he’ll force Zibanejad to accept a deal elsewhere this summer. Miller and Vincent Trocheck are close, and both are clearly better players than Zibanejad, who has been lost all season. He just hit his 30th point in game 51. That’s pretty magnifying for a player they’re paying $8.5 million dollars to.
For the remainder of the year, the Rangers should be more exciting to watch. They’ll score more goals thanks to the addition of Miller, who has a lot more left in the tank. He’s also very driven and a vocal player who will speak out when things aren’t going well. That’s why he’s no longer a Vancouver Canuck. Apparently, he was too hard on Elias Pettersson.
The problem is that just in one lackluster period, the Rangers again proved why they’re a very flawed team. More often than not, they make inexcusable mistakes that prove costly. It’s why they sit outside the playoffs at the beginning of February. There’s going to be a break coming up due to the 4 Nations Face-Off. How they finish it could really determine their fate. After the Golden Knights, they have the Bruins again on Feb. 5, the Penguins on Feb. 7, and the Blue Jackets on Feb. 8. It’s imperative that they win at least three of these games to stay in the race.
I’m not holding my breath. This team is a colossal disappointment. Why would it change?
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
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