Shesterkin meltdown, defense gives up, and more: 3 reasons why New York Rangers lost 6-1 against Buffalo Sabres

The New York Rangers were on the wrong side of a 6-1 blowout against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

The Sabres exploded for five goals against Igor Shesterkin and one on Jonathan Quick. Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring, with Dylan Cozens, Tage Thompson, Jordan Greenway, Sam Lafferty and Zach Benson adding the others for Buffalo. Will Cuylle got the Rangers on the board early in the third period.

So, let’s take a look at the three reasons why the Buffalo Sabres blew out the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

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Three reasons why New York Rangers lost against Buffalo Sabres in a blowout

#3 The Rangers’ defense was slow and ineffective

While Igor Shesterkin had an uncharacteristic off night, the New York Rangers defense didn’t do him any favors.

A good example is the Sam Lafferty goal. The play started with the Sabres retrieving the puck in their own zone. The Sabres quickly transitioned, turning the play into a 3-on-2 rush. Beck Malentsyn blew past Adam Edstrom and dished a wicked feed to Lafferty, who took Shesterkin to school.

Beyond the great play by the Sabres, the three Rangers forwards in the Buffalo zone essentially stopped asking, allowing the Sabres to skate up the ice and score the goal unimpeded. The lack of effort, even with the game 4-0 at that point, signaled that the Rangers had given up on the game at that point.

#2 Ineffective Rangers’ power play

The New York Rangers got four power play opportunities, failing to cash in on any of them. As a result, the Rangers were unable to take advantage, allowing the Sabres to capitalize on their opportunities. The Sabres got on power play goal late in the game to push the score to 6-1.

In particular, the Rangers had two power play chances in the first period. Had they scored, the game could have had a much different outcome. Instead, the Rangers’ power play failed, and the game quickly got out of hand.

#1 Shesterkin' second-period meltdown

Igor Shesterkin was not his usual Vezina-caliber self against the Rangers. He surrendered five goals, four of which came in a second-period meltdown that saw the Sabres turn a slim 1-0 lead into a 5-0 blowout.

Shesterkin was eventually pulled after Lafferty had made it 5-0 at 13:21 of the second period. Jonathan Quick came in relief, holding the fort. The Rangers broke Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s shutout bid with a goal early in the third. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

The Rangers will have a chance to regroup before hitting the ice again on Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings.