That might have been the worst home opener in recent memory. It felt like an extension of the preseason, despite being the first game with a full NHL lineup. Players were clumsy with passes, misinterpreted plays and just displayed an overall sloppiness that we haven’t seen since Alain Vigneault’s first few months in New York in 2013. I know these pains are temporary, but the team is already extremely thin. If the top six cannot score and if Adam Fox can’t produce offensively, this team is dead in the water.
It goes without saying that playing preseason games is key to being ready for the game when the puck actually drops. This is especially true for two players in particular, Artemi Panarin and JT Miller. Both had unusually bad nights. Minuscule shot attempts, some hesitation to engage in puck battles and turnovers at inopportune moments. In Panarin’s case, that makes sense, as this is the first game action he’s seen since April.
But again, the way Mike Sullivan has the roster set up, the top six is filled with the team’s best players, there is no distribution across the entire lineup. As the team gets more reps together this should change, but what a disappointing opener.
The one player who you can’t deny had a great game was the man in the net. Igor Shesterkin did his best Henrik Lundqvist impression, stopping 27 of 28 shots as his offense struggled to simply move the puck out of the zone. Igor did his job and only allowed one goal. The pair of empty netters thankfully won’t do any damage to his stats as he was the only one to earn any praise last night. The team still committed some defensive sins from last season and Igor kept the game within reach.
Mike Sullivan certainly won’t look away and has no problem with the team leaving the goaltender out to dry. The first four games are against weaker opponents, so even though it’s only one game, these are the games Rangers need to pick up points. This softer scheduling early in the year is a big plus, giving the Rangers a softer landing as they adjust.
Perhaps the Rangers didn’t actually want to score because they wanted to give Kenny Albert the credit for naming the first goal of the season. Who knows?
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