New York Rangers' Sloppy Second Period on Sunday Splits Weekend Homestand

The New York Rangers played well on Saturday, winning their game against the Buffalo Sabres, but a sloppy second period led to a loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.

Playing their second game in two days, the Rangers stopped scoring, except for a goal at the start of the game by Brandon Dubinsky, who had not scored in 24 games.

That goal came at the end of the second shift of the game during a line change. Sean Avery, dropped from the first line to the second, was still on the ice with the third line when he assisted on the goal.

It has been widely reported that Rangers coach John Tortorella has his team focused on one game at a time and one period at a time. They won the first period of the game against Ottawa, but a sloppy second cost them the game.

The Rangers earned two out of a possible four points to stay in seventh place. A second win on the weekend would have put them ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes in a tie for fifth place with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost to the Philadelphia Flyers.

It's a tight race for positioning between the Flyers, Penguins, Hurricanes, and Rangers. Fourth place at the end of the regular season means opening the first round of the playoffs at home, which is a big advantage, particularly for the Rangers.

The Rangers have several goal scorers now that Nik Antropov has joined the team, Avery has rejoined them and scored four goals in three games, and the other scorers in the Rangers lineup were re-energized. Scott Gomez, Markus Naslund, Nik Zherdev, Chris Drury, and Ryan Callahan have all scored recently but could not put the puck in the net on Sunday.

Aggressive attacks led to the Rangers win streak, with relentless fore-checking keeping the play in the opponents end most of the game. The puck was in the Rangers end for most of the second period when they played the Senators.

When the Rangers did mount some offense in the second, they did not get any breaks. The puck hopped over sticks, shots went wide or were blocked, and the Senators were able to come from behind for the victory.

In the third period, the Rangers mounted an attack, got lots of shots, and fore-checked aggressively, but the Senators were able to hold onto the win. It was a case of too little, too late, which also describes the Senators season.

Ottawa has been out of the playoff picture, but they have now won five games in a row to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Jane McManus of The Journal News explained the loss this way: "Taking the ice less than 24 hours after a win over Buffalo, the Rangers didn't have the same energy that led them to win seven of their last nine games, snapping a three-game winning streak."

She pointed out that the Rangers played much of the game without Michal Rozsival, who was injured in the second period, and that turnovers and sluggish power plays defined the Rangers' second period.

"Rozsival was walking stiffly with a brace afterward and will have an MRI today, but it appears the Rangers will need a call-up from Hartford for tomorrow's game against Minnesota," Steve Zippay reported on Newsday.com.

Jim Cerny of newyorkrangers.com quoted Rangers coach Tortorella saying, “I thought the game was sloppy by both teams."

"Sean Avery was front and center with yet another admirable offensive game," Stan Fischler reported for newyorkrangers.com. "He worked on a line with Scott Gomez and Nik Zherdev but the red lights lacked batteries for them on this night. A last-minute Avery wraparound in the third period was foiled."