Senators snap Rangers' 5-game winning streak
NHenrik Lundqvist stops Ottawa's Chris Neil in the crease in the third period. (Jan. 12, 2012) Credit: David Pokress
For the Rangers, perhaps the best thing to come out of Thursday night's 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators, which snapped a five-game winning streak, was the frustration level in the locker room.
"I didn't expect us to win the rest of the games, so a loss will come. You just have to deal with it in the right way," goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said. "It's a good thing that everybody's disappointed . . . We try to be honest with ourselves and our performance. Some games we've been winning when we haven't played that great. We know when we have to be better."
Specifically, as coach John Tortorella said: "Our role players played well; we got squat out of our top guys. Brian Boyle's line [with Carl Hagelin and Ruslan Fedotenko] cannot be our best line."
Superb goaltending by Lundqvist and Martin Biron and timely scoring led the Rangers to wins in 10 of 11 games and a run to the top of the NHL standings, which ended with Vancouver's win Thursday night.
In those 11 games, only twice had the Rangers scored more than three goals without the benefit of an empty-netter. The power play is struggling, now 3-for-34 after going 0-for-4 Thursday night. Michael Del Zotto was back on the point and 6-5 Mike Rupp was posted in front of goaltender Craig Anderson for part of another man-advantage.
The Rangers have scored one goal in the last 143:40 and had very few second chances against Anderson, who made 34 saves. It was the first shutout for the Senators and the fourth time in 10 regulation losses that the Rangers were blanked.
Marian Gaborik, the Rangers' leading goal-scorer, was blanketed by defenseman Jared Cowen and others and had no shots on goal. Brad Richards had four and Ryan Callahan two.
Meanwhile, Jason Spezza scored twice and another of the Senators' four All-Stars, Milan Michalek, also beat Lundqvist with his 23rd goal after Spezza stopped Boyle's close-in shot with his stick. As a result, the Senators (24-15-6), who moved to within four points of the Rangers (27-10-4), won their fifth straight at the Garden.
Brandon Dubinsky sat out with a sore shoulder and Wojtek Wolski dressed for the first time in two months. Wolski started with Richards and Callahan and had three shots on goal.
Spezza's first, off Artem Anisimov's turnover in the neutral zone, came at 8:54 of the second to provide a 1-0 lead for the Senators, who beat the Rangers here, 5-4, on Oct. 29. Lundqvist froze on Spezza's fake and was screened by Dan Girardi, who attempted to block the shot.
During the second period, Tortorella started shuffling lines. The struggling Anisimov, with no points in nine games, was dropped to the fourth line as John Mitchell was moved up with Derek Stepan and Gaborik. Minutes later, Callahan was with Stepan and Gaborik. Brandon Prust was on the right of Wolski and Richards. All to no avail.
The Rangers now face a tough back-to-back in Canada, in Toronto Saturday and Montreal on Sunday. But goaltending isn't the Rangers' flaw right now: The power play and the offense are the culprits.
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