NEW YORK — Less than five minutes had elapsed in the second period when the New York Rangers got their best scoring chance of the night.
Artemi Panarin fed Mika Zibanejad on a two-on-one. Sliding in the way between Zibanejad and the yawning cage was the off-handed glove of Washington Capitals’ goaltender Charlie Lindgren. By the time the final buzzer sounded, cementing a 1-0 Rangers loss, the two-on-one was just a bullet point in a long list of chances that should’ve gone in.
“There’s a couple of looks that the power play had that you’re like, ‘Oh my god, it looks like it’s in,’” Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider told amNewYork. “I feel like there’s a bunch more where we had some really good looks, and had him going east to west, and he came up with some big saves, or we just didn’t catch a whole piece of the puck.”
New York dominated throughout. They led the Capitals in shot attempts in all three periods and outshot Washington 35-21, forcing Lindgren to make several key saves.
The Rangers’ onslaught began in the second half of the first period. As unbelievable as it sounds, Washington at one point held 62% of the game’s total shot attempts and 67% of the expected goal share. A bushelful of chances with just under nine minutes to play in the opening frame began to tilt the ice heavily in their favor. Noah Laba hit the post. Will Cuylle had a good look in the slot. By intermission, New York held a slight advantage in shot attempts (52%).
Rangers control the middle frame
The Rangers commanded play in the second period, outshooting the Capitals 13-5. More telling was that they dominated the Capitals in high-danger chances in the middle frame, 5-0. After the Zibanejad chance, Alexis Lafrenière tried to find Sam Carrick in front of the net, and Lindgren made a sprawling stick save.
“It was a pretty black and white game in terms of effort from us,” Will Cuylle said. “I thought we outplayed them the majority of the game, so it’s tough not to get the win, but it’s a long season.”
New York commanded 60% of the shot attempts in the second — their highest among all three periods. They held 71% of the expected goal share in the frame at five-on-five.
The Rangers also had two late power plays in the second, but failed to capitalize on either despite registering seven shot attempts with the man advantage and two high-danger chances. Zibanejad had another good look on the power play in the slot, but his one-timer found the post.
“We played hard,” Schneider said. “We just couldn’t find the back of the net, and they made a good play to catch us in between coverage.”
‘The best game we played all year’
What coach Mike Sullivan and his players all agreed on was that Sunday’s loss was the best performance of the Rangers’ four games to open the season.
The Rangers are now 2-2-0 and have steadily improved over each game. The bar was low after a season-opening shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins last Tuesday, but the club found its scoring touch in road wins against the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sullivan emphasized that he’s most concerned about how the Rangers play. Sunday’s loss, he said, is the type of game the club wants to play.
“If we continue to play with that kind of an effort and that kind of focus and attention to detail, I think we’re gonna win more games than we lose,” Sullivan said.
Added Sullivan: “This was the best game we played all year.”
Schneider, when asked what he could take away from Sunday’s loss, voted similarly.
“If we play like that, I think we’re going to win a lot of games,” the defenseman said.
