Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/d3e5c2af-0959-46c0-993b-c4100f7d1868.jpeg] Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images The New York Rangers clearly did not come to play out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break as they suffered a brutal 8-2 defeat against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. The Rangers hadn’t played for two weeks prior to this game and that rust clearly showed. From the opening puck drop, the Blueshirts were flat. Igor Shesterkin gave up a whopping five goals on 16 shots through the opening frame before getting pulled for Jonathan Quick. It was just a couple of days ago when Shesterkin called himself out, describing his plays this season as “Not Good.” While Shesterkin was not the only problem, his performance certainly did not make matters any better. There’s no excuse across the board for the kind of first period the Rangers put on display, especially considering the fact that they are competing for a playoff spot and right now, every point is critical. That dreadful first period carried into the rest of the contest with the Rangers being unable to recover. “It wasn’t good,” Peter Laviolette said. “There wasn’t anything good about the game. Terrible start, terrible first period. Didn’t get much better from there, so that was not the game we were looking for coming out of the break and that’s it in a nutshell.” Everything was a mess for New York. It starts with the way they played in front of their goalies J.T. Miller chose not to blame Shesterkin for his lackluster start, but instead claimed that the team let their superstar goalie down. “I just think our effort and execution needs to be a whole lot better,” Miller said. “It’s tough seeing that many go in. Kind of let the goalies hang out to dry tonight. We need to be a lot better.” The Blueshirts played like a team without any sort of identity and sense of heart. It’s been the way this group has played for a large part of this season. Peter Laviolette made his message loud and clear following the game. “This is not going to get us where we need to go, and we’ve got to digest that tonight,” Laviolette said. “We’ve got to wake up tomorrow and be a determined group.” The Rangers will be back in action on Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
