Rangers waste Quick’s heroics in 3-2 loss to Mammoth: Takeaways
Not even another brilliant effort from goaltender Jonathan Quick could save the New York Rangers from their fourth straight defeat, a 3-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Saturday night.
Quick was by far the Rangers’ best player. His 31 saves included a handful of sensational stops – including his final save of the night, when he robbed a wide-open Clayton Keller with 10 seconds left, giving his team one last chance to try to get the tying goal. That one came three minutes after he was flattened by Utah forward Michael Carcone, who lost his footing and crashed into him. Quick was able to stay in the game but skated off immediately after the final horn.
The winning goal wasn’t Quick’s fault. Nick DiSimone’s shot from the right point was headed a foot wide, but it hit Rangers forward Taylor Raddysh in the shot and went through the legs of Quick, who never saw it, at 7:32 of the final period. He made a handful of 10-bell saves after that to keep the deficit at one goal and give his team a chance to get even.
“If it wasn’t for Jonathan Quick, this isn’t even a hockey game,” MSG analyst Steve Valiquette said after the Rangers were outshot 34-22 and managed just 10 shots on goal in the final two periods.
Vladislav Gavrikov and Artemi Panarin scored for the Rangers, who played without their captain, center J.T. Miller, who missed the game with an upper-body injury.
The Rangers fell to 10-11-2, last in the Metropolitan Division, and finished 0-3-0 on their swing through Vegas, Colorado and Utah. All three were basically one-goal games – the 6-3 loss to the Avalanche in Denver included two empty-netters. They fell to 9-4-1 on the road to go along with an NHL-worst 1-7-1 mark at home.
“I thought we got outplayed,” was coach Mike Sullivan’s five-word appraisal.
The Rangers dominated play early, but the Mammoth got on the board first in a free-wheeling first period.
New York had six of the first seven shots on goal before Utah began to generate some pressure on Quick. The Mammoth failed to convert on a 2-on-1 as the midway point of the period approached, but they took a 1-0 lead at 10:08 when Quick stopped but couldn’t control Nate Schmidt’s deflected shot from the right point. The puck leaked through and sat in the crease, where J.J. Peterka nudged it home.
Quick kept the Mammoth off the board for the rest of the period, and the Rangers tied at 15:19 with a goal from an unlikely source. Adam Fox took a wrist shot from the right point, and the puck hit Gavrikov. his defense partner, in front of the net before sailing past Karol Vejmelka.
The Rangers took their first lead of the night on their first shot on goal in the second period. A quick breakout plat from Gavrikov to Vincent Trocheck to Panarin sent the Blueshirts’ top scorer in alone on Vejmelka. It looked like the goaltender made the save, but it leaked through at 8:07 to make it 2-1.
But the lead lasted for just over three minutes. Keller forced Scott Morrow into a turnover in his own zone, then took a return pass from Kailer Yamamoto and beat Quick from just outside the crease. It ruled no goal on the ice, and play continued for about 15 seconds before the horn went off, signifying that a war room review in Toronto showed the puck went into the net, tying the game 2-2 at 11:15.
Despite controlling play for most of the period, the Rangers managed just nine shot attempts and two shots on goal aside from Panarin’s tally.
DiSimone’s game-winner came after the Rangers flailed away but couldn’t clear their zone. The goal itself was a bad break, but the sequence that led up to it was poor play in the defensive zone.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 4th straight game, 3-2 at Utah
Another excellent goaltending effort wasted
Quick has the most deceiving 3-3-0 record in the NHL. His 1.69 goals-against average and .944 save percentage are the best of any goaltender who’s played at least six games.
He’s been superb in each of his six appearances, and the Rangers have been outshot 75-41 in losses to the Detroit Red Wings (2-1) on Sunday and the Mammoth on Saturday.
There wasn’t much Quick could have done on any of Utah’s goals. Had he not been at the top of the game, the Mammoth could have won by much more.
“Quick was great,” Gavrikov said. “He made a couple of great saves and kept us in the game. That’s exactly what we need at the moment.”
Shoot the puck
Older Rangers fans will remember longtime TV color man Bill Chadwick, who teamed with Jim Gordon in the 1970s and ’80s. Among the sayings Chadwick was famous for was “Shoot the puck, Barry” – directed at defenseman Barry Beck, who was often reluctant to let it fly.
The Rangers’ recent play would have driven “The Big Whistle” crazy. They managed just 19 shots in each of their previous three games – all losses, before getting all of 22 on Saturday. Just 16 came at 5-on-5, and the Rangers often seemed more intent on making the perfect play rather than getting the puck on goal and crashing the net.
“I feel like we’ve got to get more pucks to the net, more guys in the crease and maybe bang in some dirty goals since the pretty ones aren’t working right now,” forward Will Cuylle said.
Tough schedule won’t get any easier
The loss to the Mammoth ended a stretch that has seen the Rangers play five of six games on the road. During the past four weeks, they’ve played 10 of 14 games away from Madison Square Garden – and things don’t get any easier.
The Blueshirts will fly home Sunday, then host the St. Louis Blues on Monday. After that, it’s a visit to the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, an afternoon game against the Bruins in Boston and a quick flight back home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon.
That’s an awful lot of hockey — and travel — in not an awful lot of days.
Numbers game doesn’t favor Rangers
The Rangers continue to struggle when they play from behind. The Blueshirts allowed the game’s first goal for the 12th time in their 23 games — they’ve won just once (1-9-2).
They continue to have trouble earning power plays. The Rangers’ 55 man-advantages are tied for 28th in the NHL, and all of then teams behind them have played at least one fewer game. After getting just two power plays against Utah, they still have yet to get more than four in a game.
In addition, the Blueshirts are the only team in the NHL to lose four games in regulation (2-4-1) when tied after two periods. That includes the back-to-back losses at Colorado and Utah.
