There should be an OY VAY flag somewhere so it could be handed to Peter Laviolette.
Then again, the Rangers don’t need a “WE SURRENDER” banner since it’s all there on the ice.
Lavvy’s Rangers are in Columbus tonight; at least in body. Spirit? That’s something we really have to wonder about. Really!
The Blue Jackets are a team the Blueshirts must beat – repeat MUST BEAT – if New York still has making the playoffs on its agenda.
But after last night’s debacle at The Garden you have to wonder what’s going on inside that richest hockey team in America. Fat Cats to the Radical-50.
In losing 3-2 to the bottom-feeding Penguins, the Rangers had everything – and I do mean EVERYTHING – going for them.
* Sidney Crosby did not play.
* Geno Malkin did not play.
* The Penguins did not take a single shot on goal in the third period.
* Matt Rempe played.
* It was a home game.
And Pitt looked like a glorified AHL team but still managed to bury the Rangers in the pits.
This not only was a game that the Rangers should have won but it should have won because Igor Shesterkin was in goal. He’s paid to win the big ones – and failed.
In Goalie Guru Kevin Weekes’ list of Top Ten NHL Goalies, Shesty didn’t even make the cut.
“He doesn’t have the same consistency as he did last year,” says The Old Scout. “His dependability quotient has gone down.”
The netminder who’s supposed to steal games once in a while, allowed three goals on 23 Penguins shots AND was outplayed by Alex Nedeljkovic who started this season as Pitt’s backup.
But No-Game-Steal Igor is only one part of the downfall. Laviolette has had three quarters of the season to make things right and they’re still wrong. Blame the coach? Of course!
The other coach, Mike Sullivan, explained his club’s victory minus Crosby and Malkin.
“We compete hard and don’t look for excuses. It’s competitive spirit.”
The Rangers trade for J.T. Miller was supposed to erase any competitive issues for the Rangers.
I admit I fell for that one. The Maven may have fallen for it but the Rangers have plummeted!
