It's a rotten, entitled and arrogant group. You're 5 points out of the playoffs, you can't look past anyone. EVery single game needs to be treated like a playoff game. Is Lafreniere dogging a backcheck like that if it's the ECF? No, regardless of how tired he is. But it's okay in a regular season game when you're 5 points out of a playoff spot and desperately need points? Lafreniere turns in an effort like that, why? Because he watches every single other veteran on this team do it every single game with zero consequences. It's in his blood now.
It's a rotten group, a complacent and arrogant group of veterans poisoning everyone and everything around them. It's not the coach, it's not the staff, it's not the fringe players in the lineup. It's the core. Panarin, Kreider, Zibanejad, Fox, Lafreniere, Trocheck, Igor. Not one player in that group has lived up to what they should be. They all got paid, get treated like royalty as Rangers. No attention to detail lackluster effort, endless hope plays, no solid hockey. It's shinny out there.
Every single player on the team should be embarrassed.
Igor in particular has really, really let the team down. He has been absolute dogshit for weeks now with pretty decent defense in front of him. And game after game after game he gives up shorties, he fails to make the big saves when they're needed, he's leaky, he is unable to elevate the team. The media fawns over this guy endlessly but this year it's undeserved. He's not a victim of poor play you see people making excuses for him online, no, he's one of the conductors of this train going off the rails. Elite goalies are paid to elevate their teams and make up for their mistakes. You don't pay a goalie 11.5m a season to give up the same goals every other average goalie would.