This was a confluence of bad things happening to the Rangers, and with hours until Wednesday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, there is once again uncertainty.
Well, other than the certain fact the Capitals remain the best team in the league and will likely get better, easily outworking the Rangers over the final 40 minutes to take a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night at the Garden.
“This time of year is always an uncomfortable time of year for every room,” said alternate captain Marc Staal. “I think a couple guys go out of the lineup before the game, and some guys playing positions they’re not used to.”
While the Rangers’ (40-21-2) new trade acquisition, defenseman Brendan Smith, didn’t arrive in time to play, the Capitals (42-13-7) had the biggest splash of the deadline thus far dressed in road white, with New Rochelle kid Kevin Shattenkirk suited up on the Washington blue line. He was the player the Rangers coveted most, and instead he went to what was already the best team in their division.
But besides that salt in the wound, and besides the late arrival from Smith — who was coming from Vancouver, where his Red Wings were playing before they traded him to New York for a second-round pick in 2018 and a third-round pick in 2017 — the Blueshirts were also without right-handed defensemen Dan Girardi (ankle) and Kevin Klein (back). That necessitated the late call-up of Steven Kampfer from AHL Hartford, and he looked entirely out of place while going minus-2.
After warm-ups, the Rangers announced the late scratch of Mika Zibanejad (left wrist/hand), and during the game they went long stretches without Chris Kreider (“lower body,” according to coach Alain Vigneault) and Jesper Fast (likely shoulder, according to all those who saw him get pancaked into the glass by Alex Ovechkin midway through the third period).
Kreider returned at the start of the second period (as a shell of himself), and Fast didn’t — but injury updates were hardly on Vigneault’s mind immediately after this one.
“In the second period, it seemed like their top players took their game to another level,” Vigneault said. “We didn’t follow. Our top players didn’t execute and compete as hard as theirs. They dominated, without a doubt.”
So the 1-0 lead the Rangers took at 5:08 of the first on Brady Skjei’s third of the year — a prime example of why the rookie defenseman has been off-limits in trade talks — was quickly washed out.
The Capitals tied it 1-1 on the first of two goals from Marcus Johansson at 7:28 of the second period, and when the Rangers had a Michael Grabner goal overturned due to an offsides call following another dreadfully long coach’s challenge, this time from Capitals coach Barry Trotz, the momentum shifted back to Washington.
They got one from Brett Connolly at 16:26 of the second, then another from Johansson at 1:15 of the third to make it 3-1. The final dagger came on a power-play tally from Nicklas Backstrom with just 2:03 remaining.
“As a team we responded really well in the first period, we just went out and played. Guys were talking, we were intense,” Staal said. “Then we lost that in the second period and we just couldn’t regain it.”
The hope is that the 28-year-old Smith will significantly bolster the depleted backline, which needed the help even before the injuries. As a lefty, he is able to play both sides, and even though he is a pending unrestricted free agent, he walks into the locker room with the comfort of having been teammates with current Rangers Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan while playing at the University of Wisconsin.
“He’s a player we’ve liked for a while,” said Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton, who was also in deep discussion for Shattenkirk, but felt the asking price was too high.
So now it’s going to be on Gorton to see if he can find any more pieces before the deadline comes and goes, and on Vigneault to fit Smith into the equation.
“Real competitive defenseman, can skate well and make a good first pass,” was Vigneault’s quick scouting report. “He competes real hard, and we’re going to need that.”