Rangers captain sees ‘lot of good’ despite 3rd straight home shutout loss
New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller doesn’t want his teammates to panic after the Blueshirts made NHL history on Tuesday night — just not the kind that they wanted.
The Rangers became the first team to lose via shutout in each of its first three home games when they outplayed the Edmonton Oilers for most of the night but couldn’t get a puck past goaltender Stuart Skinner in a 2-0 loss before 16,497 disgruntled fans at Madison Square Garden.
As was the case in a 1-0 loss to the Washington Capitals at home Sunday, the Rangers had much the better of play. They outshot the Oilers 30-22, had 11 high-danger chances to three for the Oilers at 5-on-5 and a 15-3 edge overall, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Rangers also had all three of the game’s power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 11 seconds during the second period. Rubbing salt in the wound, defenseman Braden Schneider and center Sam Carrick each beat Skinner clean but hit iron at different points of the game.
Carrick was upbeat after the game, despite the latest shutout defeat.
“That’s a really good hockey team that’s been in the [Stanley Cup] Finals two years in a row … I would say we outplayed them, out-chanced them, and very easily could have won that game, a couple bounces here or there,” Carrick explained. “Our mindset here is good. We’re in a good place right now. We know we’re playing well. We’re a tough team to play against. Once they start going in, things are going to turn around here.”
Goalie Igor Shesterkin, aided by a stout defense, stopped 20 of 21 shots and has allowed just three goals in his four appearances – one each in home-and-away matchups against the Pittsburgh Penguins last week and a breakaway tally by Trent Frederic at 10:22 of the second period Tuesday. That goal came after a dump-in by Urho Vaakanainen hit the linesman at the Oilers’ blue line; Frederic then beat Vaakanainen the other way, went in alone and slid the puck between Shesterkin’s legs.
That was the only shot to get past Shesterkin, who “had a great start for us,” coach Mike Sullivan said.
The Rangers surpassed the 2001-02 Florida Panthers (155:17) for the longest season-opening streak without a goal on home ice among teams that still exist. According to the NHL, the 1928 Pittsburgh Pirates still have the longest time from the start of the season without a home goal (187:19); however, different overtime rules in the early years of the NHL led to them exceeding 180 minutes in less than three full games.
“I don’t know if I should laugh or cry,” forward Mika Zibanejad said.
Rangers find themselves in ‘unique situation’
Miller, who was named the franchise’s 29th captain during training camp, doesn’t want anyone feeling sorry for themselves. He reiterated after the game that the Rangers did almost everything right at the Garden — except put the puck in the net.
“It’s a unique situation, but let’s not blow this out of proportion,” he said. “This is just Game 5. There’s a lot of good. We’re getting a lot of chances.”
One of the things the Rangers did right against Oilers was shut down superstar center Connor McDavid and sidekick Leon Draisaitl. Neither had a point at even strength (McDavid assisted on Adam Henrique’s empty-netter). A big reason was that the Rangers had the puck for most of the night, attempting 74 shots to 46 for the Oilers. McDavid had two shots on goal; Draisaitl managed one.
But despite all the positives, the Rangers came up short — again. Miller wants to make sure his teammates don’t get discouraged.
“This is a unique start to the season in the sense of, there have been games where we feel like we’ve really thrown a lot at the other team and we’re not getting rewarded,” he explained. “So I think it’s on us to make sure that the mindset stays the same in here, and we don’t go off the grid to find something. We need to stay the course. Over time, the results will come.”
Sullivan agrees with his captain that the goals will come if the Rangers continue to play like they did against the Capitals and Oilers.
“We just have to stay the course,” Sullivan stated. “We got to dig in. Can’t get discouraged. We just got to become more determined, and the pucks will go in the net for us. But we have to continue to do the things that are allowing us to generate the looks that we’re getting. As long as we do that, I believe these guys are too talented, they’re going to score goals.”
But here’s one note of consolation for Rangers fans who might already be panicking.
The last time the Rangers were shut out in three consecutive home games was in 1927-28, their second season in the NHL. They played a scoreless tie against the original Ottawa Senators on Feb. 7, 1928, lost 3-0 to the Chicago Black Hawks on Feb. 12 and then fell 2-0 to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 19.
But less than two months later, the Rangers celebrated their first Stanley Cup championship after a 2-1 win against the Montreal Maroons in the fifth and deciding game of the Final. They survived two shutout losses in that series, but got enough goals to take home the Stanley Cup.
The Rangers would be happy to endure these struggles 98 seasons later if it ends the same way next spring.
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