Meh.
We got a point I guess, and frankly not entirely sure they deserved it - just a grab bag of a game. We are now in a 1-4-1 slump with a gauntlet of teams coming up: TBL, FLA and TOR, so this would've been a good time to find a strong win in a get right game.
They started out fine, got a few chances but it was more of this low event feel-em-out 1st period shit that has been happening. Frankly the whole complexion of the game would've been entirely different if that Luke chance goes in, but otherwise it was pretty bland. The Rangers didn't really get much of anything going either until MacDermid took an ill-advised O-zone penalty for no reason. I realize Panarin is built like a popsicle stick but you have to know that and act accordingly as a noted face punchy man. Like clockwork Fox lets one fly that shatters Kovacevic's stick and redirects past Marky, and hello darkness, it's 1-0 them again. Just a bad break, and no real fault there - Maybe Kovacavic should get his stick out of the lane, but that's a little nitpicky Sal. Timo also hit the post,and man he has been a beast but some of these have to start going in - he's been the king of tough luck with goals getting called back and posts. Keep shooting you handsome bull.
The second was better, and we got two strong 5 on 5 goals, one from Mr. IG on a nice deflection off a Pesce shot, and the second after a glorious open ice hit by checks notes Dougie? Dougie Hamilton? The grown man who calls himself Dougie? I realize it's not really his game, but it would be lovely if he would realize that's he's a fucking mountain and can actually do that. I've said before to noone that someone should have the Tree from Mystery, Alaska talk with him about "You're the big guy." Anyway, Jack turned that puck up to Bratt who wired a sweet short side shot over Igor's shoulder, and things are looking up. Nice to see Bratt get on the board, he had a little cold streak as well and he needs to keep shooting as well.
We were controlling play, looking better as a whole en route to intermission with a lead - which is where we do our best work, leading after 2.
Not so fast, courtesy of Mr. What-is-it-you-do-say-you-do-around-here Nate Bastian who takes a fucking stupid flat footed tripping penalty, and obviously you know what happens next. Their PP was buzzing, and off a semi-broken play - Marky makes a great save off a point shot that defected 12 times, the rebound pops out to Panarin and we are tied. even though that was PP goal #2 for them, there was nothing structurally wrong with either. My only real issue was Nico getting smoked in the dot. I'm not really a big FO guy, if you look at the top teams in FO% across the league there is no correlation to success overall, however situationally (PP and PK) FOs are critically important. Trochek is one of the few guys that is on par or better than Nico in the dot and it showed, Nico was 5 of 17 against him.
The 3rd was a disaster. Shift after shift getting pinned in the D-zone, no legs, Marky made several spectacular saves and we frankly had no right being tied going to OT. Recently, when we get pinned in the zone, we get fucking PINNED and spend minutes on end back there. Not great, Bob.
Not sure what happened to the OT wagon we used to be, but now we can't catch a break. Jack strikes again with a brutal turnover and one of the worst players on the rangers finishes a 2 on1. Jack's hero ball turnover left poor Timo flailing around and Markstrom helpless. Fuck this. I'm not sure if I heard him right, but did Keefe say they don't really practice 3 on 3? Just kinda go pond hockey? I trust in keefe, but OT has been one of the places where I question some decisions. Now we are down a reliable center (sorry love you Dowling) and you put our 1-2 out to start? hmmm.
The Jack discourse after the game was basically yeah man you kinda fucked up there. Honestly, aside from his 2 pts (and we don't get to OT without him), he had a pretty rough game. His first was particularly bad, he made several questionable passing decisions (one that Dano had a hilarious reaction to on a play in front of Markstrom), was over handling the puck and maybe took the instagram "I own the Rangers thing" a little too literally. A particularly egregious turnover led to a 2 on 0 that the Rangers hilariously butchered. I'm not going to kill the kid, he has more talent in his finger than all of us combined and we want our best player doing best player shit. He sometimes does this, and he took ownership of it last night post-game.
Where we really need him to stop trying that shit is on the PP, which is a shell of itself and has been for some time. Power plays can be fickle things, and it really hasn't helped that they have gotten nearly zero reps the past few games. They just couldn't really get anything going, had a ton of chances blocked, and the zone entries were unsettled and undisciplined. Twice Jack tried to go solo 1 on 4 twice, and it didn't work either time. I am concerned, and this happened last year after a hot PP start, they don't seem to react well to pressure, and the shitty ice at the Garden didn't help. it's been at a sad 16% since 12/1, and downright depressing 6% on this current skid (3rd worst in the league). We need this thing to work boys, fucking fix it. while you can't rely on a power play outright, it really goes a long way to driving momentum. Momentum is real.
Markstrom was once again fantastic and was really the reason we stayed in this game. 2 bad breaks on the PK and no 5 on 5 goals is pretty pretty good. He added another 1.3 GSAE to his total and is now firmly in the top 10 in the league on that metric. I was really hoping they would pull this out in OT for him after he robbed Panarin and Zibanjed on breakaways (the Panarin glove save was particularly glorious). But not to be.
Just a grueling roadtrip at a shitty time has led to this little slump. 11 day road trip, post christmas with a back to back, multiple time zones and some weird start times. Need to get back into that 7pm east coast slot and get back on track, and we haven't lost at home in over a month. Funnily, or weirdly, or coincidentally Tampa had a similar fate in California and are just dusting themselves off from a 4 game skid of their own with losses to Anaheim, LA, SJ, and MTL.
A little silver lining that I'm not sure if any of you noticed, and judging by the dooomer behavior you haven't, but we are still 3rd in the division and 5th in the conference as every other good team has had a mediocre stretch as well. Only Toronto and Washington have maintained some separation from the pack, so these next few games are crucial. I will have some thoughts on trade targets coming up, and think I've zeroed in on the two guys that I will be seeding propaganda about in the coming weeks. None of them are named JT, Jake, Kyle or Taylor. I'm sure all 12 of you that read this far are waiting with baited breath.
Happy you got one Valiquette.
LOL, just kidding fuck you, Steve.
LGD
