Key takeaways after Rangers’ offense comes up short in 3-2 loss to Vegas
The New York Rangers’ six-game road winning streak is over.
The Blueshirts did score twice, matching their combined goal total from their previous two games. But that wasn’t enough against the Vegas Golden Knights, who held off the Rangers 3-2 on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in the opener of a three-game road trip.
The Rangers (10-9-2) managed just 19 shots on goal against Vegas, which hasn’t allowed as many as 30 shots in any of its 19 games this season. Through the first 57-plus minutes, the only shot to beat goaltender Akira Schmid came 8:56 into the second period when Jonny Brodzinski banged in a rebound to finish off a 2-on-1 rush.
That goal made it 2-1, but Vegas made it a two-goal game at 7:18 of the third period when Shea Theodore scored the Golden Knights’ second power-play goal of the game. It proved to be the game-winner when Vincent Trocheck scored with 2:43 remaining after the Rangers pulled goalie Igor Shesterkin for an extra attacker.
The Rangers pressed for the tying goal but came up short in a one-goal game for the second time in three nights — they began their three-game trip after a 2-1 home loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.
Shesterkin made 23 saves and allowed only one goal at even strength, though it was one he should have stopped. Defenseman Ben Hutton’s shot from below the left dot leaked through him at 3:23 of the second period to put Vegas ahead 2-0.
That forced the Rangers to spend the rest of the night chasing the game, and they never caught up. Trocheck’s deflection got the Rangers close, but they couldn’t get another puck past Schmid, who won his first regular-season appearance against the Rangers. But it’s not the first time he’s faced them — Schmid was 4-1 against them to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Blueshirts in the opening round of the 2023 playoffs.
Neither team generated much offensively for the first half of the opening period. But a careless tripping penalty taken by Artemi Panarin at 11:14 proved costly, with the Golden Knights needing just 26 seconds to take a 1-0 lead.
Shesterkin made two good saves in the first 10 seconds of the power play, then got his toe on a straightaway screened shot, but the puck came right to rookie Braeden Bowman in the left circle. Bowman quickly snapped it into the net to put the Golden Knights ahead.
The period ended with Vegas up a goal after outshooting the Rangers 8-5. The Blueshirts had 10 shots blocked; eight others missed the net.
Hutton’s goal made it 2-0, but the Rangers got one back when Carson Soucy broke up a play inside his own blue like and sprung Will Cuylle for an odd-man rush with Brodzinski. Schmid stopped Cuylle’s shot but Brodzinski cleaned up the rebound.
However, Soucy took an interference penalty in the neutral zone 5:35 into the third period, and the Golden Knights capitalized again. With Colton Sissons screening Shesterkin, Theodore’s shot from above the left circle hit the back of the net at 7:18 for a 3-1 lead.
Trocheck’s goal was a case of too little, too late.
“It was kind of a low-event game on both sides,” said Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, who returned to the team after missing one game because of family issues. “They got some of their best chances on the power play. I thought a game like tonight, you don’t get a lot off the rush with the structure they bring. You’ve got to find ways to create offense with the grind game.”
They just didn’t grind enough.
The Rangers play the middle game of their three-game trip Thursday against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
Key takeaways after the Rangers come up short in 3-2 loss at Vegas
1. Penalty kill doesn’t do the job
The Rangers did an excellent job staying out of the penalty box, taking only two minor penalties. The problem was that didn’t kill either one of them.
Vegas had seven of its 26 shots on the power play and cashed in twice — on Bowman’s rebound goal in the first period and Theodore’s screened shot in the third. The goals were the ninth and 10th allowed by the Rangers in their past 10 games.
The Golden Knights’ goals came on penalties the Rangers shouldn’t have taken. Panarin’s tripping call and the interference penalty on Soucy that resulted in Theodore’s goal were unnecessary at best and careless at worst. They’re the kind of penalty no team wants to take — let alone a team that’s struggling to kill them.
Meanwhile, the power play went 0-for-1 with two harmless shots.
“Special teams were the difference,” captain J.T. Miller said. “It’s as simple as that.”
2. Failing to get the puck to the net
The Rangers didn’t lack for shot opportunities — they attempted 56 shots. The problem was getting the puck to the net. The Golden Knights blocked 21 shots and 16 others missed the target.
Vegas is among the NHL’s best teams at shot prevention. But the Rangers didn’t help themselves by failing to generate enough traffic in front of Schmid. Vegas got bodies and sticks in front of shooters, and the Golden Knights did an excellent job of keeping the front of the net clear.
“It feels like we’re a step behind in the O-zone where we can be on top of guys a little bit quicker and create turnovers and get chances off the advantage,” Trocheck said. “We’re just not there. We need to fix that a little bit and then obviously get it into the net.”
3. The one that got away
Shesterkin was solid, making a handful of 10-bell saves – including two gems on Golden Knights center Jack Eichel — to keep the Rangers in the game. But he’ll probably see Vegas’ lone even-strength goal in his dreams.
Hutton came into Tuesday’s game with 24 goals in 531 NHL games – and none since March 19, 2024. The veteran defenseman was left open in the lower left circle and took a wrist shot that trickled through Shesterkin’s pads and into the net, giving Vegas a 2-0 lead.
It was the classic “the goalie would like that one back” shot — something the Rangers can’t afford when their offensive problems have resurfaced. They’ve scored four non-shootout goals in their past three games, putting an extra burden on their goaltenders.
