Rangers star laments ‘getting good looks’ not enough during scoring drought
The New York Rangers continue to say the right things. They continue to do most of the right things. They continue to dominate opponents for long stretches of games.
But the goals still aren’t coming, and neither are the wins.
On Thursday, the Rangers did end a scoring drought that extended to 170:39, when Juuso Parssinen scored on a deflection at 4:51 of the third period. But they left Scotiabank Arena with just one point, largely because they scored only one goal, in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As was the case in their 1-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Sunday and their 2-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, the Rangers had by far the more dangerous scoring chances — 11-3 at even strength and 17-9 in all situations, according to Natural Stat Trick. But Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was terrific with 28 saves, and Toronto found a way to win.
“We’re getting good looks,” defenseman Adam Fox explained. “I think everyone could kind of feel that, but we’ve definitely got to finish on those chances, too. It’s not just a game of expected goals. You’ve got to actually finish it.”
Getting good looks is nice, but there’s no column for that on the scoreboard. Finishing has been the issue for the Rangers (2-3-1), who’ve scored just one goal in their four losses.
Coach Mike Sullivan was happy with everything but the final score on Thursday and said his players can’t get down on themselves.
“I feel like the guys are playing hard and defending hard as a team,” he said postgame. “I thought we had a lot of looks again. We’ve got to make sure we don’t get discouraged.
“The easy route is to be discouraged but the right route and the hard route is to make sure we just get more determined. We will build on the positives, and there’s a lot to like about our game. It’s a conscious choice that we all make on what our choice is going to be, and I know our guys are going to make the right one.”
Rangers’ scoring struggles continue in OT loss to Maple Leafs
The Rangers’ intentions may indeed be in the right place, but the lack of scoring makes every bad bounce or on-ice mistake more damaging. Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 11:48 of the first period when William Nylander’s shot hit goalie Igor Shesterkin, then deflected off Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies and into the net. Rangers defenseman Will Borgen was facing the wrong way and left Knies uncovered.
Auston Matthews scored 58 seconds into overtime, an easy tap-in off a Nylander pass on a 2-on-1 rush that turned into a 2-on-0 when Fox, the lone defender, left his feet and slid right out of the play. Nylander began the rush by picking up the puck after Mika Zibanejad whiffed on a wide-open scoring chance.
The Rangers have an elite goaltender in Shesterkin (five goals allowed in five games played) and a vastly improved defensive structure under Sullivan. They’re getting excellent production from their bottom-six forwards. But their top-six forwards aren’t generating anywhere near enough offense – they’ve produced just 10 points in six games, one less than the bottom-six group.
Artemi Panarin, the Rangers’ top scorer in each of his six seasons on Broadway has just two assists and looks like he hasn’t fully recovered from the injuries that kept him from playing at all in the preseason. Zibanejad has one point, a shorthanded goal, on 24 shots and is a team-worst minus-4.
The only player with more than one goal is Fox with three (one into an empty net).
Defenseman Braden Schneider, whose shot was deflected into the net by Parssinen for the Rangers’ lone goal, was optimistic that the team is ready to break out.
“I think we are generating a lot of really quality chances,” he said. “I think once we get a few, we are going to start to feel confident about putting it home.
Captain J.T. Miller said the top six in particular must avoid giving in to pressure during the scoring slump.
“That’s the easy thing to do, and if you’re mentally weak, you’re going to go off the rails,” Miller explained. “Because this isn’t working on paper. To me, it’s about getting the look. It’s not about if it goes in. Over time, you get the looks, they’re going to go in. It’s just easy to go the other way right now and that’s why we’re going to be mentally tough in here and we’re going to keep pounding pucks at the net and outplaying the teams we’re playing against. It’s going to work eventually.
“This is good for us, right now, as a team. We’re going to learn from this. We’re going to take pride in this. We’re not going to change. We’re going to test ourselves. It’s going to be good.”
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