Another Poor Start Bites the Rangers at the Sharks

Bad penalties and a bad period doomed the Rangers

San Jose, CA- The New York Rangers traveled from Southern California to Silicon Valley as they headed toward the SAP Center to face the up-and-coming San Jose Sharks, who have found a way to put themselves into a playoff spot. While the Sharks have some exciting players, they found a way to take out the Rangers, but the Rangers continued to hurt themselves by taking penalties so early that they put themselves in a hole all game. They dropped this game by a final score of three to one.

Coughing up power play goals

The Rangers were already behind the eight-ball when Mika Zibanejad was called for tripping at the 29-second mark of the first period. Even if the call was a bit suspect, he put himself in that position to allow the referee to make the call as the puck was at the top of the Rangers’ zone. The pass went down low to the far side toward Tyler Toffoli, and he made a quick, hard pass across the crease to Macklin Celebrini as he entered the crease and redirected the puck past Spencer Martin at 1:09 of the first period.

Then, Matthew Robertson cleared the puck over the glass inside the Rangers’ zone for a penalty that put the Sharks back on the power play. Collin Graf skates the puck up the ice and dumps it around the boards toward Michael Misa at the far side. He held the puck for a brief moment, then made the pass to the slot at Pavol Regenda, who made a backhanded shot that hit the top shelf for the two-goal lead at 3:08 of the first period.

Celebrini gets his second of the game

Carson Soucy tried to control the puck, but the Sharks found a way to knock it off his stick and take control inside the Rangers’ zone. As they skated around, Graf got possession of the puck inside the far faceoff circle and made a quick cross-ice pass to Celebrini, who delivered a one-timer to beat Martin at 7:37 of the first period. This goal was the first even-strength goal of the night for the Sharks. For Celebrini, that was his fifth goal and seven points altogether in the two games against the Rangers.

Carrick scores, but nothing after that

The Rangers did break the shutout as Sam Carrick scored a rebound goal with a spin move in front of the Sharks’ net at 12:50 of the first period. The rest of the game showed nothing else. While they did improve defensively and prevented the Sharks from adding on to the scoreboard, the real question is, where was that in the first twenty minutes? Another lifeless and rough start to the game, and the questions are still being asked if this team is going to find anything to climb out of the hole they put themselves in.

Spencer Martin has done a good job

While Igor Shesterkin continues to be out with an injury, and Jonathan Quick has been given a break from carrying the bricks on his back, Spencer Martin has done a good job in three of these four games on the road. While he hasn’t gotten any help from the rest of his teammates, he’s been making some fantastic saves in net, and for me, this is his audition for next season when Quick either retires or the Rangers don’t offer him a new one year deal as the backup goalie.

Five games remain before Olympic Break

The Rangers have five games remaining before the Olympic Break begins. Three at the Garden and two on the road. They return on Monday night against the Bruins. A home-and-home, back-to-back, contest with the Islanders, a road game in Pittsburgh, and one more game against the Carolina Hurricanes. If nothing can be fixed or righted by then, they will start becoming sellers toward the trading deadline.

New York Rangers News:

• Rangers Lackadazical Start dooms them at the Kings
• Rangers Flat Start in the third loses in Anaheim
• Rangers unload Frustrations on the Flyers

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