It Can Never Be Easy For New York, Rangers Drop Game 5
*Sigh*
The Rangers pass up on a great opportunity to get ahead in the series as they drop game five to the Hurricanes in an overall, disappointing and lackluster performance. The Rangers had spurts where they looked sharp, where they played with purpose, like they wanted to be there. However, they just could not do it consistently and did not test Antti Raanta nearly enough. Carolina played their game, the way only they know how and did it for an entire sixty minute effort which would inevitably be the Rangers downfall as Igor Shesterkin did everything he could to carry this team through an overall bad game.
Right from the jump, Carolina had the upper hand in scoring chances and were once again blowing the Rangers away in the shots on goal category. Eleven minutes in, Andrei Svechnikov delivered a bad hit to Tyler Motte which sent him off for boarding and put the Rangers on the power play. Once again, a great opportunity for the Rangers to get on top early and take control of one of the most important games of the year but alas, Carolina’s penalty killers were all over them. The Rangers couldn't win a faceoff or maintain any consistent puck possession and eventually, it got to the point where they couldn’t even enter Carolina’s zone. The second power play unit came out about halfway through and Jacob Trouba went to make a play at the point which resulted in Jordan Staal and Vincent Trocheck going the other way. K’Andre Miller made a diving attempt hoping to break up the pass but the puck got through and Trocheck stuffed it in the back of the net, 1-0 Carolina.
I love Jacob Trouba. He’s one of my favorite players, I have his jersey and nine out of ten times, he’s one of the most reliable, effective players on the ice. However, when that one out of ten times comes around, the mistakes he makes seem to be detrimental and very much effective for the other team. I get why Gerard Gallant has him on power play two but you have to think that they might want to try a left handed version of how power play one operates. Have Copp, Chytil, Lafreniere as your forwards and run Vatrano and Miller at the points. Or better yet, get Kakko in that mix one way or another.
The Rangers shook it off and got back to it but they were still lacking enormously in getting shots on goal. With three minutes to go, Ian Cole took another bad penalty for Carolina, this time for cross-checking Jacob Trouba. Another power play opportunity for the Rangers that they had to capitalize on. Six seconds into it, they got on the board as Adam Fox fed Artemi Panarin who went cross ice to Mika Zibanejad who put it away for his sixth of these playoffs. Sure enough, the next three minutes would be spent in Carolina’s favor and that “just get to the intermission” feeling that we’re becoming all too familiar with started to sink in. Thankfully, the Rangers got out of the period but they would have to be much better if they were going to get involved in this one.
To start the second, it seemed things were potentially turning around for the Rangers. That turning point came when Ryan Strome did a quick turn around to throw the puck to the net that beat Antti Raanta five-hole, giving the Rangers a brief, one goal lead. Low and behold, the officials were congregating in their hub as Rod Brind ‘Amour challenged the play for a missed offside call. At this point, I’m not surprised the goal got turned over and frankly, given how the Rangers played, it likely wouldn’t have made a difference. That puts the Rangers tally at 0-5 on goal review calls in these playoffs which is painfully comical. The thing that got me most about the call was at least from the replays they showed on the broadcast, there was no literal proof that Copp went offside. Sure from watching the replay it’s a fair assumption that Copp was offside but there wasn’t any clear sight of where his feet were and where the blueline was. Granted, I’m sure the officials got more information and angles then we did but from a fan perspective, it’s wild that they made the call with such ease despite having a clear picture of the play.
Whatever, have to bounce back when the calls don’t go your way and the Rangers are no stranger to that in these playoffs. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they really wouldn’t come back from that one. Not long after, the Hurricanes power play went to work as Frank Vatrano got called for hooking. Wouldn’t take long for the Hurricanes power play, who up to that point had been struggling tremendously, to capitalize as Teuvo Teravainen put one away on a perfect pass from Seth Jarvis. Nothing Igor could do there as the Rangers could not keep up with the Hurricanes power play. This would be a common theme throughout the night, the Rangers just looked tired, defeated and lacked the energy to bring some fire into this fight.
By the time the third period came around it wasn’t looking great for the Rangers and when Andrei Svechnikov found himself on a breakaway, it was pretty much game over. Svechnikov slipped one through the legs of Shesterkin as a trailing Adam Fox struggled to catch him. Fox especially was among the Rangers top players who did not have a great night and looked completely void of energy. The Rangers would have their most offensive period of the game in the third with a whopping seven shots on goal. Yes, you read that right, SEVEN. In periods one and two the Rangers only got the puck on net five times in each for a total of ten shots. That is COMPLETELY unacceptable in any kind of hockey game let alone game five of a playoff game when the series is tied at two.
Nevertheless, the Rangers had nothing to show for. They attempted to pull Shesterkin for the extra attacker but just from watching how the Rangers were playing you knew they weren’t going to have it in them. They couldn’t skate with the Hurricanes, they couldn’t hold onto the puck and seemed to cough it up in the neutral zone at every other breakout attempt. That’s not how you can play at this point in the playoffs and the Rangers are going to have to really sort themselves out by the time Saturday night strolls around as they are now facing elimination on their way back to the Garden.
Gerard Gallant has scrambled the lines a fair amount throughout this series and it’s pretty evident he should consider another shake up going into game six. It’s unfathomable that Kaapo Kakko is on the fourth line and on top of it, playing on his off side. I love Tyler Motte’s game and I firmly believe he’s a guy who can play anywhere in the line up but unless they’re in a pinch, there is no reason for Motte to be seeing top nine minutes over Kaapo Kakko. If I’m Gallant, I’m rolling with one of the following combinations:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Lafreniere Kreider - Zibanejad - Chytil
Panarin - Strome - Kakko Panarin - Copp - Kakko
Chytil - Copp - Vatrano Lafreniere - Strome - Vatrano
Motte - Rooney - Reaves Motte - Rooney - Reaves
On the bright side, this is a situation the Rangers have been in before and given how the Hurricanes have played on the road this postseason, the Rangers should have what it takes to force a game seven but they have to be all over it from the start. They need to play a combination of how they played in game one and game four to account for a full, productive sixty minute effort. After how they looked out there, it's hard to imagine that they’ll skate today and if they do, it should be very minimal. With everything on the line Saturday you have to hope that this team that continues to overcome adversity will have it in them to take this series back to Carolina and find a way to come back similarly to how they did in Pittsburgh. With Igor playing the way he has, it really falls on the Rangers top guys to step up and make those big time plays that carry weight to turn a series around.
Chris Feldman
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