Gerard Gallant was furious after the classic battle of the Big Apple, which his New York Rangers lost 3-0 to the Islanders on Friday night. After the meeting, the head coach made an unedifying comparison about his team.
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“The Islanders played a good game. We were horse shit [horseshit], Gallant told reporters, according to the “New York Post.” But at least we made it as a team. Like the great games we played in Pittsburgh, we did it as a team. This evening [vendredi]we got the other side of the coin.”
The Rangers are in a comfortable position to reach the playoffs, but Gallant obviously did not appreciate the behavior of his men, who stumbled upon Semyon Varlamov 27 times. On the other side, Igor Shesterkin gave up three times on just 18 shots, but was unhelped by his defenders.
The young Braden Schneider was also on the ice for the three goals of the opponent. He lost sight of the disc at his blue line in the third period, which led to Mathew Barzal’s knockout.
Error on top of error
His fellow defenders have been put to sleep more than once, including when they let Casey Cizikas quietly settle into the slot to open the scoring, just 2:40 after the initial face-off.
It was no better on the second net, that of Matt Martin, when Jacob Trouba had the puck taken away while attempting an incursion into opposing territory. This shaky game eventually turned into a three-on-one.
“You see the defenders. When we move the puck, we’re a pretty good team. [Quand] we start dancing, doing turnstiles and reversals, that’s what we deserve, ”explained the head coach shamelessly.
“We were skating like we were in quicksand all night,” he added.
That game brought the Rangers’ four-game winning streak to an abrupt end. Gallant will probably hope for better against the weak Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.