9:30PM: David Quinn spoke with the media on MSG following the loss and said:

• Was the early 3rd goal a turning point, “Maybe a little bit psychologically because you have a 3-0 lead,  but we were certainly opportunistic and our goalie was outstanding from the drop of the puck. Maybe, but that is one heck of a hockey team, probably the best team we’ve seen all year.”
• Were you more conservative than you wanted, “yea, it kind of happened earlier in the season with the odd-man rushes and we make some adjustments and all the sudden you are more conservative than you want to be. We have to find that balance of being aggressive and being smart. We were anticipating being more conservative because we don’t want to give up the odd-man rushes, but we gotta continue to be aggressive and our D active in the offensive zone. We have to have good gaps, it’s a balancing act.”
• On Skjei sitting, “it’s more of a think about things. This is a guy that we have a lot of faith in, he’s a really good player, having a little bit of a struggle and he’s gonna get right back in there and we are going to get this right and he is gonna be a big part of what we have going on now and in the future. It’s not a punishment, it’s about taking a deep breath and getting back at it.”
• On the time off before the next game, “Rest and address some of the things that we addressed earlier in the season when we had a lot more practice time and get back to blocking and tackling and the basics, things that we need to freshen up on but rest will be part of it.”
• On Lundqvist, “he’s as good as there is out there in my opinion. He was unbelievable and he’s why we have the record we have. Everyone talks about where we are at and, let’s be honest, he has been outstanding since Day 1. There are a lot of things we’ve done pretty well so far, but he’s the guy, he has been our best player.”

9:17PM: Henrik Lundqvist spoke with the media on MSG following the loss and said:

• Did the momentum change early in the third, “Momentum, I don’t know what game you were watching but they owned us. We tried to survive for two periods and then they got a goal and kept coming. That was how I felt all game. We tried our best, we got a point, but they are good. They made it really tough on us to get going but we still managed to score three goals.”
• You didn’t feel comfortable up 3-0, “I knew they were going to come, I don’t know how many chances they had in the first two periods but I knew they would have enough to tie it up. We had to play smart and with that PK we started off on our heels. When the game is like that you know they will have enough looks to come back.”

8:59PM: First Period:

• Jesper Fast Assists: Mika Zibanejad, Marc Staal

Second Period:

• Marc Staal Assists: Ryan Strome, Lias Andersson
• Chris Kreider Assists: Mika Zibanejad, Neal Pionk

Third Period:

• Mark Scheifele (Power Play) Assists: Blake Wheeler, Josh Morrissey
• Jack Roslovic Assists: Mathieu Perreault, Jacob Trouba
• Bryan Little Assists: Nikolaj Ehlers, Jacob Trouba

Overtime:

Shootout:

• Kevin Shattenkirk: STOPPED
• Kyle Connor: STOPPED
• Mika Zibanejad: SCORES
• Patrick Laine: SCORES
• Jimmy Vesey: MISSED
• Mark Scheifele: SCORES

Stats:

Adam’s Thoughts:

• They had a chance in the shootout, but you deserve to lose if you blow a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.
• The Rangers had the lead on the scoreboard but Winnipeg had the puck pretty much all night. Henrik Lundqvist was playing well but once the Jets got one, you could feel that two and three were right behind.
• That third goal is the type of play that has bitten the Rangers a bunch this season. They gave too much space to Ehlers coming into the zone, allowed him to rip a great shot and then Little was able to just stroll in and bang in the rebound.
• There was a time, especially when John Tortorella was coach, where the Rangers could hunker down with a lead in the third period and protect it. That wasn’t always the case while Alain Vigneault was coach and it’s certainly not the case now. It’s not just the defensemen, it’s the on the forwards to apply back pressure and for the players to communicate as a unit of five.
• Henrik Lundqvist looked like he was guessing all night but, for the most part, he was terrific, especially in OT. Winnipeg has a bunch of elite scorers/shooters and they made it a tough night for him.
• So now the Rangers have lost three in a row and have started to resemble the team that struggled for so much of October. They got things going decently for part of November but they have come back to earth. I still view them as a .500 team that will be close to a playoff spot for most of the season. If they want to be something more than just close they are going to need to eliminate nights like tonight and hold on when they have a lead.