Rangers ‘under siege too much’ recently, coach believes
The New York Rangers suffered an embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night after what seemed to be a ticking time bomb finally went off.
After relying on elite goaltending for the past two weeks — really much of the season to date — and sneaking away with wins, the Rangers finally saw what happens when Igor Shesterkin is not at his best. With rumors swirling that Shesterkin and the Rangers neared a contract extension worth $11.5 million annually, the 28-year-old goalie let in five goals on just 12 shots, and was pulled from the game for the first time this season.
“We’ve been under siege a little bit too much and relying on our goaltenders too much,” coach Peter Laviolette said postgame.
While goaltending is the least of New York’s concerns, the loss to the Sabres exposed the flaws that the Rangers have been dealing with recently, and pretty much all season. The flaws that have been masked by excellent goaltending, especially in this 3-3-0 stretch the past six games.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from low point early in season, 6-1 loss to Sabres
Rangers need to ‘attack more’ to win games
One of the more prominent issues against Buffalo had less to do with their defensive struggles, but more to do with their inability to break the puck out of the zone and attack the Sabres defense.
“I don’t like the fact that we weren’t on the attack more,” Laviolette explained. “I don’t think that we were on an onslaught, and that’s why it was 3-0, I’m going to be disappointed that we didn’t generate more, that we didn’t go after them, that we didn’t attack them more.”
So, albeit a 6-1 final, the Rangers were not necessarily under siege last night. They actually out-chanced Buffalo 35-23, and outshot them 26-22. But much of the positive numbers came in the third period, when it was all but decided that Buffalo would come away with a win. For the first two periods, the Rangers were simply outplayed, more so in the second than the first.
In games past, the Rangers were heavily out-chanced, out-shot, and out-worked.
This is becoming a persisting issue. It was seen in the losses against the Florida Panthers and the Washington Capitals, and in the 2-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators, which was only a win because of Shesterkin.
Simply put, the Rangers cannot sustain a good season if they are getting outplayed this consistently.
“What we needed was to control the puck more, to generate more in the offensive zone, to stay in the offensive zone longer, to put their goalie under siege more than we did,” Laviolette explained.
While this is certainly a game to wipe from memory for the Rangers, they are going to have to look at the issues that continue to pop up and address them. As seen on Thursday night, goaltending will not be able to save the Rangers night-in and night-out. Sometimes, they need to win one for the goalie, which hasn’t really happened yet this season.
The Rangers play play the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night, a team they’ve beaten twice this season already. However, the real test comes on Tuesday when they welcome the Winnipeg Jets to Madison Square Garden.
The Jets are the best team in the League with 26 points, thanks to a 13-1-0 record. The Rangers were hanging in there with the Jets for a while, but the past six games dropped them to ninth in the League, with an overall 17 points and 8-3-1 record. Nonetheless, this will be a huge test for the Rangers to see how they stack up against one of the top teams in the NHL. If you think all eyes won’t be on this game, think again.
But first, the Red Wings. A chance to get back on track with how the Rangers want to play.
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