Rangers coach Peter Laviolette has seen his team win games and earn points despite not playing their best, but he was clear in saying that New York was outworked in their one-goal loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
The Rangers are coming off one of their poorest performances of the season as they finish a four-game road trip with a game against the Edmonton Oilers, who also had a disappointing performance in their last game.
New York is 2-1-0 on the trip, which began with a 2-0 win at Seattle on Sunday, followed by a 4-3 victory at Vancouver on Tuesday. The Rangers allowed only 24 shots against the Canucks, but things were very different in Calgary.
In Calgary, the Rangers lost 3-2, and the game could have been even worse, as they gave up a season-high 49 shots on goal, beating their previous season-high of 46 shots allowed in a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on October 29.
The Rangers allowed 40 or more shots for the third time this season, which had only happened eight times last year when they won the Presidents’ Trophy. They also allowed at least 35 shots for the sixth time, with a record of 4-2-0 in those games.
New York gave up a goal in the first period after being outshot 20-5. They gave up another goal before Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle scored 16 seconds apart late in the second period. The tying goal came after Laviolette moved Kaapo Kakko to center, placing him on a line with Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey in the latter part of the second.
“We didn’t do a good job of getting the puck out, and when we did get it out, we weren’t getting it in. We were turning it over and they were coming right back at us. It’s definitely not the way we want to start the game,” said Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren.
The poor performance continued a trend of inconsistency for New York. After scoring 31 goals in their 5-0-1 start, the Rangers are 7-5-0 since, and have been held to two or fewer goals six times in that stretch.
Edmonton is 10-6-2 since losing their first three games and is 4-2-1 in their last seven games.
The Oilers lost 5-3 to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, dropping their record to 4-6-1 at home.
Leon Draisaitl scored 27 seconds into the game, but Edmonton gave up two goals in a row, falling behind 2-1 early in the second period. After Corey Perry tied it for Edmonton, the Wild scored two more times in the second period.
“I don’t think we’ve played close to our potential many nights,” said Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm. “We know we played a lot better hockey (at our peak) last year, but in order to get there, it starts with the work. It starts with the defensive side of the game.”
The Oilers, who were the defending Western Conference champions, are still struggling defensively, allowing at least four goals for the eighth time this season. They are 0-7-1 in those games, and their offense has been inconsistent, scoring three or fewer goals 13 times.
“We have to find ways to score goals,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “You need skill to do that, but you also need some grit, simplifying your game and going hard to the net.”
The Oilers have a strong record of 7-2-1 in their last 10 games against the Rangers.
