Rangers lose to worst team in NHL (again)

On December 18, 2024By Littum

NASHVILLE – Remember when the Rangers lost to the worst team in the NHL last week?

Well, it happened again.

The Nashville Predators had fallen into a tie with the Chicago Blackhawks for the worst point total heading into Tuesday’s action while holding the distinction of having the fewest wins in the league. But the Rangers have been the cure-all for any ailing team lately, with their 2-0 loss to the Preds at Bridgestone Arena the latest example.

It was the first time the Blueshirts have been shut out this season, but that doesn’t feel like much of a consolation. The stat that matters is wins and they have just three of them in their last 14 games.

“It’s all mental at this point,” defenseman Braden Schneider said. “We want to do the right things and we’re working to do the right things. We’re just a hair away — just a little off the mark. I know everybody in here believes and everybody’s working for the right thing. We “We just have to keep pushing through and hopefully we can break through the ceiling.”

If that sounds like the bottom, think again. After stumbling through a soft spot in the schedule, it’s about to get a lot tougher.

Each of New York’s next seven games will come against teams currently in playoff position, starting Friday at 20:00 in Dallas.

“The main thing is to take it one game at a time,” veteran Chris Kreider said. “Win one game. Take some of the things that we did better, that we did well, learn from mistakes and build. We’re going to keep talking about it. We’re going to stay in it. We’re not the team we were . We are not the team we were two days ago. We have a chance to win the next game.

Falling a hole

The Rangers (15-15-1) once again came out with some gusto, but couldn’t sustain it.

They earned five of the first six shots on goal and a pair of quality scoring chances in the opening minutes, only to be denied by Preds goaltender Juuse Saros. And as the first period wore on, the tide began to turn in Nashville’s favor.

“I don’t think there was a lack of effort today,” center Vincent Trocheck said. “We didn’t bury our chances.”

The odd-man rush bug has bitten the Rangers repeatedly during this nightmare stretch, and it once again got them the game-clinching goal. That came after another defenseman was caught pinching too far up the ice — this time Chad Ruhwedel — leaving New York vulnerable to a familiar counter.

Urho Vaakanainen was left to defend a two-on-one rush in his Blueshirts’ debut, with Mika Zibanejad and the rest of his linemates unable to get back quickly enough to offer help on the backcheck.

“It’s a 50-50 puck at the blue line and we get beat,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “It can’t happen.”

Jonathan Marchessault capped off a beautiful passing sequence with a one-timer, giving the Preds a 1-0 lead with 6:23 left in the opening period.

That score would hold there until eight minutes left in the third period, when Nashville rookie Adam Wilsby sealed the victory with his first career goal.

No offense

Meanwhile, the Rangers — who were without leading scorer Artemi Panarin (upper-body injury) for the second straight game — finished with more of their shot attempts blocked (29) than on target (25).

“They blocked a lot of shots and got into lanes, but we knew going in,” Kreider said. “There had to be more shots with bad angles — things thrown in the mud and bouncing on the loose stuff. There were moments of that. We did a better job of playing up north, playing fast, establishing some zone time. But we talking about a couple of very important things One of them is getting pucks and bodies to zone one and we just didn’t do enough of that.

All four of the Blueshirts’ mixed lines were outclassed, with the youthful top line of Will Cuylle, Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafrenière producing some of the most lopsided results. Shots on goal were 10-4 Nashville with that trio on the ice, while high-danger chances were 7-3, according to Natural Stat Trick. Big dangers were 5-1 against the second line of Kreider, Trocheck and Brett Berard, who looked even worse.

The Rangers also failed to convert on both of their power play opportunities and now have just one PP goal in their last five games (1-for-11), but the most disappointing part was the way they finished.

They were outscored, 10-8, in the final period while having their lowest HD chance total (two) of the three frames.

“What I didn’t like was the third period. We came out and I thought they had the edge on us,” Laviolette said. “When you’re down 1-0, that’s when we have to figure something out. And that’s where we’re not getting it done right now.”

Mika Zibanejad gets some TOI back

Although Kaapo Kakko wasn’t shy about airing his grievances after a surprisingly tough scratch in Sunday’s 3-2 loss at St. Louis — and then clocked a team-low 10:14 on ice in Nashville — Zibanejad was far less controversial.

The 31-year-old saw his lowest TOI total over a full game in nearly seven years, but took the high road when asked about it on Tuesday morning.

“Honestly, I’m just focusing on today,” he said after the team’s morning skate. “It happened and we have a new game today. So that’s where I put my energy and focus.”

Laviolette described the decision to cut Zibanejad’s ice time as planned, rather than an in-game choice based on the way he was playing. The hope was that it would fuel a response.

“We’ve got to play better,” Laviolette said. “We’re not playing well enough. We’re not doing the things we need to do to be successful. I think it was better the last game in St. Louis compared to the game before, but still not good enough. And then there has to be more from our team in general – from the players you mentioned, from myself, from everyone fighting like hell to make a difference and get out of this, that’s the only way we’re going to get there, more fight for it , we do.

Laviolette didn’t exactly continue the trend in Nashville. Zibanejad saw an increase in usage from 13:04 TOI to 17:17, but still finished below his season average of 18:22.

He was on the ice for both of the Predators’ goals, while recording just two shots of his own on six attempts.

“I’m not going to score if I don’t shoot, so I stop shooting because I don’t score?” he asked rhetorically. “No, I have to keep shooting.”

Zibanejad still sounds like a player trapped in his own head. He once again spoke openly about the mental struggle of regaining confidence during these trying moments, but the answers continue to elude him.

“It’s hard,” he said. “If you have the answer, every team is going to be perfect every night. … That’s not going to happen. It’s sports. You’re still dealing with people. You just have to find a way to get more, i think , courage and just keep playing even when things aren’t really going well you can’t get discouraged by the outcome of things – the outcome of your actions – rather than just keep working through it.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the one New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more about his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.