The Rangers completed a lost weekend, falling 5-2 to the Canucks on Sunday. J.T. Miller showed New York his skills again, notching a pair of assists in the Vancouver win. After a decent start, the Blueshirts looked to get demoralized after a handful of impressive Thatcher Demko saves, after which it was all Vancouver. New York is off until Wednesday, when they basically start playing every other day.

A few thoughts:
1) Mentality – the Rangers loss reminded me of what Henrik Lundqvist used to do to teams. A few key saves and the opponent would get demoralized. Of course, against the Rangers, teams would double down on the attack. But last night, it looked like after Demko stoned Mika Zibanejad, K’Andre Miller and Chris Kreider, the Rangers lost their focus and verve and allowed Vancouver to take over the game.

2) Defense and communication – own zone defense is a matter of playing the system or matching up against your man or maintaining your positioning in your area. But just as important can be communication, knowing who is the trailer and speaking to one another. Yesterday, the first two goals allowed were a result of the trailer either coming off the bench or up the ice and no one marking the man. That is evidence of either poor or no communication. 

3) Scoring – just not enough offensive options on the team right now. If the big boys don’t produce early, then the goalie has to stand on his head. Yesterday, the latter did not happen and the scoring came late. If there is one silver lining, the pain/challenges that Laf dealt with last year and this season seems to be paying dividends as he is figuring it out. On the flip side,. the second line is scuffling, as Artemi Panarin has hit a bit of a wall and Ryan Strome, despite scoring yesterday, is in a lull. That duo is in desperate need of a right winger that cane be a threat.

With three weeks to the trade deadline, we should start to see some separation between teams in the near term. When that happens, all the rumors and speculation will begin to crystallize. General managers are playing out various scenarios, depending on if they are in or out of contention. We know what the Rangers need, as do other teams, so hopefully some of the gaps will be addressed by GM Chris Drury by the March 21 deadline.

4) Alexander Georgiev, not a particularly strong game, but also not bailed out by his defense. But as noted above, sometimes you need your goalie to make a big save at a big spot. Granted, the first two goals were from wide open slots in the spot and the next two were on deflections, but Georgiev was unable to make any of those saves to either keep the game scoreless early or allow the Rangers to stay in the game. 

I understand he hasn’t played in weeks. In addition, Georgiev is better when he has consistent action and is fighting himself each time he takes the ice. While both aspects are true, I fully expect coach Gerald Gallant to ride Igor Shesterkin hard down the stretch. That too is not without risk, but with Georgiev failing to provide consistent play between the pipes. I’m unsure if there is another option, save for maybe Keith Kinkaid.