Ranger Bad Hab-its continue in 3rd straight loss

October 24, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

In baseball, three strikes and you’re out. The same applies to pretty much anything in life. Unfortunately, the bad trend continued for the Rangers in a 5-4 stinker to lowly Montreal. Forget the one brownie point. Toss it away because the team stunk tonight and deserved to lose in regulation.

Sadly, they actually led 3-1 and 4-2 at one point but couldn’t hold the Canadiens off. Yes. The Habs played inspired hockey, rallying back from two-goal deficits twice to earn a third consecutive win with Jaroslav Halak (23 saves) in net again over Carey Price. Honestly, Halak wasn’t great but just good enough to outduel Henrik Lundqvist, who for a second consecutive game couldn’t come up with the big save when his team needed it. With his team leading 4-2 and hapless Christopher Higgins following Vinny Prospal to the box thanks to a needless high stick, Lundqvist was still able to see Marc-Andre Bergeron’s unscreened one-timer from the top of the right circle that somehow eluded him.

The Rangers never recovered, proceeding to play careless hockey that saw them turn the puck over countless times. How sloppy was this Original Six nightmare? The teams combined for an egregious 36 giveaways (NYR-15, Mtl-21). Against an inferior opponent who only had the crowd, the Rangers got sucked into a track meet. Apparently, a few players suffered from brainlock including goat Brandon Dubinsky, whose brutal neutral zone miscue led directly to a Habs’ goal earlier in the second period that made it 3-2. Getting way too cute at the end of a power play (one of only two), he emulated fellow Alaskan Scott Gomez which allowed the Habs to come two-on-one with Matt D’Agostini stuffing in his first from Maxim Lapierre while the late coming Dubinsky bowled into his own goalie, injuring him.

When Lundqvist was still down in pain, I along with Point Pleasant buddy Harry cringed, fearing the worst. Fortunately, a guy who’s tougher than he looks was alright. I’ve said it before. But I now worry more about Henrik than Marian Gaborik, who was one of the better Rangers, netting a goal and an assist. Due to our team continuing not to defend Lundqvist after opponents run roughshod in the crease, I have a very uneasy feeling. I like this team but sooner or later, they’re going to have to play tougher around the net or it could be the season.

For Dubinsky, he had a nice seat on the bench the rest of the night playing just 8:51 with a minus-one. Well earned. Next time, use your head instead of trying to dance like Gomez. Another useless player Higgins had a nightmarish return going minus-two in 12-plus wasted minutes. How is it possible that he can still play that much while Artem Anisimov, whose goal tied the game up early on, gets just over seven minutes while stuck on the fourth line? The coach has some explaining to do.

So, how bad was this game? Well, when you consider the Rangers recovered after a flat opening by getting the next three goals from Artie, Ales Kotalik and a much better Matt Gilroy (maybe he heard me) with less than a minute left, it was self-explanatory. The theme all game was our D leaving gaping holes that even a tortoise could skate through. They paid dearly even after Gaborik beat Halak like a rented mule (deke, five-hole) for No.8, converting a breakaway started by Michael Del Zotto and Enver Lisin that temporarily restored order.

Instead of building on it, they allowed the Habs to dictate. It’s true Lundqvist’s klunker to Bergeron swung the momentum. But it still didn’t explain the missed assignments including an awful read where Montreal came in three-on-one untouched by human hand before Mike Cammalleri beat Lundqvist upstairs for his second of his first hat trick as a Hab, tying it at four with 62 ticks left in the second.

I didn’t see the rest but knew what the end result would be as I listened in the car through rain. Sure. They survived the rest of regulation to get to overtime. But after the first couple of shifts, the ugly conclusion was inevitable. As fate had it, the guy I figured would win it did with Cammalleri completing the trick by beating Ranger after Ranger before roofing one to put the cherry on top of the sundae for his fourth point. He also helped setup Bergeron’s PPG.

Game over. Even Gomez, who earned an unsportsmanlike for diving, had a good night notching two assists. Figures because he always killed us before putting on our jersey, shaming it. And not surprisingly, Devil buddy Brian Gionta also had two helpers, including one from his knees that allowed Cammalleri to slam dunk his first while Dan Girardi watched after stickchecking. That it occurred 4:16 in told me all I needed.

A final observation. When your fourth line scores off hard work with even Michal Rozsival getting involved and Aaron Voros assisting, it speaks volumes for how some of our upper echelon guys played. Why not reward them with more ice-time? Especially Anisimov, who should be getting bumped up if others don’t want to play smart hockey.

Well, at the very least, this team’s 0-2-1 in their last three having come down to earth following the seven-game win streak where the play slipped during the last three. Maybe now the message will sink in. I’m sure all the nervous nellies who always find something wrong with our team are pleased. I’ll repeat. I like this team and am not pushing the panic button. They’re better than this.

They get the improved ‘Yotes Monday at MSG before visiting John Tavares and the Islanders Thursday. We’ll see if they can get it turned around.

Notes: Rangers took the collar in just 2 PP chances, ending their streak of at least one PPG at eight. … Brian Boyle had his first scrap against D’Agostini, getting the decision. … With a goal at even strength, Kotalik now has three of 11 points five-on-five. … Del Zotto’s helper gives him 4-6-10 in the first 11, leading all blueliners. … Faceoffs were dead even 33-33 with Prospal (15-15) and the invisible Chris Drury (9-9) going .500 while Dubinsky won 5-of-8 before his benching. The Habs’ best was Gomez, who was 14-of-24 while Glen Metropolit went 5-4. … Rangers blocked 24 shots to Montreal’s 17 with Del Zotto (5) leading the way.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brian Gionta,  (2 assists, 3 SOG, 2 takeaways, 1 blocked shot, +1 in 19:41)

2nd Star-Marian Gaborik, (goal-8th plus A, SOG in 23:11)

1st Star-Mike Cammalleri, (hat trick incl. OT winner w/3:18 left, A, 4 SOG, hit, +2 in 22:16)