Here’s what made former Rangers captain’s ‘blood boil’ in most recent loss to Flyers
Dave Maloney didn’t hold back in his critique of the New York Rangers during their most recent loss, 3-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Black Friday.
The former Rangers captain and current MSG Network analyst was disgusted with the Blueshirts lack of compete in a miserable first period that culminated with Artemi Panarin jousting with Flyers forward Travis Konecny. What infuriated Maloney, who was as passionate as they come during his playing days, was that no Rangers player came to their star forward’s aid. At one point he was surrounded by five Flyers without a Rangers player in sight.
“In all honesty, it made the blood boil a little bit,” Maloney said on air in a conversation with studio host John Giannone.
A measured but angry Maloney stated flatly, “The Rangers simply have to do things a little bit differently.”
What’s become so maddening about New York’s current five-game losing streak — above and beyond their one-and-done offense, allowing goals off the rush and giving up mind-boggling scoring chances one after another in their own end — is the lack of fight, literally and figuratively.
It’s been an issue pretty much throughout their 7-9-0 stretch that followed a hot 5-0-1 start to the season. The Rangers simply do not compete hard enough. They do not win enough battles. This was a major issue in the 2024 Eastern Conference Final loss to the Florida Panthers. And now it’s an issue this season, only this time against lesser lights like the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and Flyers.
There’s no excuse Saturday when the Montreal Canadiens come into the Garden for a matinee. The Canadiens of today (8-11-3) are last in the Eastern Conference and tied for 30th overall in the NHL. In no way do they resemble the Dynasties of decades past in Montreal.
Really, no excuses for the Rangers.
Related: Rangers injury update: Chris Kreider, Filip Chytil return against Canadiens
Rangers lack of compete level is concerning
Yet, the simple act of standing up for their best player, one who’s not rugged nor physical, on Friday was an issue. That’s with K’Andre Miller and Vincent Trocheck among those on the ice at the time .And Maloney was having none of it.
“Quick jab by Panarin, and Konecny goes right back at him. Now, where do all the other Rangers go? And where do the four Flyers go? And how long does it take to get the Rangers involved, maybe to kind of protect your best player?” Maloney questioned, with more than a hint of disgust.
Clearly, if general manager Chris Drury thought he was sending a message to fire up the Rangers when reports surfaced that he’s looking to make a trade — possibly shopping Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba — it backfired. Because not only are the Rangers still losing, their compete level hasn’t been impressive, nor improved.
One not as obvious example of the Rangers failure to compete consistently at an acceptable level is that they’re not drawing any penalties. The Rangers have had 12 power-play opportunities in their past eight games, a sign they’re not working hard enough to force opponents into taking penalties.
On top of that, the Rangers haven’t scored on any of those 12 power plays and are without one since Nov. 12. They’ve dropped to 14th in the League on the power play (20.4 percent). But that’s a whole other issue.
Let’s see what the Rangers have in store on Saturday against the Canadiens.
More About:New York Rangers News
Read This Next
