‘We got outcompeted’: Fox-less Rangers seek answers after awful loss to Lightning
“Stink. Stank. Stunk.”
That line from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” perfectly describes the New York Rangers’ horrendous performance in their non-competitive 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The question for coach Mike Sullivan is how to put the wheels back on the bus after they were run off the road by the Bolts, who embarrassed them in front of a sellout crowd of 18,006 – many of whom either left early or serenaded the home team with boos.
“We got outcompeted from the drop of the puck,” an unhappy Sullivan said postgame. “There’s got to be a willingness and a want to be first to pucks, to embrace physicality. We knew the type of game it was going to be. That team, they’ve got hard skill, they compete and they skate. That was the type of game it was going to be. I don’t think we had the wherewithal to match the intensity. I just feel we lost puck battles all over the rink and it’s hard to establish any sort of game that you want to play if you don’t win puck battles.”
“There’s going to be nights when you don’t have your best game, but you have to find ways to compete.”
It was a complete no-show by the Rangers, except for goalie Igor Shesterkin, who made 31 saves and was the only reason they didn’t lose 10-1.
“At no point in that game were we deserving of winning,” said captain J.T. Miller, who scored the Rangers lone goal. “’Shesty’ does everything to keep it close.”
Sullivan and his staff have three days to come up with some answers before the Dallas Stars come to the Garden on Tuesday night. One area that’s sure to come up is getting more shots on goal.
Rangers seek answers after embarrassing loss to Lightning
The Rangers managed just 13 shots against Jonas Johansson, Tampa Bay’s backup goalie. It was the seventh time in eight games the Rangers had 22 or fewer shots on goal, and Sullivan said he wants to see his players shoot and crash the net more often rather than trying to make the perfect play.
“We’re always looking for the next best play, instead of getting people inside, getting to the blue paint and delivering pucks to the net and creating some opportunity off the shot,” he said. “I don’t think we create off the shot nearly enough as we should. As a result, we don’t force teams to have to defend the inside of the ice. I think if we did, we’d get on the power play more. I think there would be more opportunity there. We’ve got to have a willingness to go there more.”
He cited the latter stages of the second period, when the Rangers had their best stretch of play.
“We had some significant O-zone time, but we didn’t get inside enough – no doubt,” he said. “We didn’t get the puck there, we didn’t get the people there, and that’s something we have to get better at.”
Even worse is that they will have to try to get better without their best skater. Defenseman Adam Fox, whose perfect pass resulted in Miller’s goal at 17:31 of the middle period, left the game seven minutes into the third period with an apparent injury to his left arm after a crunching hit by Brandon Hagel behind the Rangers net. He went to the locker room and didn’t return.
“He’s being evaluated for an upper-body injury,” was all Sullivan said when asked about his No. 1 defenseman and power-play quarterback. But on Sunday, the Rangers reportedly placed him on long-term injured reserve with a left shoulder injury, effectively meaning he won’t play at least until after the Christmas break.
The injury isn’t believed to be long-term or season-threatening, but The Athletic, citing unidentified sources, said the Rangers plan to label it as week-to-week and reevaluate his status around Christmas.
Losing Fox will make a tough situation even tougher. But a more important issue is their compete level — or lack thereof — against the Lightning.
The Rangers followed perhaps their best performance of the season, a 6-2 road win against the Boston Bruins on Friday, with their worst effort — by far. They played like a team that didn’t care – and as a result saw its home record drop to an NHL-worst 2-8-1.
“I wish we had the answer,” forward Mika Zibanejad said of the team’s struggles at MSG. “We just have to find a way. I understand the reaction from our fans. We’re more frustrated than they are.”
Being outplayed is one thing. Being outcompeted is something no NHL coach can tolerate.
“I think that’s something I’ll discuss with my coaching staff,” Sullivan said when asked about his team’s effort against the red-hot Lightning, who’ve won seven in a row. “Obviously our expectation is higher. I don’t think the players by any stretch have any intention of getting outcompeted.
“We’ve got to find a way to take more pride in that. That’s something we’ve got to work through as a group.”
They’d better do it soon.
