2022-23 Rangers Regular Season

Capitals beat Rangers 4-0

Posted on by Adam Rotter in 2022-23 Rangers Regular Season

First Period:

  • Marcus Johansson (9) (Power Play) Assists: Evgeny Kuznetsov (24), Erik Gustafsson (14)

Second Period:

  • Erik Gustafsson (5) Assists: Conor Sheary (12), Dylan Strome (20)
  • Lars Eller (7) Assists: Anthony Mantha (12)

Third Period:

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  • Conor Sheary (11) (Empty Net) Unassisted

Stats:

Adam Rotter:

  • The Rangers were not sharp tonight and any hope of the previous few weeks carrying over after the break went away pretty quickly.
  • They were sloppy at times, but they just seemed a little bit off offensively. They were missing the net, passes were bouncing off of sticks, they were missing rebounds and the Caps defended really well and got some saves.
  • The Rangers were unlikely to win many, if any games, this season when they go 0-5 on the PP. They had some chances, at times they moved the puck quickly, but they were just off. Mika Zibanejad struggled with his one-timers, passes were being blocked and, again, the Capitals played a structured game defensively.
  • The lines were jumbled up and returned in some ways to how they were supposed to start the season. Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad were back together and Vincent Trocheck was between Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko. It will be interesting to see if Gerard Gallant sticks with these or goes back to the lines that started the game.
  • The refs seemed equally sloppy and inconsistent tonight. I think that the challenge of the second Capital goal was borderline at best and not the usual slam dunk of sorts that will negate the goal.
  • This is going to be some playoff race in the division with the teams 2-6 separated by only a few points.
  • Tampa Bay ended the Rangers 2021-22 season in the playoffs, they opened up the 2022-23 season and they will close out 2022 on Thursday night. It just seems fitting.
  • After Tampa the Rangers get the Panthers on Sunday and then their first meeting of the season with the Hurricanes. Only 5 of their twelve games in January are against non-playoff teams, but two of those five are against Florida, which has struggled this year, but still dangerous.