TAMPA, Fla. — Perhaps no words were more illuminating after the Rangers’ latest loss than those of K’Andre Miller.
“I think just because we’re losing in a game doesn’t mean we’ve lost the game,” said the defenseman, who made his return after missing six games with an upper-body injury. “That (mindset) is something this group maybe has lost a little bit: that pushback.”
The Rangers’ 6-2 trouncing Saturday at the hands of the Lightning was another disaster in a stretch full of them. New York fell apart after a strong start and is now 4-14-0 in its past 18 games. Peter Laviolette’s club has been outscored 14-3 in its past three. Through 35 games, the Rangers are in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
Perhaps New York deserved a closer result than it got against the Lightning. The Rangers came out strong and were decent at even strength throughout the night. Natural Stat Trick said they had 67 percent of the five-on-five expected goal share.
“If I’m sitting here doing the presser for the Rangers, I’m sitting here saying, ‘hey, we did a lot of really good things,’” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.
That’s cold comfort when plummeting in the standings. And whether or not there were positives, allowing four consecutive goals is not a winning formula. It points to Miller’s concern: the team is not pushing back when adversity strikes.
Here are three takeaways from the Tampa Bay game.
Special teams disaster
In recent years, the Rangers normally have middle-of-the-pack five-on-five numbers but are elite on both the power play and penalty kill. The opposite was true in the first period against Tampa Bay. New York had the only even-strength goal of the period and led 15-3 in five-on-five shots. It was one of their best five-on-five periods of this recent stretch.
Special teams, though, were disastrous. Sam Carrick tripped Cam Atkinson less than two minutes into the game, which led Laviolette to bench him for most of the first period. On the ensuing Lightning power play, Nikita Kucherov found Brayden Point for a clean zone entry, and the center burst past Miller, forcing Igor Shesterkin to shift his way. That left Kucherov open backdoor, and Point found him for an early goal.
New York tied the game with a goal from Artemi Panarin, and it had all the momentum late in the period when Erik Cernak took a hooking penalty. Mika Zibanejad had a pair of solid looks during the power play, but Chris Kreider got too low trying to grab a loose puck after one. That led to a two-on-one for the Lightning. Former Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh led the rush and wristed a shot through Shesterkin for a goal the goalie probably should have stopped.
“We get four guys in there for rebounds and we’re ready to hunt,” Laviolette said. “Doesn’t bounce our way.”
The goal derailed the Rangers’ night. Their reward for a strong first period was a 2-1 deficit, and the game took a sharp downturn from there.
Early in the second, with Tampa Bay up 3-1 following a Point goal, the Lightning got called for having too many men on the ice. Laviolette’s shouts for the referees alerting them of the penalty were audible from the press box. On the power play, Brandon Hagel barely tipped a Panarin pass to Zibanejad, leading the center to whiff on a one-timer attempt. That gave Tampa Bay another two-on-one short-handed rush. Hagel passed to Anthony Cirelli, who finished to give Tampa Bay a three-goal lead.
Zibanejad said the Rangers were “a little bit too aggressive on both of those. We kind of get caught with four guys low and they just turn and go and get a two-on-one. Both times they capitalized on their chances.”
Alexis Lafrenière took Zibanejad’s place on the top power-play unit on later opportunities.
Jake Guentzel picked up a power play goal later in the period to chase Shesterkin from the game and put the Rangers in an insurmountable hole.
“We lost the special teams battle in a big way,” Kreider said. “It’s supposed to be a strength of our team. It was a detriment tonight.”
Too many penalties
The Rangers generally have a strong penalty kill — they entered the game fourth in the league — but they’ve been taking too many penalties of late. Over the past four games, their opponents have had 21 power plays, including five on Saturday.
“Can’t do that,” Laviolette said. “We talked about it. We’ve got to give ourselves the best opportunity to be successful and going to the penalty box isn’t going to be the chance that we need.”
New York killed off 17 minutes without allowing a goal against Dallas, but since then the team has allowed at least one power-play goal in three consecutive games, including three against New Jersey and three in Tampa Bay.
Carrick was the primary culprit against the Lightning. He committed three penalties: a trip, a roughing and a cross-check. Newcomer Will Borgen also took an ill-advised cross-checking penalty with the Rangers already short-handed in the third period. New York managed to kill off the five-on-three.
Tampa Bay stars outclass those of the Rangers
Shesterkin allowed five goals on only 13 shots faced before Laviolette pulled him in favor of Jonathan Quick midway through the second period. Poor play in front of Shesterkin led to several of his goals against, but he was not at his best against the Lightning and star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 42 saves.
The Tampa Bay fans relished it all. They chanted “Vasi’s better!” at him while he was in the game and waved goodbye when Laviolette pulled him. Shesterkin stormed to the dressing room for a few minutes after Quick came in the game then returned to the bench later in the second period.
Tampa Bay’s top skaters performed far better than the Rangers’ did, too. Kucherov and Point had three points apiece, and Guentzel and Cirelli each had two. The special teams numbers relate to this. With Tampa Bay’s top offensive players on the ice on power plays, the Lightning came away with goals. When the Rangers top offensive players on the ice on power plays, the Lightning still came away with goals.
New York’s top lines created offense at even strength. Both the Zibanejad line and Vincent Trocheck line doubled up the Lightning in shots at five-on-five. Trocheck scored a short-handed goal early in the third period and assisted Panarin’s goal in the first.
Still, the Rangers’ top players can’t walk away feeling good about their play. Zibanejad has no points in his past seven games, and Adam Fox has only two assists. Panarin and Trocheck each have four points in that span, but they have also both been on the ice for more goals against than the Rangers have scored. Kreider, coming off a healthy scratch, has only one point in his past nine games.
New York’s underachieving starts with its top players, and that trend continued against a Lightning club with stars that are relentless.
(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
