3 Rangers takeaways after 3-2 loss to Maple Leafs damages their playoff hopes
The New York Rangers were the better team against the Toronto Maple Leafs everywhere but on the scoreboard Friday night.
After getting bailed out by goal Igor Shesterkin while being outplayed badly in road wins against the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders, the Rangers flipped the script against the Leafs. They outshot Toronto 35-17 and had exactly twice as many shot attempts – 78-39.
The only thing they didn’t have when they left the ice at Madison Square Garden was the win they needed so desperately as they try to make up ground in the Eastern Conference playoff scramble. The Rangers allowed early goals in each of the first two periods, then coughed up the game-winner by Matthew Knies 6:21 into the third for a 3-2 loss that left them where they started the night – four points out of the two wild-card berths.
“We were looking, we were hunting the entire night and just didn’t get rewarded for it,” coach Peter Laviolette said after his team came up empty despite its best performance in the four games since the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. “It seemed like (the puck) was on our stick most of the night, it was in the offensive zone. I thought we defended pretty well. We made another mistake in the second period and then when they got a look they buried it in the third.”
New York had 33 scoring chances to 13 for Toronto and a 14-8 advantage in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Rangers also went 38-23 on face-offs and forced the Leafs into 25 giveaways. But Toronto goalie (and New Jersey native) Anthony Stolarz made 33 saves and outplayed Shesterkin. He was especially sharp down the stretch, when the Rangers kept the puck in the Toronto zone for long stretches but could not get the tying goal.
“We need to win games now, and we didn’t tonight,” defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “We created lots of chances, created lots of opportunities. They just didn’t go in for us.”
The Rangers have to sit and watch on Saturday as the other six teams they’re jockeying with in the playoff race all see action. That includes the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, who are tied for the two wild cards entering their NHL Stadium Series game at Ohio Stadium.
After their night off, New York begins a stretch of three home games in four days against the Nashville Predators on Sunday. The Islanders come to the Garden on Monday, and the conference-leading Washington Capitals visit on Wednesday in their last game before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.
“You’re disappointed,” center Vincent Trocheck said, “but every game this late in the season, you have to look at it, take what you can, learn from it and then move on to the next game. You can’t really focus on it too long.”
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Three takeaways from Rangers 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs
1. “Starting on time”
Longtime NHL coach Mike Babcock was big on this theme and on making sure his teams were ready to go from the opening face-off in games and periods. The Rangers would have had Babcock venting steam out of his ears after allowing the Maple Leafs to score within the first two minutes in each of the first two periods.
Mika Zibanejad took a penalty 18 seconds after puck drop, and the Leafs turned it into a power-play goal by defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1:47 into the game. Zibanejad tied the game at 13:08, but the Rangers had to settle for leaving the ice tied 1-1 despite thoroughly dominating play.
They weren’t ready to go in the second period, either. A lazy change on defense let Nylander go in alone on Shesterkin for what turned into the go-ahead goal 51 seconds in. The Rangers started the third period by wasting the final 1:56 of a power play that began when John Tavares was called for interference in the final seconds of the second.
That’s spotting the opposition two goals and failing to capitalize on a chance to tie the game with poor starts – something the Rangers absolutely cannot afford in their situation.
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2. Igor the Ordinary
Shesterkin was sensational in the wins against the Penguins and Islanders, allowing just four goals while his team was being outshot 77-34. He wasn’t awful against the Maple Leafs, but the Rangers needed a better performance from an elite goaltender on a night when they matched the fewest shots they’ve allowed in a game this season.
He had no chance on the early power-play goal by Ekman-Larsson or the game-winner by Knies. But he accidentally put Nylander’s goal into his own net after Urho Vaakanainen broke up the Toronto forward’s breakaway. Nylander shoveled the puck back into the crease, and with multiple sticks poking at the puck inadvertently nudged it over the goal line with his arm.
Shesterkin didn’t lose the game for the Rangers. But he didn’t win it, either.
3. Miller and Mika
The return of J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31 has been a success in its first month. Not only has Miller returned to being the offensive force he was last season, when he had a career-high 103 points, but his arrival has also reignited Zibanejad.
Miller has been productive since the trade. He has five goals and 10 points in nine games while providing a physical edge that had been missing.
Much of his time in New York has been spent playing with Zibanejad, who scored the Rangers’ first goal, with Miller getting the secondary assist, and had the only assist on Will Cuylle’s shorthanded goal in the third period. Since Miller joined the Rangers, Zibanejad has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in nine games – including seven during his current five-game point streak.
“I think Mika’s playing well,” Laviolette said. “I thought he was really good tonight. I think he played 23 or 24 minutes (actually 24:44). I thought he was moving, he was generating. I do think that J.T. has something to do with that.”
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