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Jonathan Quick heroics not enough, Rangers lose 2-1 to Predators: Takeaways
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- Jonathan Quick heroics not enough, Rangers lose 2-1 to Predators: Takeaways
Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Jonathan Quick's outstanding goaltending, not to mention his fiery demeanor, nearly was enough for the New York Rangers to steal a point — or maybe two — Sunday night in Nashville . But instead the badly out-played Rangers lost to the Predators 2-1 at Bridgestone Arena.
Both teams played the night before, but the Rangers (18-16-4) appeared to have far less gas in the tank than the Predators. Not only was this New York's sixth game in nine days, and second back-to-back set this week, but the Rangers were without four key players in their lineup.
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Most significantly, captain J.T. Miller is week to week after he sustained an upper-body injury in the stirring 5-4 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Forwards Gabe Perreault and Matt Rempe were late scratches due to illness. And top defenseman Adam Fox missed his 10th game due to an upper-body injury.
"Sucks not having everybody. Obviously, tough spot back to back, and then guys are getting sick and guys go down," Vincent Trocheck said postgame . "But, I mean, that doesn't affect how we play with pride. If there's anything to take away from today, we didn't play with pride."
Quick did everything in his power to will the Rangers to victory, finishing with 30 saves. Despite allowing only 11 goals in his past five starts, Quick is winless (0-4-1) since Nov. 7. The Rangers scored six goals in that stretch with Quick between the pipes.
"He was unbelievable tonight. It definitely sucks when you can't get anything for him," defenseman Braden Schneider said.
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The Rangers didn't score until 35.9 seconds remained in the third period. Jonny Brodzinski's third goal of the season ruined Justus Annunen 's bid for his third NHL shutout. Annunen faced only 17 shots Sunday.
Filip Forsberg scored his seventh goal in the past eight games for Nashville, which defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 at home Saturday. Steven Stamkos scored his 14th goal, an empty-netter, the shift before Brodzinski's tally.
Somehow, the Rangers reached the second intermission trailing by just a single goal. Badly out-shot, out-attempted, and out-chanced through 40 minutes, the visitors leaned heavily on Quick to keep them in this one. And the 39-year-old goalie didn't let his teammates down.
The only goal he allowed was an absolute missile off the stick of Forsberg 10:44 into the second period. Ryan O'Reilly gained entry into the Rangers zone, then spun around to make a scintillating pass to Forsberg on right wing. Forsberg wired his 16th goal top shelf over Quick's glove to make it 1-0.
The Predators out-shot the Rangers 15-6 in the scoreless first period and 11-4 in the second. Through 40 minutes, the home team out-attempted their guests by a whopping 53-28 margin.
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New York's frustration was palpable, and then visible during one sequence late in the second period. Artemi Panarin had a rare clean entry into the offensive zone, but before he could unleash a shot, Predators defenseman Roman Josi got back and canceled him out. Josi came away with the puck, and a clearly frustrated Panarin hooked him to the ice at 18:08, and then barked at the officials on his way to the penalty box.
Quick made several clutch saves early in the third period, including right after his own turnover forced him to make a pair of clutch, scrambling stops. Later, he calmly stoned Forsberg with a left-pad save on a clean breakaway at 9:09, moments after the Rangers failed to tie the game on their second power play of the night.
Given another power play when Forsberg flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty at at 16:01, the Rangers again couldn't capitalize. They finished 0-for-3 on the power play Sunday.
Stamkos scored into an empty net with 47.6 seconds to play, before Brodzinski made things interesting again 12 seconds later when he buried his own rebound past Annunen. However, the final 36 seconds featured the Rangers turning the puck over in the neutral zone multiple times, without a single rush into the offensive zone.
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It was a fitting finish to a frustrating night.
Key takeaways after Rangers' 2-1 road loss to Predators
Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Mismanaging the game
The Rangers didn't make excuses after this loss, one that dropped them to 0-6-1 in the second of back-to-back sets this season. But coach Mike Sullivan acknowledged he knew early on the Rangers weren't at their best. But then he explained what irritated him most about this defeat.
"For me, that's a situation, I think, when I'm talking about managing the game right. You got to be able to win with your B game, if you don't have your A game," Sullivan said. "The way you do that is you don't beat yourself. You force teams to have to make good plays to beat you. You defend hard, you manage the puck, you make them play goal line to goal line. You watch your shift lengths. You change smart. You don't take offensive zone penalties. I just don't think we did that in any aspect of it."
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Well said, Sully. Well said.
Lineup juggling
David Kirouac-Imagn Images
With Miller, Perreault, and Rempe sidelined, the Rangers went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen in their lineup for the first time this season. Brodzinski and Taylor Raddysh drew in up front, and Urho Vaakanainen dressed as the seventh defenseman, playing just five shifts and logging 3:59 TOI.
Brodzinski, a healthy scratch the previous three games, looked fresh and led the Rangers with five shots on goal. Raddysh assisted on Brodzinski's goal, his first point in 10 games.
Brennan Othmann moved up to the third line, where he and fellow rookie Noah Laba each had a rough night. Each had an expected goal share of just under 15 percent, and the Predators held a 7-1 advantage in scoring chances 5v5 with Laba and Othmann on the ice, per Natural Stat Trick .
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Hitting iron
As good as he was, Quick also caught a couple breaks in this one. The Predators hit the post behind Quick twice in a four-minute span of the second period. So, what was a 1-0 deficit for New York, very easily could've been 2-0 or 3-0.
Nearly 13 minutes into the period, Michael Bunting blistered a right-wing shot off the far post. The goal light went on, and the play was blown dead, even though the on-ice officials correctly said the puck didn't go in the net. Since play stopped with the Rangers in possession of the puck, Sullivan was furious with the referees.
Then at 16:18, Nicolas Hague hammered a slap shot off the post with Nashville on the penalty kill.
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To be fair, the Rangers also caught iron with a pair of shot attempts. Alexis Lafreniere did so in the first period, and Brodzinski wired a left-circle blast off the crossbar 5:52 into the second.
Close Call
Predators forward Reid Schaeffer came awfully close to sustaining a very serious injury in the first period. The close call occurred at 14:31, when the 22-year-old rookie collided with Rangers defenseman Scott Morrow along the left-wing boards in New York's defensive zone. Morrow got the worst of the hit, fell backwards, and his leg kicked up in the air. That's when his skate accidentally clipped Schaeffer on the chin.
Bleeding from a significant gash, Schaeffer immediately skated to the Nashville bench, and the referees initially handed Morrow a double-minor for high-sticking. However, after video review, the penalty was rescinded.
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A fraction of an inch higher, and Schaeffer would've caught the skate blade in his mouth. A bit lower, and his throat and neck were in danger of being slashed open. Fortunately, Schaeffer returned to the ice four minutes later, albeit with a nasty looking gash on his chin.
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