The Rangers are officially on a losing streak but come out of it with a point after losing the shootout to the Colorado Avalanche. In a much better showing then the previous two games, the Rangers had no issues playing with the Colorado Avalanche but due to a costly mistake from Shesterkin and Georgiev coming up big in the shootout, the Rangers couldn’t get the win as they will look to find one on Long Island tonight. Let’s recap last night’s action before we preview our first big rival match-up of the season.
While it always sucks to lose and especially stings after already losing two games prior, the Rangers did play a pretty good game. Still far from perfect, the Rangers outshot the Avalanche 46-44 and outperformed them in a lot of categories. However, turnovers and special teams were the difference maker, as the Blueshirts could not capitalize on the power play, gave up goals on the power play and penalty kill, and were far too careless with the puck, resulting in 11 turnovers, some at very inopportune times. These are major issues that the team needs to get under control and bad habits that need to be dropped going into tonight’s outing with the Islanders.
While the Rangers played a much better game, they didn’t get off to the best of starts as Colorado outshot them 20-11 in the first period. About halfway through the period, Kaapo Kakko got called for hooking which put Colorado on the power play. Sure enough, Valeri Nichushkin let a shot go through a screen that beat Shesterkin to put the Avalanche up 1-0. Not long after, the Rangers would get called for another penalty, this one being an absolute joke. So apparently, the rules state that if the officials call a four minute high sticking penalty, they can review it to make sure they got the call right. However, if it’s a two minute call, they can’t reverse the penalty despite being able to spend five minutes reviewing it. Come to find out that the player got hit in the face by his own teammates stick and not the guy you gave the penalty to.
Listen, it’s game seven of an 82 game season so I’m not going to freak out about a miscalled penalty, but can you imagine if they did call that in the playoffs?! People would be livid and rightfully so. I’m all for human error and leaving judgment calls as part of the game but if we’re going to use slow motion replays for something like offsides which should be a judgment call, why shouldn’t they be able to use if for penalties that were clearly called wrong? Thankfully, no harm no foul as the Rangers killed off the man advantage, slowly getting back to a decent pace of the game.
The second period would be much better as the Rangers picked it up on the shots on goal and would finally get on the board in the final minutes of the period. After a relatively quiet first half, penalties picked up as Trouba went off for hooking. Upon killing that penalty, the tide would turn and the Rangers would get a pair of power play chances but as it would remain throughout the entire game, the Rangers could not capitalize on the man advantage. Prior to the second opportunity, Barclay Goodrow would bury a nice shot from a weird angle off the pass from Trouba that came from Sammy Blais for his first point in almost a year. A huge goal for Goodrow as the Rangers desperately needed to get some momentum going.
To the third we went and the Rangers would begin the period on a man advantage thanks to a Josh Manson holding penalty. The momentum of a man advantage would be short lived as Igor Shesterkin made a costly mistake allowing Logan O’Connor to find the back of the net for his first of the season. Shesterkin’s usually stellar when it comes to playing the puck but given the circumstance of this play, he came way out to play the puck to avoid playing it in the trapezoid. The puck ended up back in Colorado’s possession and Igor was able to get back, but couldn’t get in position quick enough. For the most part, Igor was stellar throughout the night, especially closer to the end of the game. However, that’s a mistake you just can’t make, especially in a recently tied game.
Thankfully, the Rangers would tie the game back up later in the period off a beautiful passing sequence that started and ended with Adam Fox. Fox, bumped an Avalanche player off the puck, to which he rushed into the Colorado zone, feeding Goodrow who went over to Vesey and back to Fox to tuck it away on the back door. Tie game with about six minutes to go. The teams exchanged chances to regain the lead but inevitably, the game was headed to overtime. Overall, both goalies had a stellar night. Obviously going into the game, Alexandar Georgiev was the main storyline and you could just tell from the jump how badly he wanted to win this one. In total, both teams had 90 shots on goal, and between the two of them, Igor and Georgiev only let four in. It was definitely a goalies game and an all the more impressive one when you consider the amount of star power loaded on each team.
The game eventually went to a shootout which for lack of a better term is a crapshoot. Panarin scored to keep the game alive but Georgiev would have the last laugh, shutting down Alexis Lafreniere to give the Colorado Avalanche the extra point. For as badly as the Rangers needed to win this one, one point is better than none and honestly, it’s hard not to be happy for Georgiev. While one point isn’t as much as you’d want, the Rangers have the opportunity to go into night two, carrying the momentum of a fast paced game and they’re going to need it against the Islanders.
Rangers Game Day @ New York Islanders 10/26/2022
Right back at it we go against a New York Islanders team that for the most part, is the same exact New York Islanders team we saw last year and to an extent, the year before and the year before. What you see is what you get with this team and while they aren’t nearly as threatening as they used to be, this is still a New York Rival Match-up and the Rangers need to be hungrier than ever to get two points out of this one. It won’t be easy having played just 24 hours prior, but it’s certainly going to be less grueling than trying to have strong back to back efforts traveling through Texas and Arizona.
The Islanders are 2-4 through their first six, most recently losing to the Panthers in Florida by the score of 3-2. They’re currently on a three game losing streak, dropping both games in Florida over the weekend as well as a battle with the Devils just shy of a week ago. In that span, it’s been their captain Anders Lee leading the way with four goals and their assist for seven points in their last five games. Meanwhile on the top line for the Isles, it’s been their number one center who recently signed an eight year extension, leading the team in assists, averaging one a game over the last five. Aside from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who historically does pretty well against the Rangers, you really only have to worry about the Islanders top two lines. With Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri on the wings of line three, and a fourth line that hasn’t changed in years, the Rangers should be able to outplay the Islanders assuming they can keep their legs from last night under them.
In net, Ilya Sorokin hasn’t gotten off to a great start, having gone 1-3 through his first four starts with a save percentage just over .900 and a GAA of almost three. With a couple days since their last outing, you can likely expect him to take the net for the Islanders. On the Rangers end, it will be interesting to see how they handle the goaltending situation. Shesterkin had quite a busy night last night but remember, he had Sunday off so you have to wonder if they’re considering running him back to back. The Rangers will have two days before the next game and if they go with Halak on Saturday, Igor could play Sunday. Realistically, you have to think they’ll go every other for the rest of the week, barring any last minute coaches decisions or if they leave it up to Shesterkin to decide.
For the rest of the bunch, there really isn’t much to discuss as far as potential lineup changes. I would expect the coaching staff to get Zac Jones back in there for Hajek but other than that, there really isn’t much likely to change. That being said, we can expect the following for tonight’s outing.
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Trocheck - Lafreniere
Vesey - Goodrow - Kravtsov
Blais - Carpenter - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Jones - Schneider
Given the fact that the Rangers managed to get a point last night, I would still say they should look to get at least four points out of the next three games. Anything short of that could be cause to start considering some changes, especially as updates on Filip Chytil’s status come around. Oftentimes, it’s a bit of a lazy argument saying you need more from Kreider, Zibanejad and so on but the fact of the matter is, the Rangers are going to need more from these guys, especially during this stretch. Getting a quick start and getting on the board early will be pivotal for the Rangers. The Islanders are currently second in the league on the penalty kill therefore, the Rangers can’t rely on their power play to do the heavy lifting. Scoring at 5v5 and limiting the turnovers and bad neutral zone decisions will be a difference maker as the Rangers look to put an end to this little losing streak.
Chris Feldman
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