J.T. Miller blasts Rangers’ sluggish starts: “It sucks”
CALGARY, Alberta — The New York Rangers once again stumbled out of the gate Sunday night at Scotiabank Saddledome, falling behind early and never recovering in a 5–1 loss to the Calgary Flames.
Calgary jumped out to a two-goal lead less than 10 minutes into the game, while New York managed just one goal before the Flames piled on three more against goalie Igor Shesterkin. The Rangers were outshot 12–5 in the opening period and surrendered the first goal within the first two minutes for the second straight contest.
“You can’t be okay with coming out flat,” captain J.T. Miller said after the Rangers dropped to 3-5-2 on the season. “We’re not in a position to start games that way. We need to be mentally ready. We got outplayed again in the first period — that set the tone. I thought we had a good second and third, but mistakes cost us. There are no excuses for slow starts. It sucks. This isn’t fun right now. We need to fix this trend immediately, especially on this tough road trip.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan echoed Miller’s frustration, criticizing the team’s defensive effort. “We had chances to end plays along the wall, but we were fishing for pucks,” he said. “That’s basic defense — stay between your man and the puck. When you fish, skilled players make you pay. We need better attention to detail right from the opening faceoff.”
Rookie Noah Laba scored his first NHL goal in the first period, cutting the deficit to one after driving to the net and beating Flames goalie Dustin Wolf.
“He’s got great energy and speed,” Sullivan said of Laba. “He creates pressure, draws penalties, and makes things happen with his skating. He scored a nice goal tonight and used his speed really effectively — that’s a big part of his game and what he brings to our lineup.”
Brennan Othmann also made his season debut, appearing in his 26th career NHL game. He logged 12:31 of ice time, recorded one shot, and finished minus-one.
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