The heavy concentration of games may be starting to take its toll on the Rangers. Either that, or the step up in the quality of the opposition.
But what really got them Sunday night was the thing that coach Gerard Gallant has been bemoaning for a few days now – an inability to play a complete, 60-minute hockey game. Playing desperate hockey the last 25 or so minutes against the Nashville Predators was not enough, and the Rangers lost for the second time in three games, 1-0.
The loss dropped the Rangers to 18-6-3 overall. They will hit the road for back-to-back games Tuesday in Colorado, and Wednesday in Arizona.
Filip Tomasino’s second-period goal was the only one in the game as Nashville (17-10-1) completed a sweep of the three New York area teams. Nashville's Juuse Saros made 32 saves.
The Rangers had a chance to get the tying goal when Michael McCarron was sent off for tripping Adam Fox at 6:25 of the third, but despite creating some heavy pressure on Saros, they came up empty. Saros made two great glove saves on Ryan Strome from the slot, and another when a pass from Strome deflected off a Predators defender on goal as the power play was expiring.
With rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist forced out of the lineup due to a non-COVID-related illness, Libor Hajek made his season debut in Game No. 27. Hajek, who began the season as the eighth defenseman on the Rangers’ roster, was scratched for the first 12 games of the season, then went to AHL Hartford for a conditioning stint. Upon his return, he was scratched for nine straight games before finally getting to play on Sunday.
Hajek had dressed for warmups Friday in Buffalo, with defenseman Ryan Lindgren a gametime decision with whatever illness is going around the Rangers’ locker room. But Lindgren played in the game against the Sabres. Before that game, Gallant said he would have had no qualms about putting Hajek in the game if necessary.
"He's practiced every day, he works hard,’’ Gallant said Friday. "It's not easy to do what he's doing, but that's part of the NHL, and that's what it is. It is what it is. We’ve got nothing against the kid. When he gets a chance, hopefully he goes in there and plays real well. But it's hard to make big changes in your lineup when things are rolling like they're rolling.’’
Hajek played on the third pair, with Lundkvist’s normal partner, Patrik Nemeth, who shifted from the left side to the right side.
The Rangers were outplayed for the first period-and-a-half by Nashville, and needed goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to keep them in the game with some top-class saves. Nashville outshot the Blueshirts 13-6 in the scoreless first period, before finally taking the lead on a goal by Tomasino at 1:44 of the second.
The Rangers finally appeared to turn things around and seemed to gain momentum after yet another big hit from Jacob Trouba. Trouba, whose open-ice hit on Jujhar Khaira Tuesday in Chicago sent Khaira to the hospital, had sparked debate around the league about whether the NHL should try to figure out how to reduce the number of big hits in the game after he also delivered a big hit on Colorado star forward Nathan MacKinnon in Wednesday’s game.
In the first period Sunday, Trouba dropped Tomasino with a check, and then, with 3:31 left in the second, the 6-3, 209-pound defenseman absolutely rocked Nashville forward Luke Kunin just outside the Rangers’ zone, dropping him to the ice.
The Rangers got four shots on goal before the period was over, two by Mika Zibanejad, one each by Trouba and Adam Fox, to show some life. They outshot Nashville 10-6 in the middle period.
