Where do Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers turn now after allowing the lowly Buffalo Sabres to knock them off at MSG?
- New York Rangers 3 (43-26-9)
- Buffalo Sabres 4 (33-35-11)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
With yet another chance to clinch a spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, on a day the Pittsburgh Penguins did so for the 10th straight season, Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers got beat 4-3 by the rebuilding Buffalo Sabres.
The night started miserably. Not once, not twice, but three times Buffalo beat Henrik Lundqvist within the first 20:46 of the game. Ryan O’Reilly tallied the first two.
Hank was so bad (especially in the area of rebound control), that Alain Vigneault went right to Antti Raanta after the third goal from Zemgus Girgensons just 46 seconds into the second frame.
From the start, Lundqvist seemed extremely off his game. The same could be said for Kevin Klein.
New York didn’t get on the board until Kevin Hayes responded just a couples minutes after Buffalo’s third goal, assisted by Eric Staal and Jesper Fast:
.@KevinPHayes12 gets #NYR on the board!! #HeyHeyHeyHeyHayes pic.twitter.com/NcUSUFuegc
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 3, 2016
The Rangers comeback didn’t start until Buffalo scored again later in the second to make the score feel hopeless at 4-1.
Matty M. hammers home his own rebound to make it 4-1 Sabres. pic.twitter.com/sWIqDaAnph
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 3, 2016
J.T. Miller found himself in the right place for his 22nd goal of the season, thanks to a perfectly missed shot by Ryan McDonagh, late in the second period:
Cleanup on Aisle 5…. J.T. Miller cuts the #NYR deficit to 4-2 against the Sabres. pic.twitter.com/IVhWlYPWhK
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) April 3, 2016
Then, the combination of Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan put one past Chad Johnson just under five minutes into the third period to cut the deficit to just one:
Sustained offensive pressure leads to a Stepan-Kreider generated goal. Deficit only one for #NYR. 4-3 Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/VwSEzEGnaa
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) April 3, 2016
At 12:12 of the third, the MSG crowd really found itself in a frenzy once it was realized that the Sabres took two minor penalties simultaneously, providing the Blueshirts with a golden 5-on-3 opportunity.
It failed, and so did the Rangers chance of clinching a playoff berth with a point gained tonight.
The Pittsburgh Penguins – who destroyed the New York Islanders 5-0 earlier in the day – are now three points clear of the Rangers (with NYR now incredibly having one game in hand). The Isles are two points back of the Rangers with both teams having already played 77 games.
Where the Rangers turn from here is anybody’s best guess, but losing back-to-back games to the very mediocre Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes is the last thing needed during a playoff push.
Next up will be the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Monday night.
Just an incredible save by Johnny.https://t.co/ZUorVavuX5
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 3, 2016
Ryan O'Reilly scores for the @BuffaloSabres.
Ryan O'Reilly scores again. #BUFvsNYRhttps://t.co/qOBjWG4pIB— NHL (@NHL) April 2, 2016
Matt Moulson with the game-winning goal; 33 saves for Chad Johnson. #BUFvsNYR pic.twitter.com/fCejRcXyp3
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 3, 2016
