Trocheck: 'Sounds crazy' but reeling Rangers played better vs. Devils
The reeling New York Rangers may have gotten hammered 5-1 by the New Jersey Devils on home ice, but forward Vincent Trocheck thinks the performance showed some improvement.
"It sounds crazy, but tonight I felt like we played better," he said postgame.
New York outshot the Devils 39-28 during Monday's loss, but New Jersey dictated 58.5% of the expected goals and 60.9% of the high-danger chances at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Jesper Bratt opened the scoring less than two minutes in off a two-on-one break. The Rangers didn't get on the board until the second period when they were already down 4-0.
Opposing fans made their presence known at Madison Square Garden with a hearty chorus of "Let's go Devils" toward the end of the game. Bratt believes the chants got under the Rangers' skin.
"That was great to hear," he said. "It gives us a boost, and you see their team getting frustrated with it, too."
The loss was the Rangers' sixth in their past seven games. Though they still occupy the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, they're losing ground in the Metropolitan Division:
| Rank | Team | GP | Record | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey Devils | 28 | 17-9-2 | 36 |
| 2 | Washington Capitals | 24 | 17-6-1 | 35 |
| 3 | Carolina Hurricanes | 24 | 16-7-1 | 33 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 24 | 13-10-1 | 27 |
Igor Shesterkin has been in net for five of those defeats, marking the longest personal losing streak of his NHL career. He allowed 1.53 goals above expected at all strengths against the Devils.
New York's recent slump has sparked trade speculation, as reports emerged in late November that general manager Chris Drury is looking to shake up the roster.
"You hear things," Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said of the chatter. "I don’t know if we consciously let it get in here, we try and just come in every day and play good hockey. Sometimes we don't.
"We've built a camaraderie in here, we all have each other's backs. ... That's just part of the territory, you're going to have outside noise. It's up to us to not let that creep in."
The Rangers' next chance at righting the ship will come Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Trocheck said he and his teammates need to get a little uncomfortable to make that happen.
"Guys who are usually playmakers who score goals have got to chip it in, grind it out," he said. "Guys who aren't usually hitting have got to start hitting. We've just got to play out of our comfort zone to dig our way out of this."
Trocheck added, "Obviously what we're doing right now isn’t working."