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TORONTO — The Rangers never quite had a grasp on this game against the Maple Leafs.
Despite their ability to keep pace for a majority of the contest, any time the Blueshirts had a chance to assert themselves a defensive lapse or a juicy rebound ended up in the back of their net on the way to a 5-4 loss Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Even after Alexis Lafrenière evened the score at 4-all with just over five and a half minutes left in regulation, the Rangers gave up a goal to Troy Stecher with seconds left in regulation.
It was a fast-paced, back-and-forth affair that saw the Maple Leafs poke holes in the Rangers structure and capitalize on a green goaltender.
In his sixth consecutive start, rookie netminder Dylan Garand struggled mightily with rebound control.
He ultimately stopped 31 of the 36 shots he faced in his fourth loss of the season, but the 24-year-old faltered in the face of Toronto’s high-octane offense.
The emotions of the last month and the increased workload could very well be weighing on him.
A couple of those pucks never reach Garand, however, if the Rangers keep Toronto out of the middle of their zone.
The Maple Leafs were able to bulldoze into the dangerous areas of the ice without much pushback from the visitors, resulting in point-blank shots that produced long rebounds with no Rangers jerseys to be found to contest.
The Rangers have taken significant strides with their defensive structure, but this was an opposing club with high star power and skill that exposed its weaknesses.
Just over a minute and a half into the game, a bad Rangers change led to Toronto’s first goal of the evening.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Tye Kartye skated right for the visitor’s bench as the puck was passed to Jake McCabe in the neutral zone.
McCabe quickly passed it up to Easton Cowan, who split Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson before burying the puck over the glove of Garand.
Mike Sullivan benched Dorofeyev for one power play for staying out too long with the man advantage last game, but the Rangers head coach has shown faith in the team’s offseason acquisition and long-term signing despite his two goals through 12 games.
Dorofeyev rang another one off the post later Thursday night, an indication of how much he may be pressing.
Mika Zibanejad’s first five-on-five goal of the season knotted the game at 1-all, but Teddy Bleuger’s first goal as a Maple Leaf gave the home team a one-goal lead going into the first intermission.
Taking their first lead of the night, the Rangers scored twice to open the second period just under four minutes apart. The visitors were funneling pucks on net for a good portion of the night, with Zibanejad and Kartye both scoring after getting a stick on feeds from the top of the zone.