5:44PM: David Quinn spoke after the game and said (NYR):
- “Before we made it 2-0 I felt they were taking the play to us and we make a good play to make it 2-0. To give up a goal that quickly after we go up 2-0 and not be able to ride the momentum is a little deflating but I thought they were controlling the second period even up to that point. You can’t take a period off against anybody let alone the Stanley Cup Champs. I thought the second period we just didn’t do the two things you have to do in this game and need to be in your hockey DNA, you gotta skate and you gotta hit people and I don’t think we did either one of those things.”
- On the opponent, “they have a ton of talent, size and veteran way about them. We just didn’t, if you are gonna have a chance to beat them you have to stay on them for 60 minutes. You will have lapses where you don’t play well but they can’t be 20 minute lapses and I thought that is what happened tonight.”
- On the past two games,” today felt different than yesterday where we didn’t play well for any stretch. We had a pretty good first and a pretty good third, the second was the one that really bothered me. The second looked a lot like 60 minutes of yesterday’s play.”
- What happened in the second, “I don’t know, maybe we felt pretty good about our first and….I also thought they upped the ante. They didn’t have a great first and we anticipated a push back and they gave it and we didn’t respond. I really like how we come out in the third. We tie it and we have momentum and boom, they make a great play and get the fourth goal which deflates us a little bit. We certainly had more pace to our game then we did yesterday, I thought we were ready to play to start the game unlike yesterday where I thought we were flat for 60 minutes.”
- Does it bring up any alarms, “I like how we responded, the second period alarms me. The overall game itself, there was a lot of good th
5:39PM: Gettinger has been sent back to Hartford after playing 7:00 and 5 hits.
4:30PM: First Period:
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- Jimmy Vesey Assists: Jesper Fast, Kevin Hayes
Second Period:
- Brady Skjei Assists: Brendan Smith, Kevin Hayes
- Nic Dowd Assists: John Carlson, Brett Connolly
- Jakub Vrana
- Alex Ovechkin Assists: John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov
Third Period:
- Ryan Strome Assists: Brett Howden, Neal Pionk
- Brett Connolly Assists: John Carlson, Jakub Vrana
- Tom Wilson (ENG) Assists: Michal Kempny
Adam Rotter:
- The Rangers looked more like the team they have been for most of the season today, which was a big upgrade over yesterday, but they struggled to contain the Caps at times and let the game get away.
- They had a tough start with the two penalties but overall they were good in the first and, after the Brady Skjei goal, seemed like they might get the bounces. The Caps quickly scored and tilted the game in their favor.
- Games like this is who I think the Rangers really are. They work hard, have speed and offensive skill, but they struggle to defend and good teams can wear out their defense through the course of the game. The difference usually comes with the goaltending performance. Georgiev didn’t seem as sharp or as calm in net this afternoon and if the goalie isn’t there to bail them out after turnovers and mis-plays, the Rangers will struggle. They could/should also stop turning the puck over as much as they have the past two games.
- More and more it seems as if the Rangers will have an extremely tough decision to make with Kevin Hayes. He’s been their most consistent player and is certainly young enough to be part of things moving forward, but does he carry more value on their roster or as a trade piece? He would be highly sought after as a rental, which would hopefully net the Rangers a better return, but his role as a leader and the example he sets might be worth more. The interesting thing, to me, with a long-term deal for Hayes comes down to no-trade/no-move protection. Hayes saw Derek Stepan get his contract and then saw him traded right before his no-trade kicked in. You have to think that the Rangers would offer Hayes a similar deal to the one Stepan got, but would he take it unless he was protected right away? As good as Hayes is, the Rangers will still want flexibility with the roster, especially down the middle, so it will be interesting to see how things develop before the deadline.
- There is also the chance that the Rangers trade Hayes and then re-sign him in the summer, but that is another scenario for another day.
- All in all the Rangers need to shore up some things after a back to back that was a little less than stellar.