Wild First Period Sinks Rangers; Blueshirts Fall 3-2
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Here is our recap of the Rangers 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
Young Guns – Although the Rangers didn’t get the result they were looking for, they have to be happy with the way their young defensemen played in Minnesota. All four guys, John Gilmour, Ryan Sproul, Neal Pionk and Tony DeAngelo, were smart with the puck, made the simple play in their own zone and made the right decision when jumping into the play.
And the youngsters weren’t silent in this one, with three of the four recording points. John Gilmour scored his first NHL goal off of a one-time pass from Tony DeAngelo with the Rangers on the man-advantage.
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In the second period, Neal Pionk’s blocked shot and pass led to Kevin Hayes’ goal in the second. Pionk’s “save” came as the Rangers were starting a power play, and brought the Blueshirts within a goal.
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The kids have injected speed, energy, and effort into the Rangers lineup, and it isn’t surprising to me that the team has responded with better play over the last week. The recent call-ups are playing without fear and they’ve been showing the poise and mental fortitude on the ice that you’d expect from a multi-year professional. If these guys are a part of the Rangers future on the blue line, the team is sitting in a pretty good spot.
“It was a turnover-fest, and that’s why we lost this game,” Henrik Lundqvist said. “It’s too bad. We played really well after we settled down 10 minutes into the game, but that start cost us big time. We gave them every goal.” – NY Daily News
Sloppy Start – After the first seven minutes of the game, the Rangers controlled the majority of the play. However, in those opening seven minutes, Minnesota took a 3-0 lead that the Rangers were unable to overcome. Three turnovers, which were not credited as giveaways, led to three goals against that were quite frankly inexcusable. A puck poked off the stick of Holden when he had control in the neutral zone, a Rick Nash cross-ice pass in the defensive zone that is redirected on net, and a Brady Skjei overskated rebound are why the Rangers lost this game. One bad turnover is “manageable”, but when it’s three in a span of 3:08, it is simply unforgivable.
Final tally: Rangers had three official giveaways, two by Pionk, one by DeAngelo. … none by Holden, none by Nash, none by Skjei, who each coughed one up for a goal. Okey dokey. #NYR
— Rick Carpiniello (@RickCarpiniello) February 14, 2018
Next Game: The Rangers will look to bounce back on Thursday when they face the Islanders at the Barclays Center. Puck drops at 7!
LETS GO RANGERS!!
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