Adam Fox admitted there wasn’t much to say after the New York Rangers’ fifth consecutive home game without a win.
The New York Rangers’ defenseman kept his explanation short about the club’s poor start to Thursday’s 6-5 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks at Madison Square Garden. Disappointing was a given.
“That was pretty piss poor out of us,” Fox said. “Not the way we want to play hockey.”
Time after time Thursday, the Sharks, who washed ashore at Madison Square Garden winless in their first six games of the season, tried to hand the Rangers their first home win.
San Jose blew a 3-1 lead after the first period. It blew a 5-4 lead in the second half of the third. The Sharks finished below the Rangers in almost all advanced statistical categories — including shot attempts, high-danger chances and expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick — and somehow came out on top.
Things began trending in the wrong direction from the drop of the puck.
A bad start
In the first two minutes, the Rangers were on their heels.
New York was hemmed in its own zone as San Jose controlled the first four shot attempts of the game. The Sharks needed less than two minutes to open the scoring.
A few minutes later, Macklin Celebrini was credited with a power play goal after the puck bounced off a Rangers defenseman and in.
“Just not good enough,” J.T. Miller said. “Not the identity we’re trying to build here.”
How disappointed was coach Mike Sullivan in his team’s start?
“Very,” the Rangers’ head coach said. “It was disappointing.”
New York was outshot 9-5 in the opening frame despite posting solid underlying numbers, according to Natural Stat Trick. The shot attempts were even. The Rangers led the Sharks in the period’s scoring chances (62.5%), high-danger chances (5-1) and expected goals (69.3%).
But careless play overshadowed the numbers. With less than 10 seconds to play in the first, the Rangers failed to clear the puck out of their zone and allowed Celebrini to bury his second of the frame. In the waning moments of the second period, Celebrini struck again for the hat trick.
“It’s a lack of awareness,” Sullivan said. “Situational play, managing the game the right way. Controlling those situations is how you win. We obviously have to learn how to win.”
Matt Rempe leaves game after fight with Reaves
The heavyweight tilt came just under six minutes into the first period.
Matt Rempe (6-foot-9, 261 pounds) answered the bell when Ryan Reaves (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) ran over Juuso Parssinen in the neutral zone.
The two exchanged blows in a spirited tilt, and Rempe left the ice to the Madison Square Garden faithful chanting his name — “Rempe! Rempe!”
Rempe left the game with an upper body injury and did not return. Following the loss, Sullivan said that the towering forward was being evaluated.
Taylor Raddysh records second career hat trick
The Rangers scored five goals on Thursday night, by far their largest total on home ice this season.
More than half of New York’s offense came off the stick of Taylor Raddysh, who recorded his second career hat trick.
“Some nights, things just go your way,” Raddysh said. “Got some nice plays by some guys, and the puck just found its way to go in.
With just under 5:30 to play in the first period, Raddysh’s point wrister fooled Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. In the second, while killing a penalty, Raddysh took advantage of a Celebrini miscue and scored on a shorthanded two-on-one to put New York ahead 4-3. In the third, Raddysh let fly a slap shot from the right faceoff dot to tie the game at five.
“Every time you score a goal, it’s a lot of fun,” Raddysh said. “And you got to hear the crowd tonight. It was my first one in this building. It was really fun.”
Raddysh felt that the Rangers had some good looks on Thursday night — he’s not wrong; New York had 80% of the game’s high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick — but knows the collective effort is far from complete.
“We have to try to find a way to play a complete game,” he said. “We can’t keep showing up for 40 minutes or half a game and getting away. We got to play a full 60.”
