Rangers-Leafs: New York Stunned By Toronto

With seven minutes and 24 seconds left in the game, the Rangers were winning 2-0. I went to get a beer…yada yada yada…they were losing 5-2. Wow. Just wow. (And that’s not a good wow.)

A funny thing happened on the way to a routine victory: A goal in the first period; a goal in the second; Stephen Valiquette shutting out Toronto; five for five on the penalty kill. Sounds like a 2008 Rangers game to me. Everything was going according to plan.

The first goal was a thing of beauty. Nigel Dawes took the puck behind the Leafs’ net and banked a pass off the boards to Dan Girardi at the point. He threaded the needle across the ice to Ryan Callahan who rifled it in for a 1-0 lead.

Blair Betts scored his second goal of the year in the second, matching last year’s season total. In fact, the Betts/Sjostrom/Orr line was the best line for the Rangers in the game.

In the third, the Blueshirts weren’t dominating like they had been in previous games, but it looked like they were cruising along to an easy win. Then John Mitchell ripped the puck past Valiquette for his first NHL goal. And all hell broke loose.

The Leafs started swarming. The Rangers turned the puck over every chance they got, and Toronto threw the puck at the net every chance they got. And they kept scoring. Boom, bang, bam—five goals in five minutes and 21 seconds.

There were neutral zone breakdowns, defensive zone breakdowns and Valiquette broke down. The Rangers completely collapsed. This came out of nowhere. We haven’t seen anything like this all season. The arena turned into a house of horrors. Happy Halloween, Rangers.

The Blueshirts still can’t score on the power play. With a 2-0 lead in the third, they had a man advantage and couldn’t buy a goal. That could have put the game away right there.

They have to do something with their power play because the lack of scoring is starting to catch up to them. Their penalty killing is still impeccable, though. Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom are turning into the new Walt Tzachuck and Bill Fairburn.

Brandon Dubinsky was in the penalty box in the first period for the third game in a row. Valiquette was 3-0 lifetime against the Leafs going into the game. He was solid for the first two periods, but should have stopped a few of those goals in the third.

Even with a record of 10-3-1, the Rangers are having a hard time playing a complete 60 minutes. I guess you can’t win ‘em all, but jeez, that was ridiculous.

Next game: Tuesday against the Islanders.