Rangers' power play fails when they need it in loss to Ducks
Rangers goaltender Spencer Martin takes off his helmet during a break in the first period against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull
ANAHEIM, Calif. — In Game 2 since Friday’s announcement by general manager Chris Drury that they were headed for a “retool,’’ the Rangers hoped the looseness with which they played in Saturday’s win in Philadelphia would carry over to the California portion of their road trip.
“I think these guys are good pros,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said at Monday’s morning skate before facing old friends Chris Kreider, Ryan Strome and Jacob Trouba as the Rangers played the Anaheim Ducks. “I think they understand it. Obviously, we’re not where we want to be right now, but having said that, we’re going to do everything we can to keep fighting and try to climb back into this thing. That’s our expectation every day, and that’s not going to change.’’
They didn’t get the same result this time, though.
Two early leads didn’t hold up, and two goals by Cutter Gauthier — the second into an empty net — sent the Rangers to a 5-3 loss at Honda Center on Monday night.
The Rangers fell behind 4-2 on Gauthier’s goal 61 seconds into the third period after a critical turnover by Matthew Robertson.
“It’s tough when you turn the puck over the way we turned it over,’’ Sullivan said. “And when you’re careless with the puck and you give them those kinds of opportunities, they’re gonna end up in your net. I thought we were careless with the puck a lot tonight, and it’s hard to win in this league if you don’t take care of the puck.’’
Vladislav Gavrikov’s power-play goal at 7:11 got the Rangers within 4-3, and with the power play having gone 2-for-2, they had a golden chance to tie the score when Brennan Othmann was held from behind by Drew Helleson on a semi-breakaway with 5:50 remaining.
The referees could have awarded Othmann a penalty shot, but the way the Rangers were clicking on the power play, they certainly preferred to have the man advantage. It became a two-man advantage for 22 seconds when Ryan Poehling was called for holding at 15:49. But the power play failed when the Rangers needed it most.
“I think Millsie [J.T. Miller] got a pretty good tip there [on a five-on-three shot that hit the crossbar],’’ Gavrikov said. “So we tried to crash the net. So that was a good one. And he [Miller] got a one-timer. That was a Grade A. If he would hit the net, that would be a goal. So I think we had some looks.’’
How will the Rangers keep their focus and play the game the way they are supposed to after Drury threw in the towel with that message Friday?
“It’s our job,’’ Gavrikov said. “I mean, to try to win. We come to the rink, my mindset doesn’t change, to be honest. If I’m coming here, I’m desperate to win. I want to win. So that’s my challenge basically to myself is to just try to be better and win the game.’’
With 32 games left in the season, do the Rangers still believe they can win some games and make some noise? “I think so,’’ Braden Schneider said. “We believe that we have good players and we just need to make sure that we’re executing out there. We have a good team, and I think we just need to keep pushing to make sure that we’re getting to that next level that I think we all know we can get to.’’
Mika Zibanejad extended his point-scoring streak to nine games when he picked up an assist on Robertson’s goal at 4:00 of the first period. The goal was the third of the season for Robertson, whose shot through traffic slipped between the pads of goaltender Lukas Dostal. For Zibanejad, who deflected Miller’s pass between his legs and back to Robertson, it was his ninth assist to go with nine goals in the nine games.
But Anaheim tied it at 1-1 at 11:31 on a goal by Mason McTavish. Pavel Mintyukov’s cross-crease pass deflected off Robertson’s skate and went directly to McTavish, who beat Spencer Martin with a quick shot from the right circle for his 13th goal.
Artemi Panarin — playing his final games as a Ranger after Drury told him on Friday that he doesn’t intend to re-sign him and will work with him on a trade to a team of his choosing before the March 6 deadline — scored on the power play to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 4:03 of the second period. The goal, his 19th, extended his point streak to 10 games.
Jeff Viel got away from Schneider to set up in front of Martin and banged in a rebound for his first goal since the 2021-22 season to tie it at 2-2 at 8:29 of the second period.
Then, with Will Cuylle in the penalty box for hooking, Schneider’s clearing attempt got only as far as to Trouba at the point. Martin got a piece of Trouba’s shot, but not enough. The puck trickled behind him and Alex Killorn jammed it in to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead at 18:02.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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