Rangers Fall to the Predators in Music City

Nashville’s tough defense was hard to break down

Nashville, TN- After a wild win at Madison Square Garden for the Rangers, they started their six-game road trip with a visit to Music City to take on the Nashville Predators. It was a tough defensive game that saw the Rangers get denied in the offensive zone and couldn’t get anything in the net as they fell to the Predators by a final score of two to one.

Both goalies were strong in the first period

Jonathan Quick for the Rangers and Justus Annunen were solid inside their crease. Anytime they faced a rush or shots, they were in the perfect position to keep the puck out of the net. There were times they had help from the posts or the crossbar, but both goalies had a solid opening period of keeping the puck out.

Quick snap and in

The Predators started a rush up the ice to create a scoring chance. Adam Wilsby gave Ryan O’Reilly the puck and started to enter the zone, and got inside the slot. He made a 360 turn and made the quick pass to Filip Forsberg, trailing the play. A quick snap of his wrist from the far side faceoff circle and beat Quick to the far post at 10:44 of the second period.

Hits the post, and a phantom goal

Everyone in Nashville thought their team had a second goal in the second period, but it never went in. Michael Bunting was on a breakaway and had Quick dead to rights. His shot went over the right pad of Quick, hit the near post, and out. But the Bridgestone Arena suddenly played its goal horn, and the lights flashed, assuming there was a goal.

As the Rangers got control of the puck and skated for their own attack, the officials blew the play dead and nullified the Rangers’ attempt to get a shot on goal. If that puck did go in, the replay room in Toronto would’ve contacted the scorers’ table to blow the horn and have the officials make contact. They should’ve allowed the Rangers to continue the play and have a chance at a goal.

An empty net and a late goal

The Rangers pulled Jonathan Quick with over two minutes remaining for an extra attacker. But unfortunately, they got scored on as Steven Stamkos put the puck into the empty net at 19:12 of the third period. But out of nowhere, Johnny Brodzinsky was given a chance to score when Taylor Raddysh fed him the puck and somehow stuffed it past Annunen 11 seconds later at 19:23 of the third period.

Unfortunately, the Rangers didn’t have enough time to get a second goal to force overtime, and they fell at the Bridgestone Arena. While they lost Gabe Perreault and Mate Rempe due to illness, and Captain J.T. Miller to an upper-body injury, the Rangers did their best to get the two points on this night, but failed.

“Well, it’s disappointing because, you know, we had a couple of really high character wins the last couple of games, and these guys have worked extremely hard, you know, and we knew this was going to be a tough game, you know, going into it, but it doesn’t make any excuses for, you know, for the lack of execution.

And I think there’s going to be points in the schedule where every team’s going to play against the schedule a little bit. This was one of them for us. And it was an opportunity for some guys with a depleted lineup. I think that some of the silver lining in something like this. Of course, we don’t want to play with a depleted lineup, but when you do, it provides opportunities for guys to play more significant minutes, play in a more prominent role.

And it provides others that are in the lineup to… to elevate their games, to try to help us have success. I just didn’t, you know, we weren’t sharp, obviously, from the drop of the puck, you know. I shouldn’t say that. I thought the first few shifts we had I thought we had a pretty decent start. It didn’t last long, and we just didn’t execute.

We didn’t go tape to tape. You know, we… We were late everywhere. When you have these nights, I think you’ve got to recognize how to manage the game. You can’t beat yourself. You’ve got to make sure you force them to play goal line to goal line. You can’t give them an easy offense. We gave them an easy offense. We didn’t manage the puck. We didn’t make any plays.

We made high-risk plays. Turn it into a track meet. It’s not a recipe for success. It didn’t feel particularly like a struggle to advance pucks and really establish the forecheck in the way you would have liked to on a night like that, as opposed to maybe getting a little risky through the neutral zone. Well, we couldn’t advance the puck because we couldn’t seem to make two tape-to-tape passes. It’s hard to play that way. You chase the game,” said Head Coach Mike Sullivan

New York Rangers News:

• Rangers Outlast the Flyers in the Shootout
• Rangers Edge the Blues in Overtime
• Rangers honor their New Garden Era

“Game Day. Done Right.”

When the Rangers hit the ice and celebrate their 100th Anniversary, you need a beer that matches your passion. Michelob Ultra – the superior light beer for superior fans. Low carbs, full flavor, pure game night energy.

Michelob Ultra. It’s Only Worth It.

Subscribe to our Premium Newsletter for insider analysis, locker room insights, and early access to our upcoming podcast featuring the voices that matter most in New York Sports.