The Rangers had a little talk amongst themselves after this one, and the message was clear.
“Recharge,” Brady Skjei relayed, “and ready to get back after Christmas.”
The recharge is needed after a 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Saturday night at the Garden which was the Rangers’ second straight loss, bringing them into the three-day holiday break with quite the sour taste in their mouths. Because not only did this follow up their 4-3 shootout loss to the Devils on Thursday in Newark, but it was followed up with another game rife with mistakes.
Now the Rangers (19-13-4) are 4-3-2 in their previous nine games, which have come in a span of 15 days. It’s been a lot of hockey in a short stretch, and the Blueshirts have made it commonplace to give up 35-plus shots every night, hoping that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist can bail them out.
But it just wasn’t enough against the skilled Maple Leafs (22-14-1), and it makes one wonder just exactly where the Rangers are in the landscape of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
“Last two games [are] a reminder for us how hard we have to work and how well we have to play to get points,” Lundqvist said after making 34 saves. “We’re one of those teams that’s going to battle to get in [to the playoffs], so we need our best effort every night to have a chance. We came up a little short here against a really skilled team.”
It did seem like the Rangers were going to tie it with their second goal in a span of 44 seconds midway through the third period, but Michael Grabner’s tally at 12:09 was taken off the scoreboard after Toronto coach Mike Babcock challenged and successfully won with Kevin Hayes caught offside on the far side of the ice.
“You try to turn it into a positive. You got your opportunity, you scored, but obviously it was an offside play,” Rick Nash said. “You try to stay upbeat on the bench. You still have some time left to get another chance.”
But just as they did all night, those chances were undercut by mistakes, this one being a too-many-men penalty with just 1:24 remaining in regulation that left their last gasps of life come up short. It was the eighth penalty the Rangers took on the night, and they just couldn’t get the equalizer past Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen.
“It’s a sour feeling,” captain Ryan McDonagh said. “We had a tough game against the Devils where we didn’t have a great effort collectively, and tonight it was just so-so at times.”
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Some 70 feet across the ice from where Michael Grabner…
Midway through the second period, McDonagh and partner Nick Holden had lost a wall battle with the diminutive Zach Hyman, who found Auston Matthews alone in front. The Toronto star, who was the No. 1-overall pick last year, was playing his first game back after missing the previous six with concussions symptoms — and hardly missed a beat, getting his own rebound and beating Lundqvist for what would be the game-winning goal to make it 3-1.
“Obviously, he’s the wrong guy to face one-on-one in front of the net,” Lundqvist said. “He had a really good game.”
After going down 2-0 on goals from William Nylander and Ron Hainsey, the Rangers did get one from Jimmy Vesey at 2:37 of the second to make it 2-1. And after Matthews’ goal, J.T. Miller got one at 11:25 of the third to make it 3-2.
Then, when Grabner beat Andersen near-side, the Garden was jumping with Christmas joy. But the goal came down, and now the Rangers can only look forward to the Capitals coming into the Garden on Dec. 27 as the next chance for redemption.
“We wanted to end on a high note, no question about that,” Lundqvist said. “But we will take the break now. We will recharge. We are going to have a big challenge in the first game back, so let’s enjoy Christmas here and recharge and come back ready to play.”