Rangers creating chances in last three losses but failing to convert
The Blues' Torey Krug and the Rangers' Chris Kreider battle for a loose puck during the third period of an NHL game Thursday in St. Louis. Credit: AP/Jeff Roberson
WASHINGTON — The Rangers had ice time available to them on Friday, but they opted to skip it. The way things are going right now, they probably needed a break.
Thursday night’s 5-2 loss to the Blues in St. Louis was the Rangers’ third in a row, their first three-game losing streak of the season. And though they lead the Metropolitan Division with a 26-12-2 record — something they no doubt would have signed for before the season started — they are stuck in neutral as they approach the season’s halfway point Saturday against the Washington Capitals, having gone 8-8-1 in their last 17 games.
In Thursday’s loss, they outshot the Blues 42-20 but allowed Jordan Kyrou’s hat trick and two goals in four attempts to the Blues’ last-in-the-league power play. As they searched for answers, the Rangers suggested that whatever doesn’t kill them will make them stronger.
“I’ve said it before . . . but some adversity in the middle of the season could be a good thing later on,’’ said forward Vincent Trocheck, who scored against St. Louis. “We’re going to figure it out. I mean, there’s good things that are coming out of all these [losses]. I feel like we have good things in each one of these last three losses.’’
The good things are that the Rangers have been piling up shots and scoring chances, recording 48, 42 and 42 shots on goal in their last three games. Unfortunately for them, the opposing goalie has been great in all of them.
“That’s a good amount of shots,’’ said defenseman Adam Fox, who had the other goal against the Blues. “Maybe you want to get a few more whacks at rebounds . . . That’s how you’re going to get goals when we’re getting chances but they’re not necessarily going in. But I mean, you put up 40-plus shots in three straight games, obviously you want a little bit of results to show for it.’’
The Rangers, who were without No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad — a last-minute scratch because of illness — against the Blues, were happy with their effort. The data suggests they had a right to be. The analytics site Natural Stat Trick said the Rangers had 50 scoring chances in that game compared to 18 against and 21 high-danger chances compared to six against.
Coach Peter Laviolette, as he did after the loss to Vancouver on Monday, bemoaned not the number of chances the Rangers allowed to the opponent but the quality of those chances.
“Some of the mistakes we made, they were, again, a little bit too ‘noisy,’ ’’ he said. “It wasn’t a lot of them. But a couple that we made were a little bit too noisy and we’ve got to clean that up.’’
Does the number of goals allowed compared to chances allowed say something about goaltender Igor Shesterkin? The All-Star goalie stopped 15 of 19 shots Thursday and has allowed 16 goals in his last four starts. His goals-against average for the season is 2.90 and his save percentage is .901.
Laviolette preferred to put the emphasis on the team in front of the goaltender.
“I still think we’ve got to tighten up more in front of him,’’ he said. “I think we can quiet it down even more and not make it so difficult.’’
Notes & quotes: With back-to-back games against Washington on Saturday and Sunday, the Rangers called up forward Anton Blidh from Hartford.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
