The New York Rangers started their four game road trip with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Rangers were only able to muster up a single shot while trailing in the third period, which is never a winning formula. Here is the goal recap for tonight’s game. 1-0 Blackhawks Jonathan Toews (6) - Assists: Duncan Keith (6) & Corey Crawford (1) This was a bit of a messy goal against for the Rangers, mainly because it was self-inflicted. Adam McQuaid wound up backing into Brady Skeji, and both of them fell to the ice as Jonathan Toews came burning into the zone with speed. That gave Toews a partial breakaway and he snapped the puck past Lunqvist to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. 1-1 Tie Pavel Buchnevich (3) - Assists: Brendan Smith (2) & Brett Howden (3) This was a nice hard working goal for Pavel Buchnevich, as he finally broke his scoreless drought and buried his third goal of the season. Brendan Smith did an excellent job of getting the puck to the net, while Brett Howden provided good net front presence. All Buchnevich had to do was lift the puck over a sprawled out Corey Crawford, and he did just that to make it 1-1. 2-1 Blackhawks Alexandre Fortin (2) - Assists: Nick Schmaltz (6) & Brandon Manning (1) This was another self-inflicted wound by the Rangers, who just let Nick Schmaltz skate a full circle around the zone without any pressure. Schmaltz finished it off with a beautiful pass across to Alexandre Fortin with was standing in the crease, and the Hawks took their second lead of the evening. 3-1 Blackhawks Patrick Kane (9) - Assists: Artem Anisimov (3) & Alex DeBrincat (6) For the third time this game, the Rangers poor defensive coverage in their own zone came back to haunt them. Alex DeBrincat caught the Rangers overloading one side, and quickly fed a pass across to Artem Anisimov in the right circle. Anisimov quickly fed the puck back across to Patrick Kane who just barely tapped the puck across the goal line. The goal wound up being challenged by David Quinn, but the goal was upheld after a lengthy review by the officials. 4-1 Blackhawks Alex DeBrincat (8) - Assists: Dominik Kahun (6) & Henri Jokiharju (6) The Rangers had pulled Henrik Lundqvist in search of a way back into this game, but Alex DeBrincat quickly iced the game with an empty net goal. Following tonight’s three goal loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Rangers will head to Los Angeles to begin their California road trip against the Kings.<doc-sep>Any attempt scapegoat a few players in pursuit of finding reason for last night’s loss to Chicago is a waste of time. Henrik Lundqvist’s heroics kept it competitive for the first 55 minutes, and a handful of other players had what could at least be described as acceptable showings. Overall, though, it was a pitiful performance from top-to-bottom. The game started with embarrassingly amateur mistakes that afforded Chicago easy odd-man rushes and partial breakaways, and the sloppiness carried over for most of the night. For most of the season, the Rangers have been competitive and competent, even if imperfect. Still, one regulation win in 10 games tells the story of this team. As in Chicago, there is plenty of blame to go around. Outside of Lundqvist and perhaps Jesper Fast, nobody has consistently played to his ability. We can - and have - written ad nauseam about the shortcoming of certain veterans. Those problems will be solved with time as the Rangers build and contracts run out. A number of kids have struggled, but that’s the name of the game. And while the likes of Pavel Buchnevich and Brady Skjei, among many others, have had some absolute stinkers, they have also had some very strong performances as well. The Rangers knew what they were getting into this season. Between the overall roster transition as well as adaptation to a new coaching staff, the Rangers are what they expected to be; a competitive and honest, but nonetheless below average hockey team. For all of those qualifiers, absolutely none can apply to Ryan Spooner and Vladislav Namestnikov. Sure, they are learning a new system. But these are established, skilled players within striking distance of their prime years. Through 10 games, they have been consistently non-existent at best, and last night’s performance Chicago makes this an unavoidable discussion now. The fourth line got pounded all night, as the Rangers were out-attempted 2-11 when Spooner was on the ice and 4-14 when Namestnikov was. It was against this line that Chicago scored their game-winner. Sure, we can pin some blame on Cody McLeod who, despite doing his best, is a liability. And we can raise an eyebrow at the coaching staff for putting together a line that doesn’t make any sort of cohesive sense. Ten games does not a season make, but it’s still enough time to conclude that this is not about small sample oddities. Both Spooner and Namestnikov have been given plenty of opportunities in generous circumstances, and both have been pedestrian in their best moments and liabilities at their worst. This is officially “A Problem.” With Ryan Spooner comes good and bad. He’s always been a defensive liability, and continues to be this season. The Rangers give up a significantly higher number of shot attempts when Spooner is on the ice, and the same holds true for expected goals against (Data via Corsica Hockey and does not include Thursday’s game versus Chicago). This is a problem, sure. Again, it’s one you accept with Spooner. Typically, he offsets the defensive problems with his play in the offensive zone. He had tremendous puck poise and can make proficient, creative passes; particularly on the power play. Coming into this season, Spooner had averaged about 47 points per 82 games, and he was one of the few bright spots on the Rangers post-deadline last season, registering 14 points through 20 games. This season, however, he has registered just one point through nine games. (All numbers are at five-on-five) Spooner’s expected goals for rate is actually higher this season, but the team’s on-ice shooting percentage is bringing him down. So, he is a bit unlucky to have just one point. Still, his Corsi For has taken a massive nosedive. At his best, Spooner can be a useful player who can drive offensive possessions in a sheltered role. This season he is not doing that, though, and so the Rangers are getting hemmed in their defensive end without much to show going the other way. The opposite appears to be true with Namestnikov. His underlying numbers are actually okay. The Rangers are performing slightly better in underlying metrics with Namestnikov on the ice. Unlike Spooner, though, Namestnikov can not be relied on for much offensively. It is clear by now that his production with Tampa Bay last season was mostly the work of Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Where he has excelled, even away from those players, is with a bigger impact from zone-to-zone. Namestnikov used to be a major influencer of possession, tilting the ice in his team’s favor while doing well in terms of creating zone exits. This season, he’s been just okay in that regard. What’s more, he appears disengaged. Long-time readers of this website know that the scribes here usually roll our eyes at any mention of a lack of effort or competitiveness. Namestnikov genuinely does not appear committed to his checks at times, though. The coaching staff appears to agree, as Namestnikov has averaged under 11 minutes of icetime this season and was even scratched for a game. This could have served as a segue into a discussion about the trades that brought Namestnikov and Spooner to the Rangers, but that’s old news. It’s more pertinent to discuss what the problems both are creating for the Rangers right now. Head Coach David Quinn has enough on his plate as is. He and (most of) his assistants are learning how to coach in the NHL on the fly. They are trying to correct a number of awful habits that the players picked up with the previous regime. They are trying to get a handful of extremely young players through growing pains. Though both players have their flaws, there was absolutely every reason to believe both would serve as capable middle-six forwards this season. Instead, as shown against Chicago, Head Coach David Quinn can not even rely on them to plug some holes for nine minutes as fourth liners. Two players whom Quinn should have been able to rely on to do their jobs are instead the biggest headaches among a roster that already provided him with plenty to occupy himself. If it continues, it’s also going to create some pretty significant problems for the Rangers down the road. The Rangers handed both players a combined 16 million dollars over the course of two years with the hope of moving them for assets sooner rather than later. With their current performances, no team is going to be eager to add either right now at a $4 million cap hit, or at least no team should be willing to offer much in a trade. The obvious issue there is that the Rangers, a rebuilding team, are set back in the rebuilding process. Not to mention that a failure to move either means both will be lame ducks clogging up NHL roster spots and cap space that the team needs. A 10-game sample isn’t random noise, but it’s not past the point of fixing, either. If Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin are capable of having bad spells, then so too can Ryan Spooner and Vladislav Namestnikov. What’s more, the shooting percentage gods are unlikely to be this withholding for all 82 games. That all does not change the fact that right now they are hurting the team’s structure, and if both continue like this then David Quinn’s problem will eventually become General Manager Jeff Gorton’s, too. Some other thoughts from last night’s 4-1 loss against the Blackhawks: Adam McQuaid ’s injury, should it be of any substance, will create an opening for Anthony DeAngelo to get into the lineup. If so, it kind of feels like last call. ’s injury, should it be of any substance, will create an opening for to get into the lineup. If so, it kind of feels like last call. I almost never bother to engage with the Lundqvist doubters because it’s they’re the three-percent of people in surveys who assert their beliefs in Reptile People. It’s a fringe group of crazies so far removed from reality that any sort of rational discourse about the matter is impossible.<doc-sep>Corey Crawford will make his fourth start for the Blackhawks when they host the Rangers on Thursday night at the United Center. Crawford is 2-1 with a 1.69 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in three starts since returning from a 10-month absence due to a concussion. The loss came at the paws of the Coyotes, who handed Chicago its first regulation loss of the season, 4-1. The Blackhawks are coming off a 3-1 win against the Ducks behind two goals from Brandon Saad. After a big shuffle with forward lines from Sunday’s 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is sticking with his lines for Thursday’s game. The Rangers are also fresh off a victory with a 5-2 win Monday over the Panthers and seeking their first road win of the season. Mika Zibanejad had two goals and two assists in the game. He leads the Rangers in scoring with nine points. Henrik Lundqvist is likely to start in net. He is 2-4-1 with a .921 save percentage in seven starts this season. Last season, the Blackhawks swept the season series with a 6-3 win in Chicago and 5-2 victory at Madison Square Garden. Lineups Blackhawks DeBrincat — Toews — Kahun Saad — Anisimov — Kane Fortin — Johnson — Schmaltz Kunitz — Kruger — Hayden Keith — Jokiharju Gustafsson — Seabrook Manning — Rutta Crawford Ward Rangers Kreider — Zibanejad — Zuccarello Chytil — Hayes — Fast Vesey — Howden — Buchnevich McLeod — Namestnikov — Spooner Skjei — McQuaid Smith — Shattenkirk Staal — Pionk Lundqvist Georgiev How to watch Start time: 7:30 p.m. Central Location: United Center, Chicago TV: NBC Sports Chicago<doc-sep>
CHICAGO – Funky stuff happens sometimes, and some real funky stuff happened to the Rangers on Thursday night. A pair of defensive mishaps led to goals that put the Rangers in an early hole, and there were a couple of video goal reviews in the third period. It ended up as a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the opener of a four-game road trip that now moves to California for games against the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. The Rangers will play the Kings on Sunday afternoon. After they were outshot 37-19 – and managed only one shot in the third period – there was a lot of frustration in the Rangers’ locker room. “Most games this year, we’ve given ourselves a chance to win, but we didn’t give ourselves a chance to win tonight,’’ forward Chris Kreider said. “We weren’t doing the right things. We played right into what they were trying to do, and we didn’t do the things we do well.’’ Coach David Quinn said the team played “probably as poor as we’ve played all year.’’ “One of the things I think we’ve done a good job of is skating and competing, but that certainly wasn’t the case tonight,’’ Quinn said. “That’s just not acceptable.'' Quinn said that after the Rangers fell behind 2-1 midway through the second period, he thought they regrouped and played well to finish that period. But they didn’t carry any of that momentum into the third. Subscribe to Newsday’s sports newsletter Receive stories, photos and videos about your favorite New York teams plus national sports news and events. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. “We just didn’t have enough people competing shift in and shift out, didn’t take away time and space on them. We just weren’t good enough in any area,’’ he said. And there was more bad news: The Rangers (3-6-1) lost defenseman Adam McQuaid, who left in the second period with a lower-body injury. Quinn said he didn’t know how bad the injury is or how long he will be out. With defenseman Fredrik Claesson already on injured reserve because of an upper-body injury, Quinn said he did not know whether the Rangers will need to summon a defenseman from Hartford. The Blackhawks (6-2-2) took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jonathan Toews at 2:55 of the first period. Brady Skjei slipped and fell as he was backskating, then accidentally tripped defense partner McQuaid, who also fell down. Toews skated around the two fallen defenders and beat Henrik Lundqvist for his sixth goal. Quinn said the Rangers were out of position in the neutral zone on that play. Had they been in proper position, he said, Toews never would have gotten the puck. The Rangers tied it on a goal by Pavel Buchnevich, who banged in the rebound of a shot by Brendan Smith at 4:09 of the period and punched the air hard in celebration. But Chicago scored the only goal of the second period when Alexandre Fortin tapped in a cross-crease pass by Nick Schmaltz at 10:33. Fortin had an easy time of it because Smith, who was attempting to defend him, was doing so without a stick, having broken it earlier in the play. That goal came right about the time when the Rangers announced McQuaid would not return. Kevin Hayes nearly tied the score at 2-2 when he took a cross-ice feed and ripped a shot off the crossbar with about 5:30 to go. Patrick Kane scored his ninth goal at 4:21 to make it 3-1 and Alex DeBrincat sealed it with an empty-net goal with 1:09 left. On Kane’s ninth goal, video review determined he did not interfere with Lundqvist in the crease. That came after another video review, with 7:53 left, determined that a puck that had been covered up by Lundqvist and eventually jammed in did not cross the goal line before the whistle was blown to stop the play.