Lifeless Rangers battered by Bruins
THE RANGERS may have finally hit rock bottom.
The Blueshirts were blown out by the Bruins at the Garden Wednesday night, 6-1, and Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh did not mince words afterward.
“That was one of the worst games of my career and one of the worst games I’ve ever been a part of in my Rangers career,” said the defenseman, who is in his eighth year on Broadway. “That pretty much sums it up.”
The 6-1 rout was just more salt in the wound for the struggling Rangers (25-24-5) as they dropped their fourth straight and have now lost 10 of their last 13.
It was every bit as bad as McDonagh described, as Henrik Lundqvist was pulled midway through the second period after he allowed four goals on just 17 shots. It was the goalie’s third hook in five games. “It was disappointing, frustrating and embarrassing,” Lundqvist said. Lundqvist was spotted an early 1-0 lead but began to unravel after the Bruins took a 2-1 lead into the second period.
Just 3:47 into the frame, Patrice Bergeron fired a shot that deflected off Nick Holden’s stick and past Lundqvist, who appeared to make the stop but the puck squeezed through his pads into the net.
“He misfired,” Lundqvist said. “I think he’s going high so my body is kind of going up and the puck stays on the ice, so I was late to close it with my pad.”
Less than four minutes later, Tim Schaller deked Tony DeAngelo and warded off Brendan Smith’s weak stick check to lift a shot by Lundqvist into the top of the net in a nifty individual effort to give the Bruins (33-11-8) a 4-1 lead, ending the Rangers goalie’s day.
“For me personally, I think it’s obviously just a mental thing right now, it’s not technical,” he said. “After they scored two in the first, instead of staying aggressive... I become passive. When you lose a lot, obviously it’s going to affect you a little bit and you have to work harder to stay in a certain mindset.”
Alain Vigneault, who said before the game that the Rangers had been playing better than their record indicated, was brutally honest with the way things unfolded in Wednesday’s debacle. “No doubt in the second period that third and fourth goal we just fell hard after that,” he said. “We stopped doing our jobs on the ice.”
Yet Vigneault was at a loss for words on what he will tell his team at Thursday’s practice.
“Let me breathe. Let me get through this and I’ll sleep on it,” he said. “Let the team move.”
The Rangers remain three points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, but they are 6-12-2 since Dec. 21 and could unleash a firesale as the Feb. 26 trade deadline approaches. The Rangers have already asked and received a list of teams veteran winger Rick Nash would approve a trade to, indicating they are ready to sell. Nash also scored the Rangers’ lone goal in the 6-1 loss. He stole the puck from Zdeno Chara in the neutral zone and had Bruins backup goalie Anton Khudobin one-on-one before burying a wrister on the far side to give them an early 1-0 lead. The Rangers’ next game is Friday against the Calgary Flames, a team they have yet to face.
“Everything going on with the team, we need to stay focused trying to put together somewhat of a complete game,” McDonagh said. “We’re not even close.”