KNIGHT TERRORS
Reeling, banged-up Blueshirts fall to Vegas in day to forget
Just about every game for the Knicks at the Garden has been a lovefest lately, but the Rangers had a very different experience Friday night involving their justifiably restless and unhappy home crowd.
The once-rolling Rangers barely are clinging to their hold on first place in the Metro Division as they continued to limp into the AllStar break with a boo-filled 5-2 loss to the Golden Knights to slip below NHL-.500 over their last 25 games since early December.
Shaky All-Star goalie Igor Shesterkin coughed up three goals on the first nine shots he faced — and four on 19 overall — with Jonathan Marchessault netting a hat trick for Las Vegas as the Blueshirts dropped to 11-12-2 since Dec. 5 following an 184-1 start under first-year coach Peter Laviolette.
“We definitely had things going our way early on, bounces were going our way, and they’re definitely going against us right now,” veteran winger Blake Wheeler said. “We just have to stay rooted in the fact that to achieve the things we want to achieve, it’s going to be really hard. A lot harder than this.
“But great teams are made in fire, and we’re certainly in the fire right now.”
With only Saturday’s visit to Ottawa remaining before the break, the Rangers lead the Hurricanes by two points and the Flyers by five in the Metro, with both of those teams also in action Saturday.
“It’s poor execution from being desperate and trying to create something and get something done,” Mika Zibanejad said. “We’re obviously tired of losing, and trying whatever we can to get out of this.
“Things aren’t going our way right now, but you can’t feel sorry for yourself. You have to keep working and the bounces will come.”
With his team going 3-5-2 over its previous 10 games, Laviolette split up his longtime top defensive pair to start the game, with Adam Fox working with Erik Gustafsson and Ryan Lindgren skating alongside Braden Schneider. The pair of K’Andre Miller and captain Jacob Trouba remained intact, but Lindgren’s departure with an upper-body injury midway through the first period necessitated a five-man rotation for the rest of the game
The new Schneider-Lindgren pairing was on the ice for the opening goal of the game, but it went to the Golden Knights (29-14-6) on Sheldon Rempal’s redirection in front of Paul Cotter’s shot past Shesterkin 5:02 into the first period.
Fox and Gustafsson drew the assists on the equalizer 1:29 later, with Wheeler burying his eighth of the season from the left circle.
Vegas goalie Adin Hill denied slumping Alexis Lafreniere (one goal in 15 games) in close with his glove late in the period to maintain the 1-1 knot despite a 15-6 shot advantage for the Rangers through one.
Still, the Knights beat Shesterkin on each of their first two shots in the middle session — within 46 seconds of each other for a 3-1 lead by 4:04 of the second period. It marked the ninth time the Rangers have coughed up two goals in less than a minute this season.
“There’s no question when those things happen that you can feel the air leave the bench a little bit,” Laviolette said. “We’re pressing and trying to win hockey games. I thought we could have scored three or four goals in that first period, instead we’re tied, 1-1.”
Kolesar stripped Artemi Panarin of the puck and raced in alone, beating Shesterkin with an off-wing wrister from the left circle over his glove to the far post for an unassisted score at 3:18. Less than a minute later, Marchessault connected on a tip-in goal, prompting more groans and boos from the MSG faithful.
Marchessault also slammed home his second of the game barely two minutes into the third for a 4-1 game — and he completed the hat trick with an empty-netter after Kaapo Kakko had scored far too late for the Rangers.
“We’re in that spot right now. At the end of the day, we’re losing games, and it’s not good enough,” Laviolette said. “We’ve got to dig in somehow and be better in all areas. Better defensively, more determined offensively, and find a way to win hockey games.”