NOT EASY BEING THE KING: A dejected Henrik Lundqvist shuts his eyes after allowing a goal in the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to the Panthers last night. (AP)
SUNRISE, Fla. — After a season of middling results, why would the Rangers start to make things easy now.
In what only could be considered the most disappointing loss of the season, the Blueshirts found a way to drop a crucial game to the NHL-worst Panthers, 3-2, last night at the BB&T Center. With two games remaining in the regular season, the chance to clinch a playoff spot will now have to wait.
“I’ve said all along, it’s all about us, what we do,” said captain Ryan Callahan, whose team dropped to eighth place with the loss, getting leapfrogged by the idle Senators and their game in hand. “We’re not looking around us. We have to take care of our business, and tonight we let two [points] slip away.”
Whether they knew it or not, by early in the third period, the Rangers officially had their fate in their hands. That’s when the Capitals wrapped up a 5-3 win over the Jets, making the 24-18-4 Blueshirts just two points short of clinching a playoff berth.
That is also the same time Brad Richards got his stick caught up near the skates of defenseman TJ Brennan, drawing a tripping penalty that resulted in a Marcel Goc power-play goal to give the Panthers (14-26-6) a 2-1 lead.
“It’s 1-1, we’re in full control of the game, I don’t think we should take a penalty and we don’t get the puck out on the penalty kill twice,” said coach John Tortorella. “End of story.”
Richards had played a solid game up to that point, his line with Taylor Pyatt and Mats Zuccarello creating most of the team’s chances, including Pyatt’s goal 2:35 into the third to tie it 1-1. Yet Richards did not exactly agree with the call, and voiced his opinion to the referee as he was going to the penalty box.
“I’m going down to get the puck, and he kind of jumps on me to sell it,” said Richards, who had a terrific assist on a Derick Brassard goal with 32.9 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 3-2. “The ref is going to call it because he sees me on the ice and him going down. I don’t think he even tried to continue skating when he saw me go for the puck.”
The Rangers had control for most of the game, dominating in puck possession and peppering goalie Jacob Markstrom with 38 shots. Yet most were from the outside, allowing Markstrom to make easy saves while the 13 Henrik Lundqvist made came from all angles and through traffic.
“It was a game where I didn’t face too many shots,” said Lundqvist, the two goals he surrendered both getting by him on deflections, the first from Tomas Fleishmann and the second from Goc. “But it seemed like every one I faced was a tough one.”
With Lundqvist out of the net on a crucial Rangers power play with just over three minutes remaining, Drew Shore tossed one shorthanded into the empty net making it 3-1, the eventual game-winner after Brassard’s late tally.
So with the noise and commotion still humming out on the ice, Rangers general manager Glen Sather walked passed the locker room and toward the exit of the arena, on to Carolina for tomorrow night’s matchup against the Hurricanes, followed by the season finale against the Devils at the Garden on Saturday.
“Never easy,” Sather said, and shook his head.