Whoever writes the headlines on the Rangers website must think we are all idiots. Are these people kidding me? The Islanders did not win tonight’s game because Joey MacDonald stood on his head. Do not let the number of Ranger shots on goal fool you. The vast majority of those shots were not quality shots.

The reason the Islanders won and the Rangers lost the game tonight is because the  Rangers allowed 2 shorthanded goals and because of their GOD AWFUL POWERPLAY. Who coughed up the puck both times for the shorthanded goals? Michael Rozsival.  But, his poor decisions with the puck were just the tip of the iceberg. All of the big ticket players on this team made poor decisions tonight.

My first clue that the Rangers were going to lose was when I saw several players, Gomez and Zherdev in particular, try to make cutesy drop passes to no one or worse to an Islander. Zherdev was one of the worst offender mishandling the puck. It is surprising that so many Ranger turnovers didn’t lead to more goals for the Islanders.

Credit Joey MacDonald with making a couple of decent saves on the softballs the Rangers were shooting at him. You would be better giving credit to players like Richard Park, the Islanders new Jason Blake and Nate Thompson who scored his first NHL goal on a shorthanded breakaway on Henrik Lundqvist. Not for nothing but Henrik needs to keep his glove closed.

Credit the Islanders scouting staff. They had the Islanders forechecking the Ranger defense at the points forcing turnovers. They used many of the same tactics tonight as they did last week, only tonight the Rangers did not mentally come to play. The Islanders played 65 minutes of hockey last night and looked sharper and more alert than  the well rested Rangers.

Tonight the Islanders were the better team. The New York Rangers just continued to disgrace themselves in a downward spiral that started in Toronto on Saturday. Something has to happen to wake the Rangers up. Something has to happen to get the powerplay working. If it means firing Perry Pearn, so be it.  If it means trading players, so be it.

The Rangers are now lumbered with players who are not producing but are eating up all the cap space. I don’t care how much these players are being paid. If they aren’t following the game plan, if they are not producing, sit ‘em or ship ‘em.

Posted under New York Rangers