I remember the game was in December and for some reason I thought they got pounded.
Boy i will never forget that game. I was sick all day that sunday with a terrible flu. Heck, i was so sick i thought they won that game till i found out yesterday that the last MSG win was in 97.
One thing with the Powerplay. Would Tom Poti just stop shooting? he simply cannot hit the net. The dismil powerplay is showing how important Brian Leetch is to this team.
One thing with the Powerplay. Would Tom Poti just stop shooting? he simply cannot hit the net. The dismil powerplay is showing how important Brian Leetch is to this team.
I would rather him shoot and miss then play with the puck and do nothing other then help the other team's PK.
There's nothing wrong with Poti's shot. He's one of the best, most consistent shooting defensemen in the league. In fact, the numbers show he should be shooting more not less.
There's nothing wrong with Poti's shot. He's one of the best, most consistent shooting defensemen in the league. In fact, the numbers show he should be shooting more not less.
Thanks for that. But this year he has seemed to miss the net alot.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barnaby
Okay, you got me
I remember the game was in December and for some reason I thought they got pounded.
i remember the game, it was in detroit and the reason you thought we got pounded is because we sucked, we never made a good move for the lead and we playing catch up the whole game, we never had i chance... o i remember it well......
I thought Hlavac's game was a massive improvement. He actually handled the puck fairly well and was very active and quite successful playing along the boards. There was one point in the 3rd where he came on for Simon early and looked like Graves holding the puck in the zone while the rest of the line change was completed. Good effort and an assist, can't really complain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fletch
I'm not too sure what Carter's role is out there anymore. I don't think he knows either.
I'd really look to move Carter. He can't seem to gel with any of the centers and by acquiring Rheaume, Sather clearly has no intentions of playing him at center. I think it's just a bad fit and time to move on rather than force it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fletch
Thought Malakhov played well, mostly.
I thought Malakhov was the worst Ranger of the night, hands down. His biggest challenge now appears to be fighting gravity. For the 3rd straight game, he fell in the offensive zone, lost the puck and it turned into a scoring chance. Even Purinton stays on his feet. It's really, REALLY time for Vlad to take a game off.
There's nothing wrong with Poti's shot. He's one of the best, most consistent shooting defensemen in the league. In fact, the numbers show he should be shooting more not less.
---While the high shooting percentage is nice, most of the guys you listed here end up with far more SOG's than Poti. Poti had 148 last year, whereas a number of these guys have been averaging over 200 the past few seasons. MacInnis had more than twice as many as Poti last year. Leetch had more than Poti last year despite playing in 29 fewer games. I don't think that has as much to do with Poti's accuracy as it does with his tendency to either try and get too pretty the puck or to have his shots blocked because he winds up for slap shots where a simple wrister would be a better choice. So, while I don't agree that he's an inaccurate shooter, I think it's fair to say that he doesn't get the puck on net enough. While his shot totals remain that low, I have a hard time calling him "one of the best, most consistent shooting defensemen in the league". Kim Johnsson has put up similar SOG and shooting percentage totals to Poti the last few years (if you ignore Poti's horrid 01-02 campaign anyway), but I don't know that I would attach such a label to him.
I feel that Brian Rafalski is a far superior defenseman both offensively and defensively than Tom Poti. If the Devils were willing to take Poti for Rafalski I'd do it in .2 seconds. He is arguably one of my favorite players in the league.
The game had some positive signs. However, for all the positives, let's remember that Detroit was playing it's 3rd game in 4 nights, 2nd in 2 nights, and were w/o Yzerman. Still, this is a game that we loose in the previous years. The Rangers did what any normal team would do. They took advantage of the fact that they were fresh and the opposing team was tired. This is what is SUPPOSED to have happened. You are supposed to outskate a tired team. The test will come this week when they play Anaheim and Carolina. The Rangers of the near past would often break their collective arms patting each other on the shoulder after a good game only to get blown away in the next game becuase they started to think that they are better than they are. Can't take neither the 'Ducks nor the 'Canes lightly becuase both of those teams is more than capable of sticking it to us.
The special teams are like a "Tale of 2 Cities". The PK looks great and is just as much of a factor as is Dunham during this little streak. The penalties have been down for the past 2 games. That, in turn, allows players like Kasper to play more aggresive becuase they can think that even if they get nailed with a penatly for being aggresive, that the PK can still kill it. The PP, on the other hand, is abysmal. Poti has not looked bad so far, but someone has to drill it into his head that when on the PP, a quick wrister towards the net is FAR better than winding up and having your slapshot blocked. For all the credit that Sather and Renney must get for the PK, an equal amount of blame must go to them for STILL failing to grasp that you need to send people in front of the net. At least they finally started to outnumber the defenders in corners to get loose pucks.
Holik is FINALLY beginning to look like the Holik that we all known and hated when he was with the Devils. He makes that line work. Carter , while still looking lost out there, is at least seeming to pick up his intensity. Lacoutre is playing well enough defensively, but his hitting (something he is pretty good at) is largely dormant.
Again, the Messier line looks good and contributes (not just the empty-net goal). By doing the 3 things that I have been harping about (keeping his ice time manageable, playing against the bottom 2 lines and 3rd defensive pairing, and playing with grinders), Messier has been an asset. And let's face it, it has been quite a while that anyone has been able to say that with a straight face. Love the way that Matty and Simon have been handling their business. There WILL be penalties here and there, but for the most part, they have played a smart, grinding game.
Rosie is useless. He's like a hole that skates on the ice. I knwo that Lundmark is stuggling to score, but let's look at his current linemates. Rhueme won his face offs and did not do anyting else of note. One thing that Lundmark does do is play hard. He is doing the little things that are needed to be done. By replacing Lindros with Rhueme, Jackass essentially made the #2 line, the 3b line.
Kovalev eventually will score. He is doing everythign else but. Nedved is playing the way he did last year. And lets' face it, 2 goals in his 6 games translate to around 27-28 goals a year. If Kovy gets going, the line will be a force. Hlavac is trying, but is largely invisible offensively. At least he is making a defensive effort, otherwise he'd be as useless as Rosie.
Honestly, is there anything that our top 3 LW's (Hlavac, Rucinsky, Lacoutre) are doing that Keefe could not have done? Or that Moore cannot be given a shot to do?
The ADRD are still an enigma. Krispy took the first 2 periods off and woke up in time to play a physical 3rd. Maladog had ANOTHER giveaway that led to a scoring chance. Again, is there anything that these 2 are doing that eithe Purinton or Jakopin cannot do? Or even Lampman when he is back? Or Tjutin right now?
Kasper has been picking his game up slowly (like the rest of the team). He seems to be rediscovering his physical game. Poti has been pretty good and even manages a hit or 2 here and there. Still cannot manage a simple wrister. deVries has been good, IMO. Some physical play, some offensive chances. He does seem to either loose his man or get caught out of position, but for whatever the reason that has not resulted in scoring chances the other way. Bouchard has been ok. Not flashy, but not hurting us.
Big tests to see if these clowns have learned their lessons about feeling too good about themselves and taking other teams lightly this week.
let's not afford the 3 games in 4 nights excuse. The Rangers didn't get one starting the season with back-to-back road games. No Yzerman...no Lindros and Leetch.
Agree with most everything else. On the Keefe issue...never seen him play, so I can't comment. He could suck...he's not in the NHL currently, is he?
I noticed something with Mess..he mostly had manageable (time-wise) shifts. Getting the puck deep at the blue line and turning back to the bench. That's key.
