Rangers blown out by Sabres 8-2 in 1st game after 4 Nations Face-Off break
The New York Rangers returned from the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off and were doomed by a litany of mistakes in a humiliating 8-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday at KeyBank Center.
The Rangers fell behind 1:46 into the contest and gave up four more goals in the final 8:02 of the opening period to fall behind the last-place Sabres 5-0.
“It wasn’t good,” coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “There was nothing that was good about the game. Terrible start, terrible first period. It didn’t get much better from there. It was not the game we were looking for coming out of the break. That’s it in a nutshell.”
Jack Quinn scored the opening goal, Rasmus Dahlin scored twice and added an assist for the Sabres, who also rolled to a 6-1 rout against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 7. Dahlin had a three-point opening period and was unstoppable against the Rangers, who spent large stretches in their defensive zone and scrambling around.
“I don’t see it as a lack of urgency,” said Vincent Trocheck, one of six Rangers who appeared in the 4 Nations Face-Off. “I think we were not in the right spots.”
Tage Thompson scored Buffalo’s third goal and tallied again early in the third. Ryan McLeod scored less than two minutes after Thompson’s first goal to turn the game into a rout, added another goal in the third and Dahlin capped the five-goal barrage by scoring on a power play.
Henri Jokiharju scored in the final minute, and the Rangers allowed eight goals for the first time since a 9-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 14, 2019.
“I think the effort and execution needs to be a whole lot better,” center J.T. Miller said. “It’s tough seeing that many go up. We kind of left the goalies hanging out to dry tonight.”
Dahlin’s second goal at 18: 21 of the first period ended Igor Shesterkin’s night. Shesterkin returned from his second upper-body injury this season and allowed five goals on 16 shots.
It was the ninth time this season Shesterkin allowed at least five goals, his most in any season since making his NHL debut in January 2020. The 29-year-old is 1-5-0 in his past six games with an .817 save percentage. It was the fourth time this season Shesterkin was pulled. Jonathan Quick allowed the final three goals, all in the third period.
The Rangers (27-25-5, 58 points) fell to 3-5-0 in their past eight games since a 10-game point streak (7-0-3) moved them back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Rangers play six more games before the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7. New York is four points out of the second wild-card spot with 26 games remaining.
The Rangers were somewhat improved in the second period after allowing their first five-goal opening period since Dec. 26, 1991 in an 8-6 road win over the Washington Capitals. Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal and Mika Zibanejad also scored, but Buffalo finished it off in the opening 5:40 of the third.
Kreider’s goal was the 116th power-play goal of his career, tying Camille Henry for the most in Rangers history. But it was the only bright spot on a rough night for the Rangers, who face a quick turnaround with a visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon.
“It has to be frustrating today,” Zibanejad said. “We move on and play a big one tomorrow.”
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Sabres 8 – Rangers 2
The mistakes started early and persisted throughout a disastrous opening 20 minutes.
Buffalo went ahead after K’Andre Miller’s clearing pass banked off Zibanejad’s left skate. Quinn gained possession, easily moved through the slot and flipped a soft shot from the left circle past Shesterkin.
With 8:14 remaining, Shesterkin made a juggling save on Jordan Greenway but could not control the rebound and the puck went to the corner. Braden Schneider lost his stick in the corner and lost possession, allowing Greenway to move to the left point and take a shot that was tipped in by Dahlin, who easily breezed past Reilly Smith to the front of the net.
Dahlin was denied on a breakaway with 5:55 left but things got even worse for the Rangers when Thompson made a dominating play to put Buffalo up 3-0 with 4:28 left. Thompson pried the puck from Ryan Lindgren with an effective forecheck near the left corner, easily skated past Adam Fox and flipped a backhander past Shesterkin from in front of the net.
After McLeod won an offensive zone face-off from Trocheck, he went to the net as the Sabres moved the puck around without difficulty. Following five passes, McLeod jostled for position in front with Schneider and tipped in Dahlin’s blast from the point with 2:27 remaining.
Shesterkin’s night ended during a cross-checking penalty to Sam Carrick when Dahlin eased by Trocheck, got to the left circle and sent a wrist shot into the net.
After Kreider and Zibanejad scored to make it 5-2 after two periods, Thompson surprised Quick with a shot from the right circle at 3:47 of the third and McLeod finished off a breakaway less than two minutes later. Jokiharju completed the scoring with 36 seconds left.
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