What happened on the ice may have been a sideshow, but it doesn’t take away from the Rangers’ very recent struggles on both sides of the ice.
New York came out sloppy and lost their third consecutive contest in a 4-1 bludgeoning on the road against the Detroit Red Wings Thursday night.
In what has been a common occurrence over the last week, the Rangers fell behind early, letting sloppy mistakes and poor defense get in the way of a win. Former Ranger Andrew Copp got the scoring started in the first period for Detroit with his sixth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead for the Red Wings after one period of action.
Even with a Vincent Trocheck goal to tie the game at one early in the second, the Rangers’ defense and mental mistakes were rampant throughout the period.
Detroit would net the next two goals of the period thanks to Filip Zadina and Michael Rasmussen. Rasmussen would also tally an assist during the win as the Red Wings outplayed the Rangers in almost most facets of the contest.
Filip Hronek’s powerplay goal past Jaroslav Halak put the game out of the reach in the third and final period which sent the Blueshirts to their third straight loss. Halak tallied 19 saves on 23 shots, but for the second straight game, was outplayed by an opponent’s goaltender.
Ville Husso himself saved 30 of 31 shots on goal and repeatedly robbed the Rangers from point-blank range to send the Detroit home crowd into a frenzy.
The loss moves the Rangers to 33-16-9 and stagnant in third place in the Metropolitan division. They will be back on the ice on Saturday when they take on the Washington Capitals.
Game Notes
- Both Vitali Kravtsov and Jake Leschyshyn were healthy scratches due to roster management reasons according to the team. While opinion on a potential trade has been centered around Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane, Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Chicago reported before puck drop that no trade was currently imminent.
- Due to two forwards being healthy scratches, the Rangers had to play with 11 forwards. They almost had to play with 10 players when Tyler Motte left the game in the first period after being hit with a puck. Motte would be back in the game later in the second period.
- Trocheck’s goal was his 12th point in the last 10 games. Recent line changes have allowed the Blueshirts to work Trocheck back with Artemi Panarin and newly-acquired Vladimir Tarasenko.
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