The Rangers opened up the season last night against the Islanders and were dominated 4-0 in a game that went down the chute very early on
Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz had a game plan that worked very well mirroring their game plans from a year ago getting an early lead and then shutting down their opponents offensive flow resulting in a lopsided victory.
For The Rangers surrendering 2 early goals in the first period was something they never recovered from. It was the debut of Alexis Lafreniere who was the first pick in the 2020 draft who early on looked a bit overwhelmed but his skills will get him through a lackluster opener as I expect a much more competitive contest tomorrow when the teams face off again at Madison Square Garden.
Igor Shesterkin started out ib the nets a bit shaky for the Broadway Blues but got better as the game progressed. The Islanders were 2 for 8 on the power play and the penalty kill for the Rangers needs improvement.
Coach David Quinn put it best when he said, “We’ve got to be quick learners because we play them Saturday and it might be a good lesson, a reminder for a bunch of guys that probably don’t have it in their hockey DNA to play the way we needed to on this night, The good news for us is we have a bunch of guys who were here last year and did it for long stretches of time, and we’ve got to do that starting Saturday.”
The young Ranger core needs to tap into those players thoughts and wash this night away quickly. And I suspect that they will. Talent is on this roster but talent must always be combined with desire in this sport and learning unforced errors like Too Many Men On The Ice penalties just make your night tougher than it needs to be.
In this season, teams will play the same opponents over and over again much more frequently than in past years. So learning lessons quickly becomes imperative for the Rangers if they want success on the ice.