Lacking the speed, energy, and all-around solid play they had displayed in recent games, the Rangers were beaten 3-0 by the Ottawa Senators Sunday afternoon at the Canadian Tire Centre. The loss prevented the Rangers from securing their first three-game winning streak since they won nine in a row from October 25-November 15.
“We were feeling confident in the way we were playing as a team, so it’s tough to come in and play the first period like we did, just kind of one of those things where we couldn’t get it back to where we needed to,” explained alternate captain Marc Staal. “We didn’t make them pay in the end, that’s the biggest thing. We need to find a way to score, bottom line.”
The Rangers, who had defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday and followed with a solid 4-1 road win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, played without Rick Nash, who was hurt in the third period of Friday’s contest. His spot in the lineup was taken by Chris Kreider, who had missed the previous contest due to neck spasms.
Head coach Alain Vigneault said that he was hopeful Nash would be available to play Monday when the Blueshirts host the Buffalo Sabres in their final game before the All Star break.
“We have a chance to respond here (tomorrow),” offered team captain Ryan McDonagh. “Right from the start we need to be better.”
Craig Anderson stopped all 35 shots he faced Sunday for his third shutout of the season. Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves for the Rangers.
“Every game matters,” stated Lundqvist. “Good preparation is a mindset you have to have. Obviously we have to try harder.”
The Rangers and Senators nearly reached the second intermission scoreless, but Ottawa found a way to break through with 19.9 seconds remaining in the middle stanza to put New York in a 1-0 hole.
After turning the puck over at the Senators blue line, the Rangers seemed to avert disaster when Ottawa sloppily failed to generate a shot on goal during the ensuing odd-man rush back into the Rangers zone. However the Senators stayed with the play, winning a key puck battle behind the goal, and after defenseman Jared Cowen hit the post with a screened slap shot, Bobby Ryan beat Kevin Klein to the rebound and found the back of the net for his 17th goal of the season.
“It changes things a little bit heading into the third,” explained Staal. “It’s never a good thing to go down right before the end of a period like that, but it’s only one goal. We have to find a way to put a puck in the net. It’s that simple.”
In a way the goal was symbolic of the Rangers play Sunday afternoon to that point, seemingly a step behind in all three zones even though Ottawa was far from on top of its game.
Lundqvist had bailed the Rangers out in the game’s opening minutes with several clutch saves, many after giveaways by New York in its own end of the ice. Just 1:12 into the game Lundqvist denied Matt Puempel one-on-one after the rookie was sent in alone after a Mark Stone takeaway. Later in the first period Lundqvist robbed Stone who was alone at the right post looking to convert at the end of a neat tic-tac-toe passing sequence during a Senators power play.
The Rangers seemed to turn the game’s momentum late in the opening period after their first power play of the afternoon, and started the second period strong. However after their initial surge, which included Kevin Hayes fanning from a couple feet out on a slick Jesper Fast pass with Anderson well out of his crease, the Rangers played with less jump in their game, and they and the Senators settled into a defensive battle until Ryan’s goal late in the second.
The intermission did not slow Ottawa’s momentum. They came out strong in the third period, and Mike Hoffman doubled the Senators lead just 2:40 in when his uncontested right-wing snap shot beat Lundqvist glove side off an odd-man rush.
“We weren’t sharp at all today,” stated McDonagh. “There’s no excuses for that.”
Ottawa put the game away with 2:22 to play when Jean-Gabriel Pageau scaled the puck from his own zone into the empty Rangers net after Lundqvist was pulled for an extra attacker and New York on the power play.
Derek Stepan played in his 400th NHL game Sunday. Centering a line with Kreider and J.T. Miller on the wings, he recorded one shot on goal while logging 19 minutes of ice time.
Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com
(Reprinted With Permission Of The New York Rangers)
