MONTREAL — When the Rangers visit this city, it doesn’t seem to matter how high they’re riding, or well they’re playing. For games against the Canadiens resemble flashbacks to the Dark Ages, when the Rangers missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons.
“For whatever reason, we lose ourselves here,” Ryan Callahan said after last night’s 4-1 defeat that represented his team’s sixth straight loss (0-5-1) to the Habs since the start of 2009-10 and fifth straight in regulation, in which they have been outscored 19-3. “We get to running around and don’t seem to be able to play the way we want to play.”
The Rangers lost their second game in the last three while losing their discipline both coming back against the rush and in their own end in front of Henrik Lundqvist, who has allowed seven goals in losing his last two starts after surrendering a total of eight while winning the previous seven.
“We had no structure,” coach John Tortorella said. “As good as we were in defending [in Saturday’s 3-0 victory in Toronto] we were that bad in this one on both rush coverage and in our end zone.”
It was 1-1 after a scrambled first period during which the Rangers survived as much as anything. But the club’s play early in the second was downright unacceptable, with the Canadiens capitalizing on Rangers breakdowns to score twice within a span of 3:17 for a 3-1 lead by 7:11 — Who said craps? — and then again at 12:18.
“Our defensive coverage was just ridiculous at that point,” said Tortorella, who appeared more miffed than anything. “Defensive structure is a big part of what allows us to compete, and we got zero.”
Wojtek Wolski, Kris Newbury (in the lineup with Ruslan Fedotenko sidelined with back spasms), Stu Bickel (becoming an adventure), Michael Del Zotto and Artem Anisimov (who lost his back-check on Montreal’s fourth goal) all sat for long stretches after being involved in the second-period defensive follies. Marc Staal, meanwhile, whose ice time has increased steadily by the game, finished with 19:58.
Wolski, who got one short shift the remainder of the second after being on for the first two goals-against in the period and then three turns in the third, simply does not get his nose dirty enough to fit this team’s mold. That’s even more obvious given that he’s replacing Brandon Dubinsky, who always sticks his nose in, and does so with impunity.
Down two regular forwards in Fedotenko and Dubinsky, out for the third straight with what the Rangers are saying is a sore right shoulder, the Rangers suddenly appear far less sturdy up front, even if this one was lost in the back. But then, defensive-zone coverage is a five-man responsibility. Strength on the puck on the walls is as essential as a willingness to sacrifice the body by blocking shots.
Lundqvist, outdone by Peter Budaj at the other end, was not interested in assigning responsibility for the defeat anywhere but at his own crease.
“I’m very disappointed in myself to give up four goals,” he said after allowing that many for the first time in his last 24 starts since a 5-4 shootout defeat to Ottawa on Oct. 29. “Yes, I can look for excuses on a couple of them, but that is not acceptable.
“There’s no excuse. I have to be better.”
Same goes for the team, even — or especially — in Montreal.
Despite a video making the rounds that purportedly shows PK Subban spitting on the ice in the direction of Del Zotto during the second period, both the Rangers’ defenseman (who was on the bench at the time) and Canadiens defenseman claimed complete ignorance of the incident that escaped the attention of everyone in the building until the clip went up on the internet.