There are some games that make you scratch your head in confusion as to what the destiny of this New York Rangers' team will ultimately be this season. And that future prognosis could've been drastically worse had Henrik Lundqvist left the game in the third period (11:34 left) with an injury worse than his skates causing pain in his feet and making him "sore."
The Rangers played the youthful Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, and Tom Renney's group, at times, made them look like senior citizens in a 2-0 shutout.
A dejected coach John Tortorella didn't even want to speak about it, saying post game: "We sucked from head to toe."
If puck possession was kept on a percentage basis, New York would've had it 40 (or less) percent of the time. Edmonton controlled the pace and and their defensive deficiencies were rarely shown because they constantly handled the puck and pushed up the ice every chance they got. When the Blueshirts got the puck, they often dumped it in the offensive zone, but rarely won it back.
The result was a Rangers' squad that scrambled, and quite frankly, looked lost at times. The outcome was one even a solid 24-save performance (three from Martin Biron) from Lundqvist could not sway. And a power play that was powerless and rarely threatened on any of its five chances did nothing to change the tilt of this game. The man advantage has now put a point on the board one time in 23 chances. Even worse, the team managed only 19 shots on goal.
Edmonton first scored in the second period when Brendan Bell ill-advisedly pinched in the offensive zone, leading to a home-team odd-man rush that culminated with a sharp snipe from 18-year-old rookie Ryan Nugent Hopkins. The Blueshirts did themselves no favors with untimely penalties (four in all), none worse than Mike Rupp's offensize-zone hooking penalty at 3:23 in the third period that ex-Ranger Corey Potter launched past Lundqvist.
If you're New York, this is one of those games, against a consecutive-season 62-point club, that should serve as a warning sign. You can't take any nights off in the NHL.