ANAHEIM, Calif. — If Henrik Lundqvist wanted to be tested in order to prepare for the playoffs upon returning from a seven-game absence covering nearly three weeks, The King surely was that here on Sunday in a 6-3 empty-net-abetted defeat to the Ducks.
“It was a challenging game,” Lundqvist said with a wry smile after surrendering five goals on 33 shots in 58:37. “You hope for maybe a little easier game, but there are no easy games in this league.”
It is impossible for there to be an easy game with the Rangers making it as difficult as possible on themselves and their goaltender. Despite being tied 3-3 entering the third, the Blueshirts were guilty of a multitude of bleeps, bloopers and blunders in their decisions, puck-movement and coverage all night long.
“Too many guys brought their ‘C’ game, and that’s not good enough,” coach Alain Vigneault said following the defeat that prevented the Rangers from clinching a playoff spot. “It was not an easy game for Hank, but if I know him the way everyone does, he’s going to get better.”
Vigneault was judicious enough not to point out that J.T. Miller had an “F” game, guilty of a pair of egregious defensive-zone turnovers with the first leading directly to Anaheim’s first goal midway through the first period and the second creating the faceoff from which the Ducks got the game-winner in breaking the tie early in the third.
Andrew Cogliano got the 4-3 goal at 2:19 after Ryan Kesler fired a shot on goal directly off his right wing faceoff match against Derek Stepan. Lundqvist made the save, but Cogliano was all alone behind Brendan Smith to cash it in against the netminder, who admitted he was “a little bit” surprised by the way the sequence evolved.
“I was surprised that he was alone,” Lundqvist said. “But I should have made a better push there.”
It is true that he Rangers were on the second of a back-to-back following a physically challenging 3-0 victory in Los Angles on Saturday while the Ducks were rested. The Blueshirts — whose magic number remains two points and they could clinch Monday if the Islanders lose to the Predators in Brooklyn — are all but locked into the East’s first wild-card spot. The Ducks on the other hand are engaged in a frantic three-way race for the Pacific title.
Still, though, that does not explain away the Blueshirts’ game, which was riddled by errors with and without the puck against a big, strong team that barreled toward Lundqvist’s net at every opportunity and beat the visitors up the ice way too often for comfort.
“We let our guard down on a couple of plays and they made us pay,” said Ryan McDonagh, who was paired with Kevin Klein while Dan Girardi sat as a healthy scratch. “In general we weren’t sharp with the puck. It was a disappointing game by us.”
see also
Rangers have mixed feelings about old Stanley Cup memories
LOS ANGELES — Three years later, 11 of the Rangers…
The Miller-Kevin Hayes-Michael Grabner unit was dreadful and probably deserved a collective seat if not for the demands of the schedule that continues in San Jose on Tuesday. Mika Zibanejad wasn’t even close to adequate. His mindless power-play turnover by trying to force a pass to the point turning into an Anaheim shorthanded goal.
Pavel Buchnevich was understandably overwhelmed. Nick Holden suffered through a miserable night. Smith had glaring issues. McDonagh, whose play has dipped over the last week, could not come to the rescue.
Rick Nash, who scored his fourth goal in four games after having gotten four in the preceding 27, was an exception to the rule, as were Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello. Stepan, who scored off a dazzling three-on-one set up by Kreider and Zuccarello, played with moxie despite the faceoff loss. Jimmy Vesey’s battle level was commendable. Marc Staal, who triggered Nash’s two-on-one goal with a gorgeous cross-ice headman feed, might have been the best on the back end.
There are six games remaining for the Blueshirts, six games for Lundqvist to ready himself for the tournament.
“You don’t feel as comfortable as you usually do with your reads,” he said. “On odd-man rushes you don’t know how aggressive to be. There are a couple of reads I could have done better, but overall I felt OK.”
Which is more than could be said of his teammates.