It takes talent to score goals in the NHL, and the New York Rangers felt they were ready to score a lot of goals this season when they started the season. JT Miller was named captain and brought a work ethic that others wanted to emulate, Vincent Trocheck was rested and ready, Artemi Panarin had a summer to prepare and Mika Zibanejad was re-energized after a long summer. Mike Sullivan was hired as head coach after a long and successful stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They still have a world-class goalkeeper and their revamped defense looked ready to take steps forward. And then the season started and the Rangers unexpectedly made history on home ice tonight.
The New York Rangers are the first team in modern NHL history to be shutout in their first three home games, starting a season after losing the home opener 3-0 to the Penguins, a second game 1-0 to the Washington Capitals and tonight a 2-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. It seems inexplicable that the Rangers could do that with the talent on their roster, but they have broken the 2021-2022 Florida Panthers’ scoreless home record of 1:55:17, and they are 7:19 away from breaking the all-time NHL record of the 1928-29 Philadelphia Quakers, who played 1:87:19 at home before scoring. I’m sure the Rangers will be extremely focused on October 20 when they host the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden.
“First of all, let’s not make this bigger than it is.” Miller told reporterswhere the unwanted record is downplayed. “It’s game five. There’s a lot to like about our game. It’s a unique situation.”
Miller isn’t wrong because it’s a unique situation as no one else has done it in modern NHL history. What’s weird, though, is that the Rangers have two road wins this season, going 4-0 and 6-1, so it’s not like they’re having trouble finding rope when they’re not in Manhattan. But for whatever reason, the puck simply isn’t going into the net when the Rangers skate on MSG ice this season.
The Rangers have put 25, 35 and 30 shots on net that Artūrs Šilovs, Charlie Lindgren and Stuart Skinner have stopped, and it is perhaps more surprising that these three goalies posted shutouts against the Rangers given their body of work. That said, putting 90 shots on net means the Rangers will get chances.
“I think we’re creating a lot of chances, but we’re not scoring. Simple,” Zibanejad said after the loss to Edmonton. “Obviously we have to suppress it and score based on the chances we get, but it would be another thing if we didn’t create chances and gave up chance after chance. It’s frustrating, but we have to get on with it.”
The Rangers will get a chance to regroup when they hit the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. As mentioned above, scoring on the road hasn’t been an issue, so the Rangers will look to get above .500 by the time they return to Madison Square Garden for that date with the Wild on Monday. For the record, it’s not often you see a goalie with a 2-2-0 record while sporting a 0.76 GAA and a 0.976 save percentage, but Igor Shesterkin is in desperate need of some run support at home!
Head coach Mike Sullivan believes the home scoring drought will end soon, stating: “If we weren’t generating scoring chances it would be a different conversation, but we believe, based on everything we’re watching and tracking, that not having the puck going into the net is not sustainable if we continue to generate the types of looks we’ve been generating.
It seems pretty impossible that the Rangers would get their fourth straight shutout next Monday, but we’ll see what happens. Filip Gustavsson hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with his goaltending so far, so Rangers could finally light the lamp at home next week. In saying that, they want to complete that task before the game reaches the 7:19 mark of the first period so they don’t bump the Philadelphia Quakers into second place after that scoreless streak at home to start a season. Their record is one that no one would ever want!
Keep an eye on the Rangers next Monday. We might be talking about a new NHL record for scoring futility at home!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
#unwanted #record