Yeah why did Girardi get the hat? And why are there suddenly no more photos? (Callahan never appeared in the hat after beating the Jets) Are we killing this thing?
Good game on a back to back. Buffalo is a better team than their record represents. Our top lines need to become more assertive in developing scoring chances, but the team commitment to D remains extraordinalrily impressive. McD continues to grow and G is the dictionary definition of reliable. I do wish we had someone who had the foot speed to shadow an "anyone' (in my opinion the one d-man we are missing). McD has the athletic/skating ability but seems to struggle with very quick forwards at this point. Girardi has always fought off the type but has struggled. Stralman allows them to turn the corner on him, same w/ Del Z. Staal just isn't ready yet, I'm just hopeful by playoff time he'll be rounding into form. Given the bloodlines I think that's reasonable but he had a real long layoff and as Torts has mentioned, missing TC is really tough. Erixon actually has the feet and agility to keep with the quickest forwards but he needs to work on balance and core strength.
This team is poised for a playoff run and is built to win, but I don't believe this is the best year for them. I'd say next year or the year after when you are adding young guys like Kreider, Miller, McIlrath and allowing further development for Strepan, McD, Del Z, Hagelin, Erixon to the point where we may hit a 120 pt season. There is a lot in the pipeline and some guys are becoming expendable. very unique time to be a Ranger fan (assuming you've been on board since the disaster days). Interesting to see the team develop with a fundamental purpose and long term vision.
Redden: Gaborik and Richards combined for about 14 million dollars of cap space for absolute dog **** tonight.
Yeah...except for the goal on the shoot out?
Gaborik got 7 points in his last 7 games. And we've scored a total of 15 goals in those games. He's involved in 46% of the goals. And yes, I know you said tonight, but maybe other players need to show up every now and then?
Like Dubinsky and his 4.2 miilion dollar cap space, he create nothing, and has 0 points in his last 7 games?
Or, hey Anisimov, what about ending that 17 game without a point streak of yours?
And that guy is still on ice for somewhere around 13-14 min/game.
Richards deserve the critic though, he is not living up to his cap hit.
I thought both teams played playoff-time game. The problem with so many Ranger fans is they rarely give the other team credit and Buffalo -- especially Miller -- deserves a ton of credit. They fought hard and played their hearts out.
Case in point? Regardless whether or not our pp is performing, I thought I was watching our PK on our powerplay in the OT. Because we would all be singing praise for our PK (which had a helluva game).
We should have won yesterday, but it didn't go our way. Tonight did, and I'll take it and am happy with the overall performance of our team.
Let's Go Rangers!!
I agree that Buffalo played very well. In fact, although I complained about Biron staring yesterday, Torts made the right call in hindsight. While there's a good chance we beat the Devils in regulation with Hank, I don't think Biron would've got us any points in Buffalo.
I think Boyle deserves some credit for his play last night. Clearly Hank won the game for us, but Boyles play in the defensive and neutral zones helped prevent a lot of scoring chances.
I just saw the shot out again and after Cally scored and the rangers players were out on the ice, someone "threw'' a puck to a Rangers player.
I assume that it was the puck that Cally scored with, so my question is;
Is this like a tradition like getting the game puck after you score your first NHL goal and such ?
any one else noticed it ?
Usually when you score your first goal, a teammate will tell the ref, and they'll give you the puck. Don't know why the Rangers would need that one though.
Cally's the man, great shot! Leads by example. Why did Kaletta get a roughing penalty, for eating Boyle's fist? Hank's save on Boyes in the shootout was the best of his life. Biron plays this game we lose 1-0...
We can play the grinding game, but what about just an iota of offensive creativity?
The Devils rode just that style of hockey to various Cups. The Rangers are much the same. They are a bunch of hard-hat wearing bulldogs who play defense first. After watching Jagr (and before him Lindros & vefore him Nedved) & Co be creative, I will take this bunch.
Even without bringing up the past, the effort is there. The work ethic is there and defense first is just fine.
The Devils rode just that style of hockey to various Cups. The Rangers are much the same. They are a bunch of hard-hat wearing bulldogs who play defense first. After watching Jagr (and before him Lindros & vefore him Nedved) & Co be creative, I will take this bunch.
Even without bringing up the past, the effort is there. The work ethic is there and defense first is just fine.
Agreed, but what I am saying is it would be nice to have some talent so we wouldn't have to rely on grinding every game. It wears down the players.
We cannot continue to play all these 4th liners. I agree with those who say we do not have enough offensive talent. With that said we need to dress three lines who can score on a good night which means neither Brian Boyle or Feds can be on your 3rd line. Insert WW or EC or promote MZA and give me a third line with Ani, Mitch and the new insertion. At least that line will have three guys who have hands and have scored before. Then the 4th line can be any combination of Rupp, Prust, Feds and Boyle that Torts thinks is suitable depending on the opponent. The dump and chases mentality of Brian Boyle must be on the 4th line.
Richards looked pretty good to me but he's still slumping so hard. He can't get lucky at all.
But another scorer isn't going to suddenly alleviate every problem, let's be realistic. Part of it is a system "problem" and another guy, unless he's a legit superstar like Malkin, isn't going to magically come in and turn around the offense.
I thought the Rangers played pretty well until they got that PP in the third period and then they absolutely imploded and Buffalo went on a tear for like 13 straight minutes. That's definitely when Lundqvist had to be his best and he rose to the occasion. Dunno what the crap happened there but it was like Buffalo suddenly decided they were a fantastic team
Rather frustrating two games after the break but at least they came away with 3 out of 4 points
What happened was our D was spent. Stralman could barely stay on his feet, Staal started to look tired and the three ironman were feeling the minutes played as well. Torts must address the minutes he is giving Girardi, McD and MDZ. It will take a tangible toll on the standings sooner than later.
Agreed, but what I am saying is it would be nice to have some talent so we wouldn't have to rely on grinding every game. It wears down the players.
But it also wears down the other team. Once creativity leads to give aways and not making the other team go 180 feet to score a goal, the cry would be "Why aren't we getting the puck deep?"
There is talent on this team. But the identity is meat and potatoes, grind away, defense first. That is the way that they play. And that is the way that they are successfull.
I am far from a fair weather fan, and I can't stand ties. But there are certain games where neither team/goalie deserves to lose. Tonight would be one of them. The other one that comes to mind is the 1-0 shootout loss to the Devils 2 years ago. One of the best regular season games I have ever seen.
Make overtime 10 mins. Five minutes 4 on 4, Five minutes 3 on 3. Would solve the problem, 90% of the time.
would not solve the problem. 3 on 3 is much a skill competition as the shootout (or very close to it). I like the idea of a 10 minute OT period. But once it ends in a tie, you get 1 point each. There should be no more 3 point games and no shootout.
