That call was awful, but they could've avoided the loss if Torts would've just taken that pylon Bickel out of the lineup. He's not an NHL defenseman. Eminger is. It's that ****ing simple.
The Rangers have played well up to this point and are sitting in first.
Why some here feel we're not suppossed to ever lose or struggle at times is beyond me.
if this team gets their power play going they're going to the SCF.
it may not happen this year, but when it does, we'll be deadly.
The question becomes...do we have the personnel to get it going? I feel like with this team, we're always in a perpetual wait mode. This is the season for so and so. This is the season because they're all a year older/wiser. Is it maybe time for Sather to make some difficult decisions at the deadline?
Even if Gaborik wasn't called for the goalie interference penalty, wouldn't the refs have called accidental goalie interference and still waved off the goal?
The call was BS but am I right on that?
Incidental contact isn't an issue if it's caused by the defense pushing the offense into their own goalie. If the refs felt that Gaborik was pushed into Brodeur by Volchenkov, then they wouldn't have called a penalty nor would they have ruled incidental contact.
Devils fan coming in peace. I thought the call could have gone either way - it's hard to tell whether Volchenkov is wrapping him up or pushing him in, but it looked like Gaborik didn't make much of an effort to not crash the crease.
I thought Hagelin was the best player for either team, aside from the two goalies. Kid can fly out there and he's shifty too.
I also thought the game starting with the 2x staged fight was garbage from both sides.
Torts decision to play Bickel over a healthy Eminger bites him in the ass. After 2 bad penalties on Sunday there was no reason to have him in this game. They should have played better, PP, etc., but you can't have your own coach handicapping the team with piss poor personnel decision making in close games.
Devils fan coming in peace. I thought the call could have gone either way - it's hard to tell whether Volchenkov is wrapping him up or pushing him in, but it looked like Gaborik didn't make much of an effort to not crash the crease.
I thought Hagelin was the best player for either team, aside from the two goalies. Kid can fly out there and he's shifty too.
I also thought the game starting with the 2x staged fight was garbage from both sides.
Regardless...the team has to start waking up their sticks soon. An 11pts lead turned into a 6pt lead really fast. And it's not going to get any easier for them. The PP is almost non-existent at this point...at that's a big big problem.
I agree. It's been bugging me since he became coach. I can understand line juggling, but he takes it to the extreme.
But you have to admit that it's getting out of control.
Last year, the clear glaring weakness was a true No. 1 center. It's hard to get a truer No. 1 than Brad Richards. For the life of me, however, I have no idea why he looks slower and is indecisive as hell. For over a decade he was a brilliant playmaker.
It's not like he's setting these scrub 3rd and 4th liners up with gimme's and they're blowing it. He's not setting anybody up, give or take a few exceptions.
Still, make the 2nd line Dubinsky-Richards-Callahan and keep them together no matter what.
Kinda sorta agree. I wouldn't mind setting up three or four set lines and trying that for awhile
Incidental contact isn't an issue if it's caused by the defense pushing the offense into their own goalie. If the refs felt that Gaborik was pushed into Brodeur by Volchenkov, then they wouldn't have called a penalty nor would they have ruled incidental contact.
Yeah Prust was having a good game, but he gives him 2nd line opportunities, and look what happens. He blows a nice pass and shanks it.
Just can't expect a good 4th liner to play like a second liner in all areas because his forecheck is on, and the puck is finding him.
What about the powerplay? That is his baby and it is a joke, how Rupp and Cally aren't in front of the net and they aren't just carrying the puck in the zone and shooting at will is beyond me. Until this gets fixed this team won't go anywhere in the playoffs.
And its time for Tortorella to call out Richards. Whether he is generating chances while he is on the ice or not, he isn't getting the job done. This isn't a knee jerk reaction. We signed him to a significant contract, based on his previous experience in the NHL being a top tier center, and he hasn't been able to bring that level of play to the NYR for the past 25-30 games. I'll admit, he had a good start and he has scored some big goals. We can all recognize that.
But it's time to call him out on his play recently. He did it to Gaborik in the past. He can do it to Richards. When you were brought in for a very specific purpose, which Richards was (especially to be a PP QB) and he hasn't been able to fulfill that role, call him out on it. We need better play from him. Period. This isn't to trash Richards, but he HAS to be better.
For most top teams their best players are their BEST. For the NYR, with Richards, it's not the case.
Even if Gaborik wasn't called for the goalie interference penalty, wouldn't the refs have called accidental goalie interference and still waved off the goal?
No. By rule if they decided that Volchenkov pushed Gaborik sufficiently to have unavoidable contact with the keeper it would 100% be a good goal.
What happened was there was very slight contact, and Gaborik (incredibly smartly) used that as an excuse to pull a Lawrence Taylor on Brodeur. If MG doesnt bulldoze Marty over, it's a very simple save and the game's over. Basically a really smart play on Gaborik part, because it at least gives you a chance to score, and then it's just up to the refs (who didnt bite on it). But the alternative is you lose, so why not knock over the keeper in that situation?
