The New York Rangers said they wanted to make corrections quickly in order to shake off their torpor, but the results are still not there, especially for rookie Alexis Lafrenière.
The first pick in the 2020 NHL Draft had another fruitless night on the ice Tuesday in a 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Finding himself in a trio completed by Ryan Strome and Kaapo Kakko, the Quebecer was shut out and ended the match with a differential of -2. This season, he has threaded the needle only once and his record is -7.
Moreover, the pointless famine of the former Rimouski Oceanic, in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, extended to seven. However, he was entitled to 17:45 of playing time. against the “Devils”, its strongest use since January 24. It remains that learning number 13 is difficult, he who has not released a shot in three of his last four clashes.
In trouble
Collectively, the Rangers are struggling as evidenced by their penultimate place in the East section. The efforts do not seem sufficient and it will take much more – very quickly – to correct the situation.
“We lacked the sense of urgency to act, to be frank with you,” admitted striker Mika Zibanejad according to comments reported by the daily “New York Post”. During the whole match, we were not at the expected level. We have to find a way to do the job. ”
In fact, his teammate Chris Kreider noted that the Devils dominated the Rangers in terms of work, skating, body checks and one-on-one battles. All of this has not gone unnoticed by the media either. New York newspaper columnist Larry Brooks has started to blame head instructor David Quinn for what he sees as a clear lack of preparation.
“I can promise you the Rangers don’t believe the problem is behind the bench. No one in the organization wants to point the finger at David Quinn. […] On the other hand, in this game, the team offered a completely flat performance against a club that had not played since January 31. This kind of meeting could force President John Davidson to ask questions about what is going on here, ”the reporter wrote.
New York will try to regain its composure by visiting the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
– In addition, defender Jacob Trouba will miss four to six weeks of activity due to an upper body injury. He was unable to complete Tuesday’s meeting.
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