So let me say this without anyone suggesting that I call Alexis Lafreniere a bust or a disappointment, or in any way an example of how the Rangers do not know how to nurture teenagers.
But for the third consecutive game in which open ice was a premium and the game was contested in tight spaces, David Quinn dropped the first overall draft pick from the rotation in the second half of the third period.
The first overall pick of the 2020 series scored two innings worth 1:24 over the final 11:56 of Monday’s 2-0 defeat against the islanders, in which the visitors struck twice after 2:05 after ‘ a pointless first 51:15.
That after number 13 got two innings worth 57 seconds over the last 10:40 of the 4-2 victory Thursday over the Capitals, which was a game after hitting two innings of 1:29 in the last 11:13 of the 3-1 victory over the Penguins on February 1st.
That’s funny. People have assumed – and you, Felix Unger and I all know what happens if you do – that Lafreniere will naturally increase his game after scoring his first NHL goal with the overtime game winner in Buffalo on January 28th. reason, but the 19-year-old’s game got stuck.
He is not so much on or around the bag. Instead, he got stuck in traffic and could not get out into open ice. Of course, it was also two consecutive games on the third line with Brett Howden, who has many admirable qualities, but that he should not serve his wings’ offense is not at the top of the list.
Lafreniere played a sum of 14:02, including 2:00 on the second unit of the power play that did little in this case, which could have had a 1995 Jacques Lemaire behind both banks for about 40 minutes. The islanders had a more effective investigation than the Rangers, who generally changed the puck online and therefore had little chance of creating puck support. Lafreniere got five hits, but he did not score a shot attempt.
What’s more, he was part of the group on the ice because of the massive confusion that hit the 2-0 goal on his last inning, though perhaps the least guilty. It was Lafreniere’s last shift of the night, with Kaapo Kakko getting time with the extra striker who went to number 13 earlier.
Casey Cizikas struck a 30 meter free kick home 11 minutes into the match. 2 – 0 for the home team. Now the islanders broke out without resistance, because they were allowed most of the night. Mathew Barzal braided through the neutral zone and advanced to Cal Clutterbuck, who took it into the right corner.
Somehow Matt Martin snuck to the left without explaining it. The Rangers looked frozen in time when Clutterbuck passed a pass that put Martin home from the left side of the threshold at 13:20. Howden and Anthony Bitetto, both at the scene, stood with outstretched gloves. Their pleas were unanswered.
“It was a one-on-four and we just did not play it well,” said Quinn, whose team played fairly well but at the same time ended its own attacking game. ‘Clutterbuck’s in the corner, we’re clearing the middle, and our backchecker stops backchecking.
‘We had four-on-two, and I think everyone assumes someone else is going to do something. It was badly read. It was just confusion in general because I thought we had too many guys who had the chance to do something and no one did anything. ”
The Rangers were minimalist in the offensive zone. Semyon Varlamov, who left at 120:00 without giving up a goal in the garden this season with this one after his exclusions in the opening night, stopped Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin a few times, but the Blueshirts could not move in front of the goalkeeper and does not generate second chances. Pretty one-and-done.
Zibanejad, who has held on to one goal and two assistants in his last eight games, and with one point (an assist) in his last eight games, was more of the biggest factor in the attacking zone. But Chris Kreider did not have a big impact, nor did lineman Pavel Buchnevich. However, the unit was more effective than the Panarin-Ryan Strome-Kakko triumph that yielded far more than it created.
There was a lot to like and in the defensive zone. The Rangers delivered just 30 shots, just a few ticks above the 27.7 average they brought into the game, which is good for the 10th best in the NHL. Last year, the Blueshirts conceded the second most in the league on 34 shots at per. Two years ago, they were the third worst at 33.8 versus the per. This is real progress.
The Rangers will get no interruption in the schedule, with the Bruins next on Broadway. They are not known for allowing very open ice. We will show how much of any kind is awarded to Lafreniere when the game is at stake.