As pictured above, the Rangers were afraid to touch the puck. And when they did, it wasn't pretty. Passing pucks into the shins of the Ducks players, shooting wide (even in the shootout)... Again, the Rangers had a slow and sloppy first period. They seemed to be 5 steps behind the play. Play got better as the time ticked down. However, banking on EC scoring in the shootout proved fatal.
I've seen almost every shootout attempt by Erik Christensen. And I don't recall a time that he ever shot the puck. Ever. And he chooses to shoot. Wide. I'm sure Tortorella is kicking himself. They sure could have used Avery to block Hiller with his nifty screening moves. Or he could have skated circles around Hiller, praying on his recent bouts with vertigo.
The shoot out was miserable. First EC goes wide, Richards fumbles the puck upon pick up... The only two who had a decent shot was Zuccarello and Anisimov. Lundqvist again, was almost stellar.
Again, penalties proved costly. A sloppy first period proved costly. Being 2 steps behind the Ducks proved costly.
The keys to the next couple games? Stay out of the box, and don't rely on coming back in the 2nd and 3rd periods. Because obviously that didn't work out so well.
The Three Stars of the game:
3. Lundqvist
2. Lundqvist
1. Lundqvist
Here are Lundqvist, Richards and Callahan on the game.
Hopefully a week from games will be good for them to regroup.
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