With the New York Rangers down 2-0 to the Boston Bruins and back at Madison Square Garden in front of their home crowd for Game 3, one would think the Blueshirts would have been firing on all cylinders to get back into the series.
Unfortunately for the Rangers and their fans, that didn’t happen and the team now finds themselves down 3-0 after a 2-1 Bruins’ win. It may not have been pretty but unlike the Rangers, the Bruins worked hard, threw a lot of pucks on net and scored when they needed to.
There were several reasons why the Rangers lost this hockey game. For starters, there were multiple defensive miscues.
While it’s okay to rely on Henrik Lundqvist to make the big save, it’s another thing to completely leave him alone, which is exactly what the Rangers did Tuesday night. In the first period alone Lundqvist made two dynamite breakaway saves to keep the game scoreless heading into the second period and had they gone in, the game could have been a Bruins’ blowout.
During the next two periods, it was much of the same from the Rangers’ defence. The Bruins had players all over the slot, were able to get pucks to the net from all angles and were able to create shooting lanes for themselves by driving to the net. The Rangers had no answer to any of that.
Another problem for the Rangers on the defensive side of the puck was their inability to cover the point. For the third straight game, a Bruins’ defenceman found the back of net when Johnny Boychuk scored his fourth of the post-season and his second of the series, with a shot from the point that beat Lundqvist cleanly.
Secondly, the team’s offence just was not there. The Rangers had just 24 shots on Bruins’ netminder Tuukka Rask but not many of them were quality chances and for most of the game made things very easy on the Bruins’ defence and their netminder.
Speaking of the Rangers’ offence, one has to wonder where they have gone in this series. The team has not gotten much from the likes of Derrick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, Brian Boyle, Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello.
When the team is not getting scoring from Rick Nash, who didn’t play badly tonight, someone else needs to step up and start producing offensively. That is simply not happening for the Rangers right now. Through three games, the Rangers have been outscored 10-5, which is obviously not going to get it done against a much deeper Bruins hockey club.
Lastly, the Rangers’ play in the third periods of this series has been dreadful. In the final frame, the Rangers have been outscored 4-1 and in their last two games in this series, it has been their undoing.
The only positive to come out of this game for the Rangers was the play of Lundqvist. After struggling a bit in Game 2, Lundqvist was on top of his game in Game 3, stopping 32 of 34 shots.
With the Rangers now one loss away from being swept by the Bruins, the team must find a way to score some goals and play better defence in front of their netminder. If they cannot do that on Thursday night, the lights will go out on Broadway.
