NOT D-NOUGH
OTTAWA — This is a Rangers team built on veteran leadership, but one that is significantly younger than years past.
Thus much of their success this season has been predicated on the maturation of those young players, none more impressive than rookie defenseman Brady Skjei.
The 24-year-old had a monster first-round series against the Canadiens, but opened up the second round with a dud of a Game 1 against the Senators on Thursday night, taking two penalties while his team lost, 2-1. But Skjei bounced back admirably, scoring twice and playing soundly at both ends of the ice in a dramatic, 6-5 double-overtime loss to the Senators in Game 2 on Saturday at Canadian Tire Center.
“I thought I definitely played a little better than the other nights,” Skjei said, his team now in a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven contest with Game 3 coming Tuesday night at the Garden. “Just trying to make plays and defend when the time is there.”
Skjei’s first goal was a seeingeye shot from just inside the blueline, finding its way between goalie Craig Anderson’s legs to give his team a 4- 2 lead at 15:51 of the second period. But his second goal was the culmination of all the things that make the Rangers so high on him, tracking back to deny Kyle Turris a great scoring chance in his own zone then rushing up the ice, taking a drop pass from blue-line partner Brendan Smith and finishing with a wrist shot past Anderson’s stick.
“He played well,” coach Alain Vigneault said, “but we came up short.”
That second goal from Skjei came at 5:10 of the third period and extended the Rangers’ lead to 5-3, seemingly a nice cushion at the time. But the Senators pushed back, getting two goals from Jean-Gabriel Pageau in a span of 2:18 late in regulation, then Pageau finishing off his four-goal night by getting the game-winner in double-overtime.
After losing Game 1 on a fluke shot from behind the goal line by Erik Karlsson with 4:11 remaining in regulation, it is going to be tough for the Rangers to come back. And that is when they’re going to lean on the veteran leadership to refocus.
“At this point, the guys in this room have to communicate this thing out and we have to make our adjustments,” alternate captain Derek Stepan said. “I felt like we gave them a lot tonight, and I think that’s something we can really adjust.”
The Rangers’ blueline depth always has been a question since the season started, but the addition of Smith just before the trade deadline helped. Yet the leash on Skjei clearly isn’t all that long, as Vigneault sat him for the final 9:07 of regulation in their series-clinching win in Game 6 against the Canadiens.
But the kid from Lakeville, Minn., was able to get over that, and now he’s hoping his whole team can get over two dramatic losses in succession to open the second round.
“Just have to put it behind us,” Skjei said, “and be ready for Game 3 at the Garden.”