NYR VGK This is a free country, so every citizen of Rangerville has a right to worry after watching them fall to the Vegas defending Champs. Any witness to the 5-2 defeat handed the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/new-york-rangers/what-filip-chytils-injury-setback-means-for-the-blueshirts-lineup]last night at the Garden should be singing the blues. Ditto for the losing coach. "We've got to dig in somehow to be better in all areas," declared the dismayed Peter Laviolette. "Better defense and more determined offensively." While the Champs are riddled with injuries, it is the New York sextet that is aching all over -- and that includes in the head and in the feet. (I'll get to the Knights goal that tells the story in a moment.)) The Host Team -- which you know and love -- was too hospitable, and now you know why there are questions galore surrounding them with just one contest left before the All-Star Break. Start with the goaltending -- and finish with it as well. Igor Shesterkin is a shade of his former Vezina self, and I don't mean maybe either. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzOTI0MDA4OTA1NzQ1OTE1/usatsi_22379867.jpg] So what is it with this guy? While Adin Hill at the other end stops 36 out of 38 shots, Iggy is only able to block 15 of 19. I mean, gimme a break! Hill is a Cup-winner, and Shesty looks like he's over the hill. Okay, let's go to the videotape: It's 1-1 in the second, and the game is up for grabs. Suddenly, a fourth-stringer you never heard of named Keegan Kolesar performs an X-ray on what's wrong with the Seventh Avenue skaters. It was rather simple when you think about it. 1. At the blue line, he relieves Breadman Panarin of his loaf of rye -- disguised as a puck -- and proceeds from there. 2. So, you figure that the eternally promising K'Andre Miller would stop him. Right? Nah. He makes K look like a Z, as in Zero. 3. Now, The Great Kolesar goes one-on-one with Iggy and beats his glove side. 2-1 for Vegas, and the Rangers never came close to catching The Champs again. "That goal was won it for us," said Jon Marchessault who capped his evening with a three-goal hat trick. "And we took it from there.." Marchessault followed right up with the winning goal, and, for all intents and purposes, Lavvy's staggering crew was through for the evening. As for the Local's shooters, credit to the very-veteran Blake Wheeler for making it 1-1 interesting at 6:33 of the first. Kaapo Kakko made it only slightly interesting when he talked with 66 seconds left in the game. It enabled the Laviolettes to pull the old "Open Net" trick, which pleased Marchessault, who completed his hat trick for the 5-2 finale. Has The Garden turned into Disaster City for the home club? Not if you listen carefully to Sir Wheeler, who has been around the NHL long enough to know. Wheeler: "Great teams are made in fire, and we're certainly in the fire right now. This can be a useful situation for our team down the stretch if we handle it the right way." That is one big IF. The Maven's suggestion. Make Jon Quick the starting goalie and see what happens. Then, when the All-Star Break is over, show videos of the first 35 games of the season when New York ripped off 25 wins. I firmly believe that this team is as good as it was when its record was an amazing 25-9-1. If they did it before, why can't they do it again? But that was then, and this is now. Do you want to know what the media thought of the Rangers' non-epic evening? The Blueshirts didn't earn one of the Three Stars. No problem. Bring on the Senators tonight in Ottawa and, better still, follow that with the All-Star break. Come to think of it, Blake Wheeler may be right about the Rangers "being in the fire." Maybe they're just burnt out! TOP STORIES
