MSG analyst ‘as frustrated as anyone else’ by Rangers home-road disparity
The New York Rangers confounding home slump continued Saturday night, when a 5-0 loss to the New York Islanders extended their winless streak to open the season at Madison Square Garden to seven games (0-6-1).
They are also the first NHL team to be shut out in five of their first seven home games since the 1928-29 Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Rangers held a 33-26 edge in shots on goal, as well as a 12-9 edge in high-danger chances on Saturday, according to Natural Stat Trick, but actually scoring goals on home ice continues to elude them.
“To be honest and fair, I don’t think enough of the Rangers worked on their shot all summer,” MSG analyst and former NHL goaltender Steve Valiquette said postgame. “I’m not seeing one-timers from either flank, I’m not seeing quick releases off of first touch, I’m not seeing any corners hit tonight again.”
“There was a lot of breadbasket. That looked like a group of guys that haven’t been working on their shot. That was a tough watch.”
“If they’re feeling their shot every day in practice and they’re building that confidence, it should change the way they feel when the puck drops Monday at 7:05 [p.m.].”
The Rangers look to end this mind-boggling winless streak on home ice Monday, when they host the struggling Nashville Predators (5-8-2), who’ve lost four straight (0-2-2).
Strangely enough, confidence should not have been an issue going into the game Saturday against the Islanders. Less than 24 hours earlier, the Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1, buoyed by a one-goal, three-point effort from Artemi Panarin, who broke out after shaving his head for good luck.
Studio host John Giannone countered Valiquette’s critique, arguing that the win in Detroit should provide the requisite boost to New York’s psyche.
“I agree. The only thing I can tell you is what I’m seeing statistically,” Valiquette replied. “Everything at home is breadbasket or on-the-ice pads.
“You can have a one-timer from the slot, and if it’s middle of net, I’m telling you every goalie out of the 71 goalies that have played at least a minute in the NHL this year will make a save there. It’s almost like you can discount the scoring chance, and that’s what I’m seeing.”
That could explain why the Rangers have 20.74 expected goals on home ice, but scored just six times in seven games. The loss to the Islanders was another prime example, with many of their high-quality looks ending up right in the stomach of goalie Ilya Sorokin, who stopped all 33 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season.
“On the road, seeing something completely different — corners, five-hole shots, low-glove, low-blocker, hitting their spots,” Valiquette explained. “I can’t explain it beyond what I’m seeing with you and the rest of the fans, and then what I see the morning after when I do all of the shots on goal review. They hit corners on the road, and they hit middle of net or low pads at home.”
The Rangers own the best road record in the NHL (7-1-1), outscoring opponents 29-17. The narrative completely flips at The Garden, where New York is outscored 23-6. True, seven of the goals allowed were empty-netters. But on the other hand, five of the goals New York scored came in one game, a 6-5 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 23.
Even after the latest defeat, the Rangers rank third in expected goals for percentage at 5-on-5 — but it’s little consolation as the home woes persist.
“Anything else? I’m as frustrated as anyone else,” Valiquette remarked.
Steve Valiquette chides Rangers for lack of composure in loss to Islanders
Valiquette was far from the only one frustrated Saturday.
On a night when the Rangers honored key milestones and moments in franchise history as part of a centennial season celebration, the game itself provided little to look back upon fondly.
In the first period, Mika Zibanejad slammed the bench door in frustration, following a sequence when he rang a shot off the crossbar and fired wide on a one-timer. Late in the third period, captain J.T. Miller broke his stick on the Rangers net after Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored an empty-netter to seal the Islanders win.
“They got frustrated, and visibly frustrated from their leadership guys,” Valiquette remarked. “It’s not a good look, John. You can’t lose your composure. In my lifetime in hockey, I’ve never seen anybody improve when they get frustrated. It’s like it stops dead in its tracks, everything does.
“The captain does it, the leadership guys do it, guess what, everybody thinks it’s okay. Next, you’re gonna see [Noah] Laba starting to slam the door and break sticks. Is that a good look for the young guys? No.”
The Rangers came out of the gates hot, tilting the ice for the opening 10 minutes, but couldn’t beat Sorokin.
When the Islanders struck first, ultimately taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, it seemingly halted any momentum the Blueshirts had.
“We’re human. It’s hard,” Miller noted postgame, acknowledging the psychological element to the home slump. “It’s a lot of zeroes at home for us. We’ve gotta be able to stay the course.”
“Ten minutes of hockey is gonna frustrate you out of 60? That can’t unravel you,” Valiquette chided. “This is a game that’s gonna push the best every night in this League, and anybody worth their salt knows that they play through it. It’s next man up, and you go.”
The Rangers mounted a strong push in the latter portion of the third period, but it was too little, too late. As the disparity between New York’s home and road results widens, so does the pressure to finally break through with a win at MSG.
“I understand the frustration now, but they’ve gotta stay focused here,” urged Valiquette. “This is a story that’s become League-wide now, and that’s the worst thing to go through at the beginning of the season when there’s so much attention on this stuff.”
