Rangers have off night in Dallas, streak stopped at 8 (DAL 3 vs NYR 2)

Ladies and Gentleman, that loss was inevitable. The Rangers finally faltered a bit defensively and some puck luck went the other team’s way for a change. In the end, the Rangers only lost by one and could’ve probably gotten a point out of a contest they were in to the end.

STARS 3 vs. RANGERS 2

The night started with such promise as JT Miller returned to the lineup and scored a PP goal to put the Rangers up 1-0. All the hysteria about “why scratch JT Miller?” was answered with inserting him back in the lineup and on the PP. Hey folks, an NHL head coach’s only real power over players is (drumroll please)….ICE TIME!

AV chose to bench the kid against NJ to see how he would respond and if he could elevate his game. JT did just that and guess what, it may happen again as the coach tries to turn Miller into a top 6 forward for years to come.

Of course, the Rangers would finally have an off night as they were lazy (or maybe tired) in their defensive responsibilities and penalties. Tanner Glass took a couple of bad minors, the first got Dallas on the board.

John Klingberg’s point shot was blocked and came right back to him. A sea of players blocked Lundqvist’s view and bang tie game. Dallas took the lead on gaffes by Kevin Hayes and Marc Staal – not Tanner Glass as some have insisted.

A bad pass caused an icing while the Rangers were in the process of a line change. Glass who was the far side winger couldn’t change. On the ensuing face off, Hayes had an opportunity to clear the puck and coughed it up to the Stars’ defender who sent it deep.

The Rangers would knot it at two just 1 minute later. Fittingly, it was Staal and Hayes combining for the goal to make up for their poor play earlier. The second period however was no improvement as the Rangers were asleep out of the gate.

Ryan McDonagh lost his coverage and Antoine Roussel gave the Stars a lead that Kari Lehtonen, the post and Jyrki Jokipakka would not relinquish.

Lehtonen made a brilliant save on Dan Boyle late in the third. Kevin Klein rang a shot off the post and Jokipakka swept a puck away at the goal line. When the buzzer sounded the Rangers finally lost a game for the first time in 9 contests.

Afterwards, Henrik Lundqvist said, “It doesn’t matter how many games you win. When you lose, you’re disappointed.” While that is the truth, the Rangers should be applauded for an incredible winning streak.

The Rangers will get back at it tomorrow in Florida against the Panthers.

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