Poor structure among key Rangers takeaways in 5-4 loss to Maple Leafs

There’s no sugar coating this latest New York Rangers road defeat. Nor are there any moral victories. Their 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday was downright painful in how it played out at the end.

Just 27.5 seconds away from picking up at least a hard-earned road point after Alexis Lafreniere scored the game-tying goal at 14:25 of the third period and Dylan Garand made it stand up with a pair of clutch saves against Toronto’s Jack Roslovic and Auston Matthews, the Rangers simply blew the good vibes to smithereens.

Tye Kartye — who had an otherwise pretty solid night — took his man down deep in New York’s defensive zone. With the Rangers scrambling and badly out of position during the delayed penalty, the Maple Leafs struck quickly. Morgan Rielly found his defense partner Troy Stecher wide open on the other side of the ice to bury the game-winning goal in the final seconds of regulation.

That Stecher isn’t exactly Cale Makar nor Zach Werenski offensively, yet scored the decisive goal with a perfectly-placed shot only adds to the Rangers misery in this one. It was just the third game-winning goal in 636 career NHL games for the stay-at-home defender, and his 26th goal overall.

Brutal.

This wasn’t New York’s worst loss of the season. That would be their 7-1 stinker in Newark against the New Jersey Devils last week. No, this was simply the Rangers most deflating loss because the effort was there, they rallied late on Lafreniere’s eighth goal, and yet still found a way to lose.

“It’s unfortunate, obviously, the whole play, how it develops. It’s a great shot by [Stecher], so give him credit. Just hurts more, when we tie it up and we tie it decently late, and we’re looking to go into overtime and grab the second point. You come out of it with nothing,” Mika Zibanejadtold reporters postgame. “I don’t think we played our best game today and didn’t get to the level that we wanted to. Still had a chance, and we didn’t take it.”

The Rangers (7-4-1) are winless in their past four road games (0-3-1) and dropped to 1-4-1 away from Madison Square Garden this season. The magic remains at home tucked inside MSG it appears, and perhaps if this game were played there, we would’ve had a different outcome.

But that’s not how these things work. There are 42 games at home, and 42 on the road. And the Rangers need to work through some things in the latter category.

The Rangers must move on from this one quickly, can’t let it linger heading into their next game, also on the road, against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Key takeaways after Rangers lose to Maple Leafs 5-4

Rangers coach bemoans lack of ‘collective effort’

Though the Rangers do want to move on from this loss, you can bet coach Mike Sullivan will show plenty of video from it to his team at practice Friday. If coaches like finding teaching moments, then Sullivan and his staff have plenty to choose from this 5-4 defeat.

“I just didn’t think we managed the puck. I didn’t think we played with structure. We chased it, you know? We chased the game. It wasn’t a collective effort,” Sullivan said afterward.

Their troubles started early. A bad line change allowed Easton Cowan to take a head-man pass, burst pass Rangers defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, and snap a shot over Garand’s glove just 1:36 into the first period. The overall defensive performance didn’t get much better throughout the night. The Rangers surrendered a season-high 36 shots on goal, and the Maple Leafs had 61 shot attempts and 14 high-danger scoring chance sin all situations, per Natural Stat Trick.

Sullivan may not want to hear it, but New York’s expected goal share 5v5 — 43.66 percent — concurred with the eye test, too.

It simply wasn’t what we’re accustomed to seeing from the Rangers defensively this season — outside of that loss to the Devils.

“I just didn’t like our overall game. I just didn’t think we played–we weren’t stiff enough. We didn’t play with the structure that we need to play with,” the Rangers coach said. “The types of chances we gave up were high. We got some chances at the other end, but for me, it was a loose game. It’s not a game conducive to winning.”

Four Foxy apples

Obviously, it wasn’t all bad Thursday. The Rangers quickly tied the score on a Zibanejad deflection just four minutes after Cowan put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 on the game’s first shot. Down 2-1 to start the second period, the Rangers not only tied the score, but took the lead by the 6:30 mark of the period. Oliver Bjorkstrand score dhis third goal in two games, and Kartye found the back of the net again. Vladislav Gavrikov was a monster in his own end, and logged a team-high 25:02 TOI, though was on ice for Stecher’s game-winner.

Then there was Adam Fox, who assisted on all four of New York’s goals and has 14 apples in 12 games, tying Brian Leetch’s franchise record from 2000-01 for fewest games to 14 assists. At the conclusion of the game, Fox led all NHL defensemen in assists, and his 14 points trailed only the 18 recorded by Edmonton Oilers d-man Evan Bouchard. The four helpers were on shy of his own personal single game high of five set March 25, 2021, against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Oh, and he wasn’t on ice for any of Toronto’s goals with his 23:59 TOI, and his xGF was 63.18 percent. Somehow, this guy, a former Norris Trophy winner, often flies under the radar when the best defensemen in the NHL are discussed. He’s not flashy, just effective. And he’s off to a heckuva start this season.

Rangers lose battle of top PK units

The Maple Leafs entered the night leading the NHL in penalty kill percentage, and the Rangers were second. Well No. 1 bested No. 2 in this one, and it can be argued that was the difference in a one-goal game.

Toronto killed off New York’s only power play, which came 9:15 into the third period with the Rangers trailing 4-3. The Maple Leafs limited the Rangers to one shot on goal, and it was a hugely important kill, even if the Rangers did tie the game three minutes after the failed power play ended.

The Rangers, meanwhile, allowed Kirill Marchenko to score a go-ahead goal late in the second period which put the Maple Leafs up 4-3. Marchenko was given plenty of room to skate into a good look before he ripped a shot on net that Garand knocked down. No Rangers penalty killer picked Marchenko up, and he bolted toward the net to poke the rebound over the goal line at 19:09.

Though New York killed off a Gavrikov minor early in the third period and did rally to tie the score later on with an even-strength goal, that failed PK on Marchenko’s score loomed as a very important moment in the game and the final result.

Toronto remained atop the League on the penalty kill (97.4 percent), and now have killed off 28 straight power plays, and won three straight games for the first time this season. New York is tied for second (91.7 percent) and looks to get back in the win column on the road Saturday.

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