ANAHEIM, California – In this game against the Ducks, the Rangers were unable to score from their end of the rink or the other.
Jaroslav Halak is still hunting for his first victory in a red, white, and blue uniform after surrendering a pair of easy goals that put the Rangers behind the eight ball in Thursday night’s 3-2 defeat to the Pacific Division’s last-place Ducks at Honda Center. It put a damper on the Rangers’ otherwise great western road trip, during which they went 2-1-1.
As he did in the clubs’ first encounter earlier this season, Ducks goaltender John Gibson thwarted a number of high-quality opportunities from the Rangers throughout the night and finished with 41 saves. From extending his stick to deflect a Mika Zibanejad shot on the power play to stonewalling Kaapo Kakko on a clear breakaway out of the penalty box, Gibson gave the Rangers fits from within the blue zone.
Halak was inconsistent at the opposite end of the rink, but the Ducks capitalized anytime he was off. The second quarter was especially chaotic for Halak, who is currently 0-5-1 following the setback. In addition to stopping former Blueshirt Frank Vatrano on a shorthanded breakaway, he denied Anaheim in the crease as traffic grew dense.
During the Rangers’ 3-2 defeat to the Ducks, John Gibson makes a stop on Mika Zibanejad’s shot.
AP
Halak had the Rangers chasing for the remainder of the game after surrendering two poor goals in the second period.
39 seconds into the second period, Ducks defenseman Dmitry Kulikov threw the puck toward the Rangers net from the boards, and it somehow slipped behind Halak. Less than five minutes later, Troy Terry scored in the top corner against Halak to double the Ducks’ advantage.
The Rangers have lost a majority of Halak’s six games due to the 37-year-old goaltender’s blunders. Halak has displayed glimpses of a capable backup goaltender, but he has also made a number of costly errors in the bulk of his appearances. Halak, a veteran of the NHL and a former No. 2 goaltender, has admitted how difficult it is to recover from poor performances when his playing time is so restricted.
At the conclusion of the second period, Braden Schneider scored his second goal in as many games to put the Rangers within one, but despite outshooting the Ducks 17-2 in the last 20 minutes, the Rangers were unable to tie the game. To add to the Rangers’ woes, Vincent Trocheck whiffed on a loose puck off a rebound in a wide-open net.
During the Rangers’ defeat, Jaroslav Halak guards the net while Jakob Silfverberg of the Ducks skates with the puck.
Getty Pictures
The Rangers may have needed to move coasts in order to make headway in recovering their attacking flow, but they are still not there. In addition, the power play has not benefited them as of late.
The Rangers’ power play is 0-for-7 in their previous two games with the man advantage, including a 0-for-4 performance on Thursday. Opponents expect a slap shot from Mika Zibanejad in the faceoff circle. They are expecting Adam Fox’s no-look pass. It has made one of the Rangers’ ostensible biggest assets considerably simpler to protect.
The puck is still not bouncing in the Rangers’ favor, but talented teams can change that. The Rangers must demonstrate this.