Rangers Daily: No 3rd period urgency for Blueshirts; Marner’s last laugh
How they started the game Friday night in San Jose certainly cost the New York Rangers yet again. But how the finished the 3-1 loss to the Sharks says quite a bit about the Blueshirts, as well.
Listen, there’s no getting past that allowing two goals in the first 3:08 and three in the opening 7:37 buried the Rangers, who were down 3-0 and being outshot 9-1 by time coach Mike Sullivan used his timeout to settle his beleaguered team down. Including Friday, that’s seven goals this month the Rangers surrendered in the first five minutes of a game. They’ve allowed 14 goals in the opening five minutes of a game this season, third most in the NHL.
As Mika Zibanejad said postgame, “You don’t win like that.”
Spot on. Just look at the Rangers overall record (21-25-6) for evidence of that truth.
But you know what? The Rangers stabilized their game, had the better of play through the second period, and were within 3-1 when the third period started. And they did zip with that opportunity.
Against a team that allows 3.46 goals against per game, third worst in the NHL, the Rangers barely tested Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic in the third period. They managed seven shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, but spent most of the period on their heels, expending energy defending and simply flipping the puck out of their zone.
The Sharks held an expected goal share of 64.64 percent in the third period, per Natural Stat Trick.
When the Rangers did gain zone entry, it was the same sequence over and over: dump the puck in, give minimal effort trying to retrieve it, and the Sharks instead quickly turned play back the other way. It was actually fairly mind numbing.
Credit the Sharks, for sure. But blame the Rangers too. The visitors recorded a pair of back-to-back shots on goal by Brennan Othmann and Will Borgen within the first two minutes. They didn’t record another for roughly seven minutes, on a Will Cuylle short-handed attempt. They sat at four shots on goal for a nine-minute stretch until adding three more in the final couple minutes after goalie Spencer Martin was pulled for a sixth attacker.
Sense of urgency in the third period? Not so much. And that stands out as much as yet another horrific start.
New York Rangers news and analysis
John Kreiser provides the key Rangers takeaways from the 3-1 loss in San Jose.
Kreiser also weighs in with a column questioning if Chris Drury is the right person to oversee this Rangers retool.
Speaking of that Rangers retool and its timeline, don’t expect the March 6 NHL Trade Deadline to be the be-all, end-all date for what needs to be done.
NHL news and rumors
New Jersey Hockey Now: As the Rangers fade away and out of the playoff race following an 0-3-0 California road swing, the Devils improved to 3-0-0 out in the Pacific Northwest with an exciting 5-4 OT win in Vancouver, climbing right back into things by winning for the fifth time in six games.
Sportsnet: Mitch Marner was right. Scotiabank Arena was pretty darn loud and filled with boos when the star forward returned to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs for the first time with the Vegas Golden Knights. But Marner had the last laugh following a 6-3 Vegas win Friday.
New York Post: Bo Horvat is expected back in the Islanders lineup Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres after a nine-game injury absence. However, defenseman Ryan Pulock is questionable with a lower-body injury.
Philly Hockey Now: The Rangers are linked to Shane Wright in recent trade rumors, but William James examines whether the Seattle Kraken center is a good fit for the Flyers.
Sportsnet: As for Wright, he’s doing his best to tune out any and all trade rumors.
Montreal Hockey Now: Always enjoy Marc Dumont’s Canadiens Mailbag, and this latest one again doesn’t disappoint
