My take:
-Simply put, this was their worst effort in weeks. They basically let Detroit dictate their offensive play, and this was exactly how they played when they were losing in November. They passed up a lot of shots in scoring areas, took a ton of bad angle and low risk point wrist shots, and seemed otherwise willing to engage or out compete the Red Wings in their zone. Instead, they relied on fast puck movement exclusively around the perimeter, usually culminating in a low percentage play that was often blocked, and seemed content to pat themselves on the back for winning the analytics battle.
-Ben Harpur was probably our second best forward last night. Not even kidding.
-For all those chances, only Trocheck's goal and Fox's shot were truly great chances. Fox absolutely should've elevated that puck. 6" higher it's a goal. Top corner it's on highlights.
-Shooting - when this team struggles, it seems like they just cannot beat goalies clean. Every night, when you look at NHL highlights from out of town games, there are numerous examples of players taking middle percentage shots from potential scoring areas (from top of circle or below and inside the faceoff dots) and beating the goalie clean - either using the D as a screen, having traffic in front, or just flat out outclassing the goalie. When this team goes into scoring troubles, it is ALWAYS because they routinely pass up these shots...only to cycle for 20 more seconds and lob a muffin from the point, or to skate down low and either attempt a shot from the goal line, or try to make one more pass that's broken up. Again, would you consider a football offense successful if consistently they stack long drives with multiple first downs, starting at their own 20, and go through 15-17 drawn out plays only to get to the opposing 40 and punt? "But time of possession tho!" The only thing that matters is results, and how you get them.
-Last night was vintage Turnover Panarin. Especially the 3rd period. Woof. Be better. He was THE reason that line didn't look as good as it had in the past few games they'd played together.
-Good to see Laf and Fox show some frustration. Now get it out of your system and let's actually be ready for Washington.
-Puck skills and breakouts - one of the other reasons they have struggled to get shots in scoring areas. Passes from 10 feet to teammates consistently in skates. But now on breakouts, they do not headman the puck carrier with speed. They insist on walking the puck up the ice, and soccer passing through the neutral zone (read - short, slow passes to slow moving players), and always act surprised when inevitably 4 opponents are stacked up against them at the opposing blue line. Then, flat footed, they either turn it over or dump the puck in and attempt to beat a defenseman who already has a 10 foot head start, and are surprised when they can't recover the puck with any regularity. If not for Detroit's weakness and giveaways, they would have had way fewer shots. It's ridiculous watching other teams make crisp outlet passes and slice through the neutral zone in transition while the Rangers consistently dog it through the middle of the ice in a series of escalating turnover-risk plays until they actually do.
-The defensive coverage was bad. Players missing checks all night thinking offense, yet they created none.
-Halak was ordinary last night, but he faced way too many good chances and rebounds without the net cleared. He should've stopped the Zadina goal, however, but it was a shot from a decent area beating a goalie clean. Again, why can't we do that? Not like Husso is vintage Hasek.
TL;DR, for a team that is now Top 5 in the league in talent, they need to do better against what is an eminently beatable bubble team, recent results be damned. I hope they're mad about this one and play better vs. Washington.
