Streak Over, Rangers' Focus Turns to Penguins, Then Sochi
The Rangers ' drive for a fifth straight victory stalled at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night as they fell to the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, on Nail Yakupov's goal with 1 minute 38 seconds to play.
On Friday, the Rangers will play the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins in Pittsburgh, a final test before the two-week break for the Sochi Games.
Despite the loss, the Rangers' game against the Penguins still stands as a measuring stick. If they win, the victory will be their 11th in their last 15 games.
Yakupov's shot, a one-timer, beat goaltender Cam Talbot, who made his first start in six games.
Rangers Coach Alain Vigneault warned his players beforehand that they should not take the Oilers lightly. Despite sitting in last place in the West Division, Edmonton entered the game with victories in four of its previous five games.
The Oilers also had Ben Scrivens in goal, whose previous game against the Rangers was a 37-save, 1-0 shutout at the Garden earlier this season, when he was with Los Angeles. On Thursday he stopped 35 of 36 shots.
The Oilers took a 1-0 lead when Ryan Smyth scored the only goal of the first period, after Brian Boyle misplayed a puck in the Rangers' end. It was the 384th goal of Smyth's career, lifting him to No. 100 on the N.H.L.'s career list.
Derick Brassard tied the game when he scored off a Mats Zuccarello pass 22 seconds into the second period. The Rangers also got a break midway through the period, when the referees blew the whistle just as an Oilers shot trickled past Talbot.
The teams traded chances throughout the game, with the referees seeming intent on not calling penalties. There was only one power play, awarded to Edmonton in the second period.
'You always feel like there should be penalties out there, but they didn't see anything, so they didn't call anything,' Ryan Callahan said.
It was the first time since Dec. 15, 2011, that the Rangers did not have a power play.
On Sunday, seven Rangers will board the N.H.L.'s Newark-to-Sochi charter flights: Callahan, Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan, who will represent the United States; Rick Nash (Canada); Henrik Lundqvist and Carl Hagelin (Sweden); and Zuccarello (Norway). Jim Ramsay, the Rangers' head trainer, will also head to Sochi to work for Team Canada.
McDonagh said the Olympics has been in the back of his mind recently, especially when he, Callahan and Stepan were interviewed on the 'Today' show. (Stepan kept a straight face when he was introduced as 'Darren Stepan.')
'I started packing a little bit, figuring out what to bring, making sure all the paperwork, passport, visa stuff is together beforehand so there's no last-minute trouble,' McDonagh said. 'From that aspect I've been preparing, but not hockey-wise yet - my mind is here.'
Nash also said he was focused on the last games before the break but called the Olympics the 'elephant in the room,' something that was 'tough not to think about.'
He addressed Steven Stamkos's finally giving up on playing for Team Canada because of a leg injury, as well as Thursday's announcement that Martin St. Louis would be Stamkos's replacement.
'It's unfortunate, but he has to think of the long term,' Nash said of Stamkos. 'It must have been hard for him.' He added that St. Louis 'has earned a spot on the team, and it's exciting to have an older veteran presence like him.'
After the Olympics, when they resume play Feb. 27 against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Rangers will have to guard against a falloff. After the Olympic breaks of 1998, 2002 and 2006, the Rangers' records grew worse; only in 2010 did they improve, but even then they missed the playoffs on the last night of the season.
But such concerns are for later. For now, the focus is on Pittsburgh, and then, for seven Rangers, on getting to Sochi for the world's best hockey tournament.
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