It was fun to cover the last handful of games, as the youth had a hot stretch of production that led to four straight wins, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be against the LA Kings last night. The Rangers dropped this one 4-1, getting outplayed at 5v5 by a Kings team still fighting for the playoffs. The Rangers got their chances, but it was mostly LA until the third period when they were holding their 3-0 and 3-1 leads. Darcy Kuemper stood tall, stopping 12 of 13 to preserve the win and snap the Rangers winning streak.
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A rare off night at 5v5 by the new top lineproved to be a big reason why the Rangers couldn’t gather any momentum. Going up mostly against Anze Kopitar, Artemi Panarin, and Mathieu Joseph proved difficult and the puck mainly belonged to LA during their minutes. In his final game ever at MSG, Kopitar showed he still has the capacity to carry a line and still play at an incredible level. That’s the type of franchise player the Rangers should aspire to draft. As Kopitar’s career inches closer to the end, I can’t help but wonder if the Rangers will ever get that lucky.
After making over 40 saves in the previous game vs Minnesota, Igor Shesterkin could not replicate his brilliance on Garden ice. The home losses have been in bunches, they’ve been embarrassing, they’ve gotten flat out lop-sided in puck possession metrics, and the team just plays so much differently in front of Igor at home. It makes absolutely no sense, but hopefully it’s something that simply can’t be repeated next year. Right?
He did not record a point in the contest, but I have enjoyed Adam Edstrom centering the 4th line. He was drafted as a center, but hasn’t played the position since coming to North America. He’s done a solid job in the last two days keeping that fourth line stable. He isn’t just a big dude, he has natural size and strength and uses it to his advantage to showcase the skill he also clearly has. He needs to stay healthy though.
The Rangers may have lost, but if you are looking at the future of this team, the Kings need to make it into the playoffs to maximize the return of the Panarin trade. The Rangers also need to lose anyway because they were toying with their lottery odds a bit too much. It’s an odd thing to say, since the kids were the ones driving the recent streak. What a double-edged sword for the Rangers as they close out the last 15 games this year.