Pathetic effort in defensive debacle
IF YOU believe that the Rangers “earned” the point they wound up with in Monday’s 2-1 shootout defeat to the Stars at the Garden, then your definition of the term is far more generous than just about anyone else’s.
And that includes Alain Vigneault, the coach of the team who presided over the shortest postgame press briefing of his fiveyear tenure on Broadway. Indeed, it was almost Tortorella-esque, minus the invective.
“There were two positives,” he said following the match in which Ondrej Pavelec stole the show with a brilliant 44-save performance that answered the question whether the Rangers should be confident with their backup. “Pavs played unreal and because of his performance we were able to get a point. Other than that, we weren’t good. I think I summed it up pretty good there. “Thanks, guys.” It was an abomination, that’s what it was for the Blueshirts, outshot 16-5 through the first period, 33-10 through the second, 41-19 through regulation and 45-25 overall. Those numbers were almost flattering compared to the five-onfive shot-attempt stats that were 34-12 (against) through one, 55-20 through two and 75-35 total.
“We couldn’t get anything in synch. We couldn’t get out. We were pinned in for shifts at a time just about the whole first period and a lot of the second,” Ryan McDonagh, who suffered through a dreadful night, told The Post. “We chipped it and couldn’t get it deep. Guys were caught on and couldn’t change.
“It’s definitely not the [first] 40 minutes we envisioned.”
McDonagh hasn’t been himself for weeks. His decision-making has been way off. His hands have betrayed him. He hasn’t been able to use his speed to carry the puck and beat the forecheck. His Corsi for this one was a shocking 19.64 percent. (11/45). His relative rating was a minus 24.80, which means the club’s shot-attempt numbers were 24.8 percent better when he was not on the ice.
When the team’s best player suffers this way, the Rangers are in big trouble. That’s a trickle-down effect that isn’t some voodoo theory but rather can be verified. The team’s play in the defensive zone has far too often been negligent to the extreme.
The Rangers have allowed 40 or more shots in three of their last four games. Before this season, the Blueshirts had not allowed 40 or more in consecutive games since Oct. 25-27, 2001, a span of 16 years. They have achieved that dubious feat twice this season, first in the middle of November against Chicago and Columbus and then last week against Pittsburgh and Washington.
The Blueshirts appeared inert from the drop of the puck, which they rarely possessed through the first 40 minutes and almost never without duress. When the Rangers did manage to have the puck, they passed it like Eli Manning and received it like Odell Beckham Jr. in that playoff game last year.
The Stars, who had dropped three straight, came in waves. And if the Rangers seemed to have no idea what (or who) was coming, there’s a reason for that, according to Chris Kreider.
“It wasn’t what they did, it was what we weren’t doing. There was no communication, no talking,” the winger told The Post. “When you’re playing a team that’s as fast and aggressive as they were, you have to talk. Whether it’s the forwards or the defensemen, you’ve got to let your teammates know what’s coming.
“You can only feel so much. When we’re not talking and helping each other out, this is what happens.”
Kreider said the issue has applied intermittently. He cited the second game of the season in Toronto, in which the Maple Leafs scored five first-period goals as an example of the problem. The winger also said that he thought the Rangers had been “stubborn” at the other end of the ice, as well.
“They get the puck to the net all night and we get stubborn and don’t do it,” said No. 20. “East-west isn’t going to make it unless there’s a tap-in for a goal, and [in this game], you had to get it through three guys to make that play. But that’s what we were trying.
“It’s not that we weren’t ready to play. We were. There was plenty of jump. But you have to execute, and one-half of executing is knowing what’s going on around you, whether there’s a guy on your back, where to go with the puck.”
McDonagh agreed that on-ice communication is critical.
“The game is so fast, they’re on you so quick, that you do have to talk,” the captain said. “But what bothered me the most is that we weren’t playing as hard, we didn’t want the puck as badly.
“That’s what stands out more than anything to me.”
The point being — or the point aside — it was a Bad Night on Broadway.