After the Rangers rallied from a goal down late in the third period before beating the Capitals 2-1 in a shootout in Washington on Jan. 24, the Blueshirts were 7-12-3 in games that they had trailed after two periods, 15-5-3 in one-goal games and 9-14-1 when scoring two goals or fewer.
In the nine games since, the Blueshirts are 0-5 when trailing after two, 1-5-1 in one-goal games and 0-5 when scoring two or fewer.
Oh. And 2-6-1 overall.
“It’s so much harder to come back against teams now because everyone plays a much stricter game,” Henrik Lundqvist said after the Blueshirts’ 1-0 defeat to the Devils last night in Newark. “This is the time that it’s huge to get the first goal, and we talk about that, but it’s been tough for us.”
Last night’s first goal was the only goal, with Ilya Kovalchuk burying a breakaway at 8:18 of the second after the puck bounced through Marc Staal at the right blue line. The 100 million dollar man raced in, “at 100 miles an hour,” according to Lundqvist, before beating the goaltender with a flick between his glove and the right post.
That only goal represented the 10th time in the last 12 games the Blueshirts had yielded the first goal. It’s a tough way to survive, let alone thrive.
But the Rangers have had issues putting together 60 minutes. Last night, they were pinned in their own end for most of the first two periods before they were able to tramp in the third and apply some pressure to the Devils’ defense and to netminder Johan Hedberg.
“I thought we were a little bit sluggish in the first, found our legs a bit in the second and then were more aggressive in the third,” Staal said. “The first two periods, everything was a puck battle in our end.”
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Coach John Tortorella rearranged his lines yet again for the third, reuniting the Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan unit that had been a staple the first two months, and also the Sean Avery-Erik Christensen-Marian Gaborik combination that has had its moments when allowed to play together.
Vinny Prospal, who opened between Dubinsky and Gaborik, struggled for the second straight night and finished with Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust, and Derek Stepan moved back between Mats Zuccarello and Wojtek Wolski.
The changes had an immediate effect when Anisimov set up Callahan at the right porch off a centering feed at 0:21 that was denied by a Hedberg snow angel stop. Avery then got in on the forecheck to create a strong cycle with Gaborik and Christensen on the ensuing shift that created a momentum swing, but the Rangers were unable to create enough scoring chances or get enough shots through to the net.
“We know we didn’t generate enough offense,” said Avery, who tied with Zuccarello for the team lead with three shots. “The first two periods we weren’t able to win enough battles for the puck.
“It was better in the third, but obviously we didn’t do enough.”
Tortorella spoke to the fatigue factor: “Not just one or two players, the whole group,” he said-with the Rangers having won an emotional 4-3 shootout decision on Thursday at the Garden.
But the coach never referred to fatigue when the Rangers won their first 10 games on the second night of back-to-backs.
Now they have lost their last four.
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Gaborik did not have a shot on net — his lone attempt was blocked-in 18:04. .¤.¤. Christensen played just 11:06, and somehow only 3:04 on four shifts in the third, despite having jump on every turn. Christensen did not get a second of power play time, with Tortorella choosing to use Prospal on his first unit between Gaborik and Callahan while sending out Anisimov, Stepan and Dubinsky on his second unit. The Blueshirts did not have a shot in 4:00 of power play time.
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The Rangers, outshot 28-16 overall, had one shot in the final 13:49 of the first period. Devils had 53 overall attempts to the Blueshirts’ 29.
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In the market for a defenseman, Blueshirts nevertheless were not in on either Tomas Kaberle, who went from Toronto to Boston, or Eric Brewer, who was dealt from St. Louis to Tampa Bay, sources confirmed.
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The Rangers face the Flyers, against whom they are 0-3, tomorrow at the Garden in a 12:40 faceoff before traveling to Carolina for a match on Tuesday against the Hurricanes that will be followed by a game Friday in Washington.