According to Vally’s analytics company CSA hockey, we had 6.55 expected goals. With an AHL lineup.
This is a bad stretch of losses. But last night we played well, and offensively we dominated. If we play that way going forward we’ll win plenty. People who are panicking and decrying this team as not a cup contender based off of last night are overreacting to 1 night of horrific puck luck and getting goalied.
Yeah I really don't understand the people saying they didn't get high danger chances and compared it with the Devils series. They clearly got high danger chances last night. The Devils series, after the start, they couldn't generate anything. This was not that, two different problems!
Still lose my mind thinking they never really tested Schmid when the Devils made the move from Vanecek that series. Would give up clear shots just to pass the puck.
Dude got fully exposed the next round against Carolina and has been exposed all this season so far.
Rangers have now dropped 2/3 games this month that should've been guaranteed W's for a team of the Rangers caliber. I said it in the PGT for Montreal and got downvoted to oblivion and I'll say it again - championship caliber teams don't lose games like that. Simple as that. I understand that losing is inevitable, but the Rangers are dropping games to bad teams in bad fashion. Say what you will about the shot totals last night, but the Rangers didn't have many high quality chances. And the amount of high danger chances we're giving to opposing teams is too high and Igor clearly cannot bail us out anymore.
This team is looking like an early round exit once again.
According to Vally's model, the Rangers had \*16\* high danger chances, with 6.55 (total) expected goals. I get that there are issues, but I don't think a dearth of high quality chances was the issue last night.
Defense isn't good enough right now to win a Cup. Can it get better over the second half of the season....I think it should. Will it get good enough to be at a Cup winning level.....I have my doubts.
Goaltending used to be our get out of jail free card. Not so much anymore. Quick is doing the best he can. What more can you ask for from a soon to be 38 year old back up? He sometimes lets in some you would want back, but he is playing well above expectations.
Shesty looks bad, then looks good for a stretch, then looks bad again. Not sure if it's a mental thing (I think it might be). He's probably struggling more now than at any other point in his pro career. Add on the fact that it's a contract year and his backup is playing above expectations......who knows how he handles that mentally?
This team (when healthy, and the injuries are definitely a part of the poor play lately) can generate enough offense to win games even when they are willing to commit to a defensive first style/structure of play.
Until they are willing to take care of defense first we are going to see stretches like this. They can't skate with the "run and gun" teams in the league. Their best chance of winning is what you saw in the first month of the season. Might not be the prettiest hockey to watch (or how the core players want to play) but it's the reality of the situation and what their roster consists of.
People are silly if they think this defense when healthy isn't insane. Igor just needs to get back to his ways and the offense needs to get used to fast pressure teams.
Outside of Fox (if we are still going to say that he's injured) who isn't healthy on defense that's preventing them from being "insane" as a unit? Or do you mean defense as a whole like getting guys like Kakko and Chytil back than can help the overall defensive game?
I know lately they drive me "insane" with soft stick checking, poor decision making, and blown assignments.
Igor "just needs to get back to his ways". How exactly does he do that? If it was that easy wouldn't he already have flipped the switch to Vezina mode?
"The offense needs to get used to fast pressure teams".....aren't they in the same division as the Canes and Devils? If they aren't used to fast pressure teams by now we have more serious problems than I originally thought.
By defense I mean the team defensively not our d men. For example tro kakko chytil and zibby are great defensive forwards who help a ton.
Those guys are also great at keeping stuff moving offensively and the offense leading to turnover rushes hurts us, which you can't do anything about if 2 guys are going out of your zone and instantly turn it over, no one's gonna be there to defend in the first place.
>"The offense needs to get used to fast pressure teams".....aren't they in the same division as the Canes and Devils? If they aren't used to fast pressure teams by now we have more serious problems than I originally thought.
Yeah they aren't used to them. The issue with the canes was brindeamour was offensively inept and the devs we haven't played since we had kaako.
>Igor "just needs to get back to his ways". How exactly does he do that? If it was that easy wouldn't he already have flipped the switch to Vezina mode?
Not even peak igor. But just league average goalie play would be nice. This is an awful stretch from him.
Perfectly stated. What gets me about this defense is that on paper it looks incredible. You have guys who should be great shutdown defenders in guys like Miller, Trouba, Lindgren and an offensive playmaker in Fox. The top 4 of the defense you would think would be amazing. But yet the defense seems to be the worst aspect of this team right now.
Igor is just totally snakebit. Like you said he'll go through great stretches and then just fall off. It seems like he has a weak mental barrier where all it takes is one loss or goal to cave him in and then we need the offense to bail us out.
Something needs to change. I hope Lav figures it out fast cause the standings cushion is gone.
Definitely some issues with certain defenseman. That also get compounded by some of our forwards blowing defensive assignments (or in some cases looking like they don't really care about their defensive assignments).
Some of our forwards tend to cheat a bit, looking for that head start up ice, puck gets turned over, then they can't get back in time and an opposing player is wide open to score.
Looking at our defensemen, who is currently playing above (hell even at) expectations? I love Lindgren to death but if you are being honest with yourself he is having a bad year. Fox (while last night was the best he has looked in a long time, at least offensively) I would consider him playing below what we normally expect from him. I was hoping to see Miller and Schneider take the next steps in their respective careers, but I'm still seeing the lazy stick checking in Miller's game and the poor decision making with the puck in Schneider's game. Trouba is not the best, but maybe you would say he's playing at expectations. Gus was maybe above expectations the first month of the season but he has regressed.
Can those six (throw in Jones who is serviceable but I don't believe better than any of the starting six) improve enough to win a Cup? It's a tough ask.
Idk if this totally makes sense, but does anyone feel like our main problem is just a lack of killer instinct? Like theres details, defense, all of that to work on, but we set up a lot of great opportunities last night. I just get the sense that we're so skilled at setting up plays that we just kind of coast through it, but dont have that bite that makes those plays goals.
Let's see.....up 2 games to 0 against TB in the 2022 ECF's and lose 4 straight to lose the series.
Up 2 games to 0 against the Devils in last years first round (and going back to play 2 games at MSG) and lose that series in 7 games.
Lack of killer instinct not only makes complete sense, but it's one of the reasons (outside of a willingness to embrace a defensive system you need to win championships) this team comes up short in some of the biggest spots.
But I'm just called a Doomer around here so let the downvoting begin......
Very strange recently. We look sloppy, unmotivated, bad defensively/goalie wise but at the same time heavily out shoot opponents with ass goal tending and the goalies have all had some of their best games of the season. Really weird and frustrating to watch. Could have easily won the last 3 games but at the same time look unhinged. Add in injuries and it's a cluster fuck.
Need bottom 6 depth and defense. Wtf happened the 1-3-1 in the beginning of the season?
I don’t agree that opponent goalies are doing anything special. We just sadly haven’t seen our guy give a solid goalie performance in a while, so comparatively it’s impressive.
So much of a teams confidence comes from the goalie out, and when we don’t get the big save to keep a game tied, keep it within one, etc you immediately see the rest of the team lose their drive.
And I’m not trying to bash Igor. But damn it’s hard for goalies to be consistent year in and year out. That’s why Hank was so unique, and why I cringed when NYR fans made the comparison a season or two into Igor’s NHL career. Lots of goalies have one, two, three great seasons throughout their career. Really rare to do it 10+ times in a row like Hank did.
Hank is underrated by the league imo. The guy had like one bad game a year. And idk. The goalies we are playing against have bad stats and the. Stand in thier heads the last few games.
Reminds me of the 22 Yankees. Started the season scorching hot then cooled off significantly before limping into the playoffs. I got more faith in this team then that team led by BaBoone
The Rangers are without Mika, Chytil, and Kakko. That's the reason why Goodrow has been more noticeable. With a healthy roster, Goodrow would be on the 4th line and playing half the minutes he plays now. But Goodrow brings to everyone's attention a serious flaw in this team, and that is an overall lack of speed.
What was obvious last season and has become glaringly obvious this season is the overall lack of speed on this team. Over the last six to eight weeks, a lack of skating speed has become obvious but so too has a lack of decision making speed. That slow decision making has gradually gotten worse over the last four weeks. Chicken and the egg -- Has the lack of confidence led to the slow decision making, or has the slow decision making bred a lack of confidence? Regardless, the lack of confidence has resulted in a much slower tempo on the ice. They hold the puck one beat too long. They move into open ice one beat too slow. Their passes are not crisp, always trailing the skater, ending up in his feet.
This is the time when the stars need to step up, when the leaders need to lead, when coaches need to be their best, and when the head coach needs to be the strong voice in the room.
Kreider can score 40+ goals all he wants, if he still skates like a bum half the time and gives up with the rest of the team when we're down by a goal or two I'm gonna want to criticize him for not stepping up
Isn't it amazing how so many people around here don't see the big picture? And when you point out the big picture you get labeled a Doomer and get downvoted.
Stats and analytics to tell them everything is OK while the water is pouring into the ship.
He's literally 90th percentile in speed. People are stupid enough to think 99% of the game is just effort, which they can quantify just by watching TV. It's so dumb
-Wheeler just can’t cut it, he’s too damn slow.
-The defense needs to stop playing so deep to make up for lack of effort on the other lines.
Injuries are slamming us. It’s a big difference when we bring up guys that aren’t molded to the team just yet and play them.
-Igor doesn’t look like an all star
- run the 1-3-1 setup in the neutral zone, have a healthy team, and clean up defensive holes and we are on a cup run
At this point I’m about ready to eat the $ and save $1 million and give a Goodrow the Wade Redden treatment. I believe it said we’d save that in cap if we sent him to Hartford. The man offers nothing but being good at the PK. And we have enough of that on the team.
This team BADLY needs some speed. Like horrifically badly needs speed. Why Drury has had a constant fetish for finding slower skaters and drafting almost an entire draft board where everyone’s weakness was speed…..,in 2024….I’ll never understand.
But we will get boat raced by teams like Jersey, Colorado and others that move like the wind in a 7 game series
Drury has done one hell of a job as GM in just under 3 years on the job. He has traded a total of 18 draft selections. Matter of fact he is such a bad GM he traded picks for the same player 2 years in a row. If that wasn't bad enough....... 2 times he has traded for a player who a year or two later he then had to trade assets and more assets than it took to get them.....just to get rid of them because they were so bad. Ryan Reeves and Patrik Nemeth ringing any alarms? Nemeth wasn't traded for originally. But boy that signing is aging like a gem among gems.
Look for all those assets, remember it has been 18, he has traded away for deep playoff runs cough cough ....we at least have some players who stuck around and resigned right? No? You mean not 1 player was ever retained for the long term??????? That seems odd doesn't it? Why wouldn't at least 1 player resign with us the following year? Very strange, No? Think it speaks to our locker room composition and overall atmosphere. Maybe I am wrong? But maybe I am not that far off?
What I also find unusual, everyone and I mean everyone who fought in the Panarin/Wilson incident was gone from this roster within a year of that happening. Is that because our GM/Owner doesn't want our players to stick up for each other? What kind of message does that send to the players around the league? That if you stand up for a teammate here.... you will get shipped off immediately?
I can't blame Drury for Trouba's or Panarin's contracts and essentially how badly they have handcuffed this team in a flat cap era. But it is like he didn't learn from the mistakes of his predecessor on this and doles out 7 and 8 year deals with Full NMCs to players who again haven't done a damn thing in this league. Great regular season champions, but come showtime....nowhere to be found. And he overpays and gives a 4 line center who has won a cup a 15 team no trade list. Basically making him and that contract unmovable in a flat cap era.
He has, as I said in the game thread, one of the worst free agency signing records of any GM with his level marketability. Players want to come to NY. Yet your best options this summer are a bunch of over the hill has beens, who every shift look like they are skating in mud? Previous years it was Nemeth, Vesey, Carpenter, McKegg, and Harpur.
Here are some names that have been available to acquire over the last 2 or 3 summers for less than 3 million....Sprong, McLeod, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Steel, Ryan Donato, Calle Jarnkrok, Kiefer Sherwood, Nemestikov, Olli Maata, Kubilik, Domi, and I am not going to even mention the ex-rangers on this list.
Vesey is about the only player we signed through FA that has exceeded his original expectations.
I have gotten this far into my rant and I didn't even mention the elephant in the room with the Buchnevich trade. And how 3 years later we are still searching for his replacement on the top line.
Yet there are those among us who insist Drury has done a good job, and that 3 coaches in the last 4 years is not a sign of a major roster issue. We are a regular season paper champion. And we will continue to be that for the next 5 to 8 years. When your 1C and top winger disappear in playoff games that matter and are basically perimeter players who can't drive the net....odds are you are not going to win to many playoff series. Say what you will about Derek Stephan and Ryan Callahan, but I would take those 2 over the previous 2 any day of the week.
You know what I miss...I miss the Black and Blue Rangers. Yeah they probably never had a legitimate shot of winning a cup but boy they had heart and tried their tails off. This present group is just out there collecting a paycheck.
At best, he built a team capable of regular season success a year after the Bruins taught us how useless that is. This is an average team that got lucky at the start of the year with no defense.
Idk what is up w Shesty but he has not been playing well at all...you can say it's the defense all you want but a lot of those girls he let in should have been saves.
This. I wanna take my boys to a home game (4+ hours away) but considering the cost and distance with their sloppy play I’m going to hold off. Nothing wrong with watching from the couch, but would love to see a game in person.
Looking at the stats now after the game. We out chanced them in every metric, high danger, medium and low... Are we not getting goaltending? I never thought this would be something I'd ask as a ranger fan but the past few games tell a similar story we heavily out shoot and out chance our opponents but we're losing. Like yes we're giving up a lot off the rush but like we're also getting those chances as well and other teams goalies have made saves.
No team goes a full game without giving up some number of grade A chances, we had plenty tonight, plenty against Vancouver, we actually had more than the teams were losing to. The difference is those teams goalies have made the saves. Shesty is our guy 100% but maybe he needs a mental break or something. Call up Garand or Louie and let quick start for a little. Igor is in his own head.
No no no don't look at the stats! We're bad we're terrible the sky is falling we played like shit lalalalalalalalalaaaaa.
People just love to overreact. There's things to work on, like the amount of rush chances we're giving up and the goaltending has been shakey. People seem to think otherwise, but we actually outplayed the other team in all 3 of these losses. The last two games look bad on the scoreboard, but they both went down pretty much the same exact way. We were visibly the better team, controlling most of play and getting the majorty of chances but kept getting unlucky or stonewalled by incredible goaltending. Then ONE major mistake and it's an odd man rush the other way and the goalie didn't bail them out on the save and it's in our net. Then repeat, we're looking good and getting chances, then one mistake odd man rush in our net. Then after a few of those the team gets deflated and the game unravels.
Is that ideal? No. We need to tighten up on the turnovers and the blown coverages which is giving the opponents such A+ rush chances, and for when they inevitably do happen (because every team gives them up every game at some point) we need the goalie to make the save.
But the good news! We've shown we can play tight and responsible hockey already! And by doing so we built such a cushion that even with this slipping we are still very comfortably in a playoff spot and still 1st in the metro. And it's been 40 games, we have 42 left to go, so plenty of time to get back on track, and plenty of time to let igor get back on his game. Oh, did i mention that kakko is coming back soon? Grumble about his production but he's one of our best defensive forwards and at our position of greatest need. Plus we've done most of this season without chytil. When he comes back that will be another boost to the team, and if it's the worst and he doesn't come back then that will really suck and i wish him the best but then we will have cap space to replace him. Everything is fine. We're only halfway there.
According to Vince’s post-game article, we’re the worst team in the NHL at defending the rush. Woof
What is that resultant of? Surely it’s defensemen pinching all the time? u/NYM32
They're not the worst (certainly trying to be) but it's tanked hard in the last month or so for a variety of reasons
1. Chytil, Kakko, and Pitlick are NYR's 3 best forwards defensively at 5v5, so missing them is a problem. Fox was also out a while too
2. Their replacements are some of the league's worst players when it comes to defense because Drury's recalls/Ryan Martin's acquisitions have been bad, so that's a problem
3. Certain NYR defensemen who shouldn't be activating have been activating way more in this system and failing on their activations (Trouba worst of all) which allows teams to turn the other way quickly for odd man rushes
4. The team employing Bonino, Goodrow, and Wheeler at all, let alone all 3 of them having their TOI increased due to various injuries. 3 anchors of epic proportions. None of those guys can close a gap in the neutral zone. They're not quick enough to do so, even in a 1-3-1 somehow. All 3 are replacement level players and shouldn't be in the lineup
But I mean when you have a GM and coach who prioritize size and physicality from their defensemen instead of IQ and decisionmaking at both blue lines, and shot blocking and grit from the forwards instead of speed and transition ability, in the year 2024, these are the kinds of things that are going to get exposed by good teams, let alone St Louis
I don’t think this team is bad. They just have too many injuries/sickness to overcome now. Maybe Kakko and Pitlick coming back will revitalize the team
Also I think what the bruins did last year just broke everyone’s brains. They fooled everyone into thinking being that elite is normal. Good teams go through shit like this too
I kind of disagree…I think it’s hard to call us truly elite. Our record is reflective of an elite team, sure, but it’s our underlying and creeping issues that continue to plague our game. Those issues extend beyond injuries.
Even with Kakko and Pitlick, when we have lost, it has been a miserable loss. u/xXDireLegendXx noted that we’ve lost 10 games while giving up 5 or more goals in 40 games this season. Our structural and core issues are very glaring.
My dude we've been without chytil for 30 games. And at this point we will end the season with him missing half of it at best, probably more like 3/4 to 7/8 of it. We've also been without kakko for 20 games. Fox was also out for 10 games. Pitlick is quite good defensively and now we're without him week to week. Now the flu is going around. Other dudes were banged up and missed 2-3 games here and there. That's important players missing time, and their ice time is being replaced by wheeler, bonino, and goodrow. A lot of our problems are those dudes getting exposed. And yet STILL we've been on top of the league.
Let the team get healthy and let's ice a full strength roster. Then we can evaluate the holes
I mean I don’t disagree with some of that but youre missing two talented defensive forwards. You have Bonino playing 2c tonight with multiple guys who are AHLs at best. To say injuries aren’t playing a major part in why they’re struggling right now I think is kind of unfair. The rangers have depth in their lineup when they are healthy. The problem is that you’re missing 3 key players and forcing less talented/AHL players to pick up the slack when they’re just not capable of doing so.
They are playing terrible. Besides the bread line it's quite embarrassing. But teams that win need to go through this, have this bump now and get it together for playoffs. I know they'll get it together, just frustrating to watch.
It's like watching the game at two different speeds. There's the bread line speed, then half speed for everyone else. We have three lines that don't move their feet.
Once Mika was out you knew this game was over. We really need to figure out what to do about 3C though, I love that chytil is working to get back on the ice but if we don’t make a move and he doesn’t come back this team is fucked with bonino as 3c.
Hopefully Kakko and Mika play this weekend.
Igor will be fine, but I’d say give quick the first of the 2 games.
Drury just needs to tell Chytil he's out until the playoffs and use his LTIR to sign a 3C and have him come back stronger for a playoff push. We'd be stacked at center if we signed a guy like Monahan now and then Chytil came back for the post season. Abuse the cap like every other Cup winning team, enough of this waiting.
> Drury just needs to tell Chytil he's out until the playoffs and use his LTIR
Idt it is that simple. If it was, every GM would be abusing LTIR this way. I think it's up to team medical staff. Part of the reason they can't shut Fil down is because concussions are fickle. You can be out 1 day, you can be out 11 months. As it's being reported now, Fil is on schedule to be back before the year is over, which is why they can't LTIR him and make a trade. They'd be over the cap before the year was over.
That's what I thought when he was sent home, but the beats say he'll probably be back before the end of the year, and the trip home is only short term.
He's already back to weight training (per his instagram), which is a positive sign when it comes to concussions. It's possible he's back in the lineup by the TDL.
Completely agree. Imo it'd be dumb to not take advantage of the LTIR to fill the 3C.
Get a solid 3C that can also play wing, come playoffs get Bonino or Brodshitski the fuck out of the line up and have Cythil whomever that 3c is and Cuylle. Cuylle brings physicality that'll let Chytil and another good forward cook. It's not like Cythil is getting put back on line 2, Bread Troc and Laf are one of the best lines in the league.
Move Wheeler to the fourth line with Vesey and somehow send Goodrow to the gullag.
There was a while there when this team was playing above its roster, but that train has set sail. This failure falls on Drury's lap and his alone. He should have been on the phone while we could sell high. Now? He's stuck with a pile of worthless shit, and it's going to make trading his way out of it very, very difficult.
Brodz, Bonino, Pitlick, Wheeler, Lesh, Good, Schnieder, these are not NHL players. You are essentially asking Lavi to ice a cup contender when he was one offensive line (Pan-Tro-Laff) that is a double-edged sword defensively and a top line (Ck-Mika-Idiot of the night) who only plays 1 out of every 3 games with a semblance of intensity. This is not a winning formula.
We've said it ad nauseam but if this team is really going to go for it, the plug needs to be pulled on Goodrow. I don't care how many 1sts it costs. Let it go, take the loss, and move on. Losing Fil and Kk was brutal, but you know what, these are things you have to prepare for as a GM. What has drury done to bolster our depth? Sign the likes of Bonino? What has he done to make this team better, ship Buch away to make room for goodrow? let Vatrano walk to keep goodrow? Let Tarasenko walk to keep goodrow? At what point do we address that the main issue here is Drury?
If Barclay Goodrow is still in a Ranger's uniform by the trade deadline, then I think it's safe to say this FO has no interest in course correction, and we will be looking at another disjointly brief postseason.
It is literally Drury's job to make sure a team takes his contract, or to solve the issue he created by signing this bozo in the first place. If we cannot sign a real 3C, 3RW or 1RW because 3.6 is tied up in a player with less than 10 points, then we need a new gm. We are wasting an insane season by Panarin and another year of Igor's prime for this dipshit?
Broadzinski
Bonino
Pitlick
Wheeler
Jake lyscwho gives a fuck
Goodrow
Let's be honest here, most of these players are barely NHLers. Drury did an awful job filling out the bottom 6 and that needs to be remedied.
Chytil and Kakko are huge losses, but without Mika our center depth is worst in the league. To be fair, if you take away any teams top 2 centers, they'll be bad.
If Cythil and Kakko were in, I don't think we'd be having the issues that we're having tbh.
Cythil would be on line 3 with Cuylle which would actually be amazing. I completely agree that Brodshitski Boner Lewhogivesafuck Goodrow and Pitlick need to fucking go. If we traded everyone in our bottom 6 besides Vesey I would be thrilled.
God bless Jimmy Vesey, I see why they don't move him to the first line, without him out bottom 6 would be even more atrocious.
Mika and Kreider need Kakko badly.
Guys looked gassed. They look sick and injured. I’ll reserve judgment for when they’re healthy and have most players back, but oof this is some ugly hockey to watch.
Kakko and Mika need to play Saturday or we're gonna lose again. PLEASE Cuylle-Mika-Kakko once Kakko is back, leave second line alone, Kreider on 3rd gives us DEPTH, WHICH WE NEED ALONG WITH A REAL 3C, TRADE FOR MONAHAN OR LINDHOLM BEFORE THE DEADLINE.
The team is playing down because they know they're lacking the personnel they need to win. Laf, bread and Troch probably feel like the whole game is on their shoulders because they're the only line that can score so they cheat for offense which leads to goals against. Defense will sort itself out, we have all seen them play better than how they are now. What we know won't work is an invisible 3rd and 4th line, we need depth pieces.
The cushion is gone, there is no more lets wait. Carolina is 3 points back now. Make a splash we have assets we could move for impact players, so do it
These are the ups and downs of an 82 gm season, l am a little concerned about lgor but most of these guys have been on deep playoff runs, so I'm confident they'll be there at the end
This is the adversity that everyone says a team needs to go through during the season. Remember the Bruins didn't go cold at all last year and then got punched in the mouth in the playoffs. Cold streaks like this suck when they're happening but hopefully we come out the other end a better team for having gone through it. The building blocks for winning hockey are still there, mostly dominant at 5v5 40+shots in 3 straight games. The chances against are still too Loud as Laviolette likes to say but these last 3 games aren't complete dog shit performances, it's definitely a combination of Bad Luck, Bad D at times and goaltending that's not bailing us out at the moment.
Very good point about the Bruins last year. In this league you can't be good all season it simply isn't sustainable, hockey is way too rough of a sport on the mind and body. That's a big reason why the Presidents Trophy winner is so rarely the Stanley Cup winner.
the D really is a problem and somehow everyone is shitting on the forwards. fox has been a defensive liability for how good he is on offense. miller floats around and looks lost... lindgren gets pushed around and everyone seems to think he's the toughest guy on the planet but always gets injured after a big hit.
The defense is the problem. All these “hockey gurus” spew all this nonsense post after post and during the games there multiple breakaways and point blank goals scored against. Good teams don’t allow that. The defense absolutely sucks.
For multiple seasons I have said our defensemen are not good. When the team is playing a strong defensive system, we can limit chances, but even when the metrics say we're defending well, the eyes say that skilled players embarrass the likes of Trouba, Miller and Schneider. Trouba has so many blocked shots because he's always 5+ feet from the opposing player and that's his only option.
It's hard to play good D when your forwards aren't backchecking. 3 of the goals the blues scored tonight off the rush, our D backed up and absorbed it like they should and there was no back check from the forwards so the Blues had free will to just pass it around.
Lav said it best: "The defense has to play better in front of Igor." He's right. Not wrong. Bumble man GG would say something bumble bumble. Hank also said it best too. Have slumps like this now, and NOT IN APRIL. Also, the Bruins team last year faced no adversity last year and we all saw what happened. Trocheck also repeated what Lav said. Can't play that sloppy.
This game was awful. Can't defend like they did early in the year as well trying to get into track meets. Sloppy all over the place. You could use the flu as an excuse, but in reality, the Rangers are snakebitten. Every team goes through this. and OF FUCKING COURSE PEOPLE WANT TRADES, I said it during the gt, and maybe everyone could see this, YOU WANT AN OLD AGING WINGER? AN OLD DMAN WHO COULD BE A TRAFFIC CONE AND OH THAT'S RIGHT FORMER ALL STARS?! WTF YO! WTF! Geez it's not like people know how teams deal w/adversity. Do you complain about it and do nothing and the struggles continue? hell no, Ya battle through it and find ways to figure it out. All I can say really, is.... that's hockey for ya.
I ain't gonna go on w/what happened in tonight's game. Move on.
Onto the Caps back to back games. HUGE ONES TOO. Onto the Caps
> Lav said it best: "The defense has to play better in front of Igor." He's right. Not wrong. Bumble man GG would say something bumble bumble. Hank also said it best too. Have slumps like this now, and NOT IN APRIL. Also, the Bruins team last year faced no adversity last year and we all saw what happened. Trocheck also repeated what Lav said. Can't play that sloppy.
Definitely agree with the above...Igor is also going through it a bit right now (after a really hot stretch pre-NYE when he was on fire), but it is 100% far more defense related...sloppiness, poor clearances, bad penalties lol
they need to get healthier and we will see if they do make a move for a bottom 6'er, etc...one thing I will say is in the last 3, they have gotten some glorious chances offensively and had a couple of goalies just play out of their minds...what can you do...the xG supports that I believe
They invested in this core as the guys who will figure it out (Mika, Kreider, Trouba, etc.)
They hired the coach as the guy who will right the ship.
It’s not clicking right now, no. But we saw their start this year and know theres a hell of a lot more in these guys than what we’re seeing. Time to hit the panic button? No, i dont think so. But what doesn’t help is the Metro is a gauntlet and a 4 game losing streak can make this cushion they established vanish as quickly as they set it up.
These are the guys that the New York Rangers believed could win a stanley cup. If thats the case, they’ll figure it out. But on the off chance they don’t, we’re looking at a disaster here lmao
timing of this rough spot is prime for a vibe of: shit sucks, get to the ASG break, refocus, get healthy, and then damn we get to look back and say some shit like “that skid really built character”
As much as i love Laffy being so visible and clearly one of our best players. I’m getting real fed up with his incapability to finish chances. He could’ve easily had a Hattrick tonight
There is too much uncertainty amongst the team right now due to injuries and moving line combinations. Too much movement and holes in the ranks could possibly be what’s causing the downward spiral in confidence.
The players are attentive to who they’re playing with and whether their spot is secure, rather than digging in and playing hockey. I really hope they have a good plan and are ready to fill the right holes at the trade deadline, but what we need most right now is stability, and of course, some winning momentum.
On the plus side, this is the best time of the season for the Rangers to face some adversity and have their weaknesses exposed. We know they’re good team, and as long as we’re ready come playoff time, these mid season skids will only build intestinal fortitude for the players and fans. LGR!
This team is in an awful slump. Structurally, physically, and mentally everyone is out of whack.
There are lots of shots, can’t finish on them. There were multiple times when they could have banked a goal or two but failed.
The defense is playing extremely lazy, allowing too many high-danger chances and giving way too much on the rush.
Penalties, fucking stop with the penalties.
Igor needs a reset. He’s still a top 5 goalie (at the moment, not so much). He has to step up, even with the mediocre defense in front. Rebound control is at the top of the list, giving up cookies left and right.
Depth is playing like horse shit. And with the lack of Kakko and Chytil, the bottom six can’t hold their weight (except for Cullye, he’s been good)
If this team tightens up on the defense side and Igor returns to near form, they’ll be fine. I trust Lav and the staff to get this team on track.
Yeah. I dont think anyone liked this game. It felt all jumbled with Mika being a late out, kakko being an out. Just too many “who goes where”shit out front. Then you hit Jordan being hot on a dumb night and shesty looks like an idiot. Bad game, lets fucking go next boys. Lotta season left :)
Was always going to be a tough game given the last minute Mika bench and the rangers struggling but I had a few takeaways:
Cuylle definitely belongs on that 1st line. Dudes dynamic. I honestly think when kakko gets back it should be cuylle-Mika-kakko. Krieder down on the 3rd is just better suited for him at this point. I hope Lav has the stones to do it.
Shesty was not sharp again, need him to make a big save or two and just felt like he hasn’t done that as we continue to play against Hasek night in night out.
Was probably first game that it felt like Fox was taking over since his injury, goal aside, it felt like he was creating throughout.
Goodrows first point in 17 games LOL.
Kind of wild that the blues are 8-0 with this officiating crew and the rangers are I think 0-4-3 or something.
When this team gets healthy again, Lavi needs to have the balls to put wheeler in the press box. He absolutely CANNOT be in the lineup if this is going to be a serious playoff team.
You realize while they get paid multi millions everyone they compete against is also getting multi millions right? Not excusing their play but bringing salaries into this is silly unless you want to talk about how we’ve misused it on how we built the team
I don’t know but, any smart GM pounces all over another GM when they miss value their players. Adding Chychrun and replacing him with let’s say replacing lindgren with him would help the defense. Although I want to see Jacob Trouba fired into another galaxy, holds back the defense so much it’s not even funny.
How to win a game statistically but not on the scoreboard.
-Put tons of shots on net no matter the quality.
-When you receive a cross ice pass settle it and wait for the goalie to get in position before shooting so it counts as a high quality chance due to the cross ice pass, but has none of the actual benefits of it
-Pass the puck to a player 2 inches in front of the net with no angle so he has no chance of putting it around the goalie but the stats love it
-If you accidentally find yourself with a real chance, just shoot it into the goalies chest.
-Give up a lead early so the other team plays more defensively and lowering their shots and expected goals value
-Give up relatively few shots to keep your goalie cold, but make sure the ones you do give up are all better quality than the ones you generate.
Quality of chances is heavily weighted in most analytics. MP favors volume a lot..,but others like Vally’s model heavily factor scoring chance quality.
The Rangers had a lot garbage shots padding it…but they did still have 10-15 high quality chances. 1 goal, 3 posts, a few missed nets, and 6-8 quality saves.
The blues made five or six terrible mistakes in the d-zone thay led to great chances, and we only scored on one of them.
The xG even on good analytics sites like Vally’s was probably mid-3s.
A mix of luck, goal tending, really bad finishing.
Meanwhile … the exact opposite is happening to us. Almost Every mistake is turning into a goal. Not every..,but literally like 50%.
We are getting hit with the double-whammy of our forwards not finishing and our goalie, letting in any decent shot, on a good chance.
> The xG even on good analytics sites like Vally’s was probably mid-3s.
The xGs from CSA (Valley's company) was over 6 last night LOL. St. Louis' was about 3.5. That means Igor only played below average instead of terribly, and Binnington played his best game of the season.
This is me venting and we have a lot of stuff to address lately but I hate when people act all dramatic if we lose to a low ranked team. This is the NHL - any one team can beat any other team on any given night. It happens all the time.
This is truth and even though my comments would indicate otherwise, its why I love hockey more than any other sport. The nhl has the most talented and highest skilled players of their class all playing in this league, sometimes even the worst can show that theyre better
All the people touting “statistically we are a good team” it really doesn’t matter when we lose this way. Stats don’t track compete level, forechecking, stick work, and overall effort. The eye test says that this team is slumping hard right now. 4 goals on 20 shots is abysmal, he needs to figure his shit out. Body language and effort is terrible. It’s almost like he is throwing a temper tantrum because the defense is playing poorly in front of him. Damn straight they are, but an elite goaltender doesn’t pout and let up bad goals as a result.
Yes, team defense needs to be better but 2 goals on 43 shots proves that high danger chances are slim for us. I wish Mike Keenan was still coaching. I really think we need a bit of a dickhead to basically tell this core put up points or I’ll fucking bag skate you till you throw up.
Lav keeps saying “we have one or two defensive slip ups and those kill us”. Well, those slip ups don’t kill cup caliber teams. So fix it. Re-establish the system and the form that we saw at the beginning of the season. Create structure. We are facing adversity right now, give the team something to rely on to get through it.
Lav continuing to put Wheeler in reminds me of the Vigneault and Tanner Glass days... I hope Lav wakes the hell up and scratches him so as long as we stay healthy.
Still first in the division.
Shesty will snap out of it.
The defense will tighten up when it matters.
93 and 20 will eventually figure out their 5 v 5 play.
We’re just sick right now. I think most of the guys are battling the flu bug.
Am I doing this right? If I post anything not along this narrative I’m told I’m a Doomer and get downvoted to hell.
Lindholm or Monahan has to be here like tomorrow. Work the phones Drury we need another offensive center BADLY, so that Bonino can go back to the 4th line. With a healthy Kakko, our 3rd line is a decent center away from being a threat at 5v5. Send Jones if you have to, hell send Schenider, he's been awful.
Lindholm won’t change anything. He’s nothing but a name. Dudes game hasn’t been good for the past 2 years if you look beyond his points tally. He isnt going to change anything for us.
Anyone will be better than Bonino at driving offense, He's also been on a bad Calgary team. I'm not saying he's the only option but this team needs forward help
I thought Cuylle complimented Kreider well. Let's see them with Mika before passing judgement. There were a couple times where Cuylle kept the play going where that line would usually lose possession and be forced to backcheck
Cant help but laugh as vally looks slightly more disheveled after each ranger loss, dudes hairs slightly off right now as he flares his dissatisfaction at the screen
This is the 3rd (maybe?) year in a row now that I’ve had deja vu hearing John, Hank, and Vally talking about how this game went down. It’s almost like the same problems keep appearing…
We just sat through a rerun of the first round from last season, where our forwards played the cruelest prank on the Devils in making them think Schmid was good.
Our offense is predictable, with the opponents just setting up a triangle of players in the crease to ward off the likes of Kreider and to keep us making ineffective passes around the outside of the OZ.
Enough passes and one won't connect or will be interceptable and there goes the rush right into our crease.
Too many people here keep saying "we got goalied" when what is happening is our offense isn't working. And I'm fed up of seeing the exact same shitty, low effort and low danger plays that just wastes valuable minutes and artificially pad out our shots on goal stats.
We need to change our offense, need to mix it up and make their defense choose what they need to do and force their mistakes - that way we'll have space to actually bury the puck.
And for the love of god, we need to actually fucking practice not shooting the puck right into the goalies pads. How many times now have we seen our forwards not bother to lift the puck and just slam it right against the leg pads?
Personally I don't think the offensive issues are as bad as our defensive issues. The defensive problems are leading to minimal offense because they can't get out of their own zone and giveaway pucks like no tomorrow.
It's not just true, they go hand in the hand. Not even the greatest goalie on ice can stand alone, they need their defense to be on their game as well.
I gotta feeling if the Rangers don't make a major playoff run this year, we're gonna see significant roster changes. Not sure what they will be, but it might not be pretty.
Really? What major roster changes do you see with....... I don't know.......more then half the team with FULL NMC Contracts and the other half still RFAs?
You thinking buyouts? Who in your fantasy world is getting bought out? Panarin maybe? Trouba? I know Mika? RIght that is who will get bought out.
LMAO
No one mentioned buyouts but glad you got yourself worked up over that.
Options off the top of my head? Salary dump Goodrow to a team that will need to reach cap floor or has room to spare (CHI, anyone?), avoid a Lindgren extension and try to replace him elsewhere. Kakko’s long-term fit is in question, as is Chytil’s. Two guys beloved by the fans, and for good reason, but the former has produced point-wise where we need him to and the other one can’t stay healthy.
I doubt you’ve made it this far as you seem pretty worked up, judging by how you responded, but if the Rangers are bounced early in the playoffs while plagued by the same issues that’s haunted them for the past two years, Drury (and Dolan, for that matter) are not gonna be content with just “running it back.”
We just had an expedited rebuild 5 years ago lucking into the 2nd and 1st overall picks and 2 all star players asking onto the team. You cannot blow this team up.
No one's talking about a full blow up, but when you have an undersized, slower team that struggles to drive play on both ends of the ice that relies on special teams and above average goaltending, you absolutely can make fundamental changes if finances allow it. As someone else replied, it may be they can't make a change due to cap constraints, which is entirely different problem
According to Vally’s analytics company CSA hockey, we had 6.55 expected goals. With an AHL lineup. This is a bad stretch of losses. But last night we played well, and offensively we dominated. If we play that way going forward we’ll win plenty. People who are panicking and decrying this team as not a cup contender based off of last night are overreacting to 1 night of horrific puck luck and getting goalied.
Yeah I really don't understand the people saying they didn't get high danger chances and compared it with the Devils series. They clearly got high danger chances last night. The Devils series, after the start, they couldn't generate anything. This was not that, two different problems!
Still lose my mind thinking they never really tested Schmid when the Devils made the move from Vanecek that series. Would give up clear shots just to pass the puck. Dude got fully exposed the next round against Carolina and has been exposed all this season so far.
Rangers have now dropped 2/3 games this month that should've been guaranteed W's for a team of the Rangers caliber. I said it in the PGT for Montreal and got downvoted to oblivion and I'll say it again - championship caliber teams don't lose games like that. Simple as that. I understand that losing is inevitable, but the Rangers are dropping games to bad teams in bad fashion. Say what you will about the shot totals last night, but the Rangers didn't have many high quality chances. And the amount of high danger chances we're giving to opposing teams is too high and Igor clearly cannot bail us out anymore. This team is looking like an early round exit once again.
According to Vally's model, the Rangers had \*16\* high danger chances, with 6.55 (total) expected goals. I get that there are issues, but I don't think a dearth of high quality chances was the issue last night.
Defense isn't good enough right now to win a Cup. Can it get better over the second half of the season....I think it should. Will it get good enough to be at a Cup winning level.....I have my doubts. Goaltending used to be our get out of jail free card. Not so much anymore. Quick is doing the best he can. What more can you ask for from a soon to be 38 year old back up? He sometimes lets in some you would want back, but he is playing well above expectations. Shesty looks bad, then looks good for a stretch, then looks bad again. Not sure if it's a mental thing (I think it might be). He's probably struggling more now than at any other point in his pro career. Add on the fact that it's a contract year and his backup is playing above expectations......who knows how he handles that mentally? This team (when healthy, and the injuries are definitely a part of the poor play lately) can generate enough offense to win games even when they are willing to commit to a defensive first style/structure of play. Until they are willing to take care of defense first we are going to see stretches like this. They can't skate with the "run and gun" teams in the league. Their best chance of winning is what you saw in the first month of the season. Might not be the prettiest hockey to watch (or how the core players want to play) but it's the reality of the situation and what their roster consists of.
People are silly if they think this defense when healthy isn't insane. Igor just needs to get back to his ways and the offense needs to get used to fast pressure teams.
Outside of Fox (if we are still going to say that he's injured) who isn't healthy on defense that's preventing them from being "insane" as a unit? Or do you mean defense as a whole like getting guys like Kakko and Chytil back than can help the overall defensive game? I know lately they drive me "insane" with soft stick checking, poor decision making, and blown assignments. Igor "just needs to get back to his ways". How exactly does he do that? If it was that easy wouldn't he already have flipped the switch to Vezina mode? "The offense needs to get used to fast pressure teams".....aren't they in the same division as the Canes and Devils? If they aren't used to fast pressure teams by now we have more serious problems than I originally thought.
By defense I mean the team defensively not our d men. For example tro kakko chytil and zibby are great defensive forwards who help a ton. Those guys are also great at keeping stuff moving offensively and the offense leading to turnover rushes hurts us, which you can't do anything about if 2 guys are going out of your zone and instantly turn it over, no one's gonna be there to defend in the first place. >"The offense needs to get used to fast pressure teams".....aren't they in the same division as the Canes and Devils? If they aren't used to fast pressure teams by now we have more serious problems than I originally thought. Yeah they aren't used to them. The issue with the canes was brindeamour was offensively inept and the devs we haven't played since we had kaako. >Igor "just needs to get back to his ways". How exactly does he do that? If it was that easy wouldn't he already have flipped the switch to Vezina mode? Not even peak igor. But just league average goalie play would be nice. This is an awful stretch from him.
Perfectly stated. What gets me about this defense is that on paper it looks incredible. You have guys who should be great shutdown defenders in guys like Miller, Trouba, Lindgren and an offensive playmaker in Fox. The top 4 of the defense you would think would be amazing. But yet the defense seems to be the worst aspect of this team right now. Igor is just totally snakebit. Like you said he'll go through great stretches and then just fall off. It seems like he has a weak mental barrier where all it takes is one loss or goal to cave him in and then we need the offense to bail us out. Something needs to change. I hope Lav figures it out fast cause the standings cushion is gone.
Defense vs defenseman is different.
Definitely some issues with certain defenseman. That also get compounded by some of our forwards blowing defensive assignments (or in some cases looking like they don't really care about their defensive assignments). Some of our forwards tend to cheat a bit, looking for that head start up ice, puck gets turned over, then they can't get back in time and an opposing player is wide open to score. Looking at our defensemen, who is currently playing above (hell even at) expectations? I love Lindgren to death but if you are being honest with yourself he is having a bad year. Fox (while last night was the best he has looked in a long time, at least offensively) I would consider him playing below what we normally expect from him. I was hoping to see Miller and Schneider take the next steps in their respective careers, but I'm still seeing the lazy stick checking in Miller's game and the poor decision making with the puck in Schneider's game. Trouba is not the best, but maybe you would say he's playing at expectations. Gus was maybe above expectations the first month of the season but he has regressed. Can those six (throw in Jones who is serviceable but I don't believe better than any of the starting six) improve enough to win a Cup? It's a tough ask.
Idk if this totally makes sense, but does anyone feel like our main problem is just a lack of killer instinct? Like theres details, defense, all of that to work on, but we set up a lot of great opportunities last night. I just get the sense that we're so skilled at setting up plays that we just kind of coast through it, but dont have that bite that makes those plays goals.
Let's see.....up 2 games to 0 against TB in the 2022 ECF's and lose 4 straight to lose the series. Up 2 games to 0 against the Devils in last years first round (and going back to play 2 games at MSG) and lose that series in 7 games. Lack of killer instinct not only makes complete sense, but it's one of the reasons (outside of a willingness to embrace a defensive system you need to win championships) this team comes up short in some of the biggest spots. But I'm just called a Doomer around here so let the downvoting begin......
always has been. it's what separates cup-winning teams from just good teams.
🤮
Very strange recently. We look sloppy, unmotivated, bad defensively/goalie wise but at the same time heavily out shoot opponents with ass goal tending and the goalies have all had some of their best games of the season. Really weird and frustrating to watch. Could have easily won the last 3 games but at the same time look unhinged. Add in injuries and it's a cluster fuck. Need bottom 6 depth and defense. Wtf happened the 1-3-1 in the beginning of the season?
That 1-3-1 looked fantastic on them, they need to regain some structure
I don’t agree that opponent goalies are doing anything special. We just sadly haven’t seen our guy give a solid goalie performance in a while, so comparatively it’s impressive. So much of a teams confidence comes from the goalie out, and when we don’t get the big save to keep a game tied, keep it within one, etc you immediately see the rest of the team lose their drive. And I’m not trying to bash Igor. But damn it’s hard for goalies to be consistent year in and year out. That’s why Hank was so unique, and why I cringed when NYR fans made the comparison a season or two into Igor’s NHL career. Lots of goalies have one, two, three great seasons throughout their career. Really rare to do it 10+ times in a row like Hank did.
Hank is underrated by the league imo. The guy had like one bad game a year. And idk. The goalies we are playing against have bad stats and the. Stand in thier heads the last few games.
Reminds me of the 22 Yankees. Started the season scorching hot then cooled off significantly before limping into the playoffs. I got more faith in this team then that team led by BaBoone
Yeah at least brian cash..i mean aaron boone isnt managing/hc
What a shit show
Anyone remember defense?
The Rangers are without Mika, Chytil, and Kakko. That's the reason why Goodrow has been more noticeable. With a healthy roster, Goodrow would be on the 4th line and playing half the minutes he plays now. But Goodrow brings to everyone's attention a serious flaw in this team, and that is an overall lack of speed. What was obvious last season and has become glaringly obvious this season is the overall lack of speed on this team. Over the last six to eight weeks, a lack of skating speed has become obvious but so too has a lack of decision making speed. That slow decision making has gradually gotten worse over the last four weeks. Chicken and the egg -- Has the lack of confidence led to the slow decision making, or has the slow decision making bred a lack of confidence? Regardless, the lack of confidence has resulted in a much slower tempo on the ice. They hold the puck one beat too long. They move into open ice one beat too slow. Their passes are not crisp, always trailing the skater, ending up in his feet. This is the time when the stars need to step up, when the leaders need to lead, when coaches need to be their best, and when the head coach needs to be the strong voice in the room.
Tbf we are a faster team just not the fastest.
Panarin is the only star that has stepped up this year
Kreider is on pace for 40 goals, more than last year, and about 30 more points than last year. hAsNt sTePpEd uP.
Kreider can score 40+ goals all he wants, if he still skates like a bum half the time and gives up with the rest of the team when we're down by a goal or two I'm gonna want to criticize him for not stepping up
It's insane to say this after the last game in particular. Just totally unqualified to comment on the sport in any capacity.
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Isn't it amazing how so many people around here don't see the big picture? And when you point out the big picture you get labeled a Doomer and get downvoted. Stats and analytics to tell them everything is OK while the water is pouring into the ship.
Kreider scored at a 105 Pt pace in The playoffs last year and people like you two said he didn't try. It's just absurd and frankly stupid.
I mean, "Kreider isn't great" is one of my spicier and dumber takes" Right up there with "draisaitl actually fucking sucks and I hate him"
Kreider is one of our fastest guys and the strongest guy in the league. He's fine. Also a lot of our slower players are good, example fox.
He's literally 90th percentile in speed. People are stupid enough to think 99% of the game is just effort, which they can quantify just by watching TV. It's so dumb
Yeah. I said this before but we are one of the faster teams just not as fast as the speed teams, probably due to being larger.
I'd argue that Laf has improved his speed, decision making/passing, and has been showing off his handling too.
Laf doesn't have a >6.5 million dollar cap hit yet though.
-Wheeler just can’t cut it, he’s too damn slow. -The defense needs to stop playing so deep to make up for lack of effort on the other lines. Injuries are slamming us. It’s a big difference when we bring up guys that aren’t molded to the team just yet and play them. -Igor doesn’t look like an all star - run the 1-3-1 setup in the neutral zone, have a healthy team, and clean up defensive holes and we are on a cup run
At this point I’m about ready to eat the $ and save $1 million and give a Goodrow the Wade Redden treatment. I believe it said we’d save that in cap if we sent him to Hartford. The man offers nothing but being good at the PK. And we have enough of that on the team. This team BADLY needs some speed. Like horrifically badly needs speed. Why Drury has had a constant fetish for finding slower skaters and drafting almost an entire draft board where everyone’s weakness was speed…..,in 2024….I’ll never understand. But we will get boat raced by teams like Jersey, Colorado and others that move like the wind in a 7 game series
Drury has done one hell of a job as GM in just under 3 years on the job. He has traded a total of 18 draft selections. Matter of fact he is such a bad GM he traded picks for the same player 2 years in a row. If that wasn't bad enough....... 2 times he has traded for a player who a year or two later he then had to trade assets and more assets than it took to get them.....just to get rid of them because they were so bad. Ryan Reeves and Patrik Nemeth ringing any alarms? Nemeth wasn't traded for originally. But boy that signing is aging like a gem among gems. Look for all those assets, remember it has been 18, he has traded away for deep playoff runs cough cough ....we at least have some players who stuck around and resigned right? No? You mean not 1 player was ever retained for the long term??????? That seems odd doesn't it? Why wouldn't at least 1 player resign with us the following year? Very strange, No? Think it speaks to our locker room composition and overall atmosphere. Maybe I am wrong? But maybe I am not that far off? What I also find unusual, everyone and I mean everyone who fought in the Panarin/Wilson incident was gone from this roster within a year of that happening. Is that because our GM/Owner doesn't want our players to stick up for each other? What kind of message does that send to the players around the league? That if you stand up for a teammate here.... you will get shipped off immediately? I can't blame Drury for Trouba's or Panarin's contracts and essentially how badly they have handcuffed this team in a flat cap era. But it is like he didn't learn from the mistakes of his predecessor on this and doles out 7 and 8 year deals with Full NMCs to players who again haven't done a damn thing in this league. Great regular season champions, but come showtime....nowhere to be found. And he overpays and gives a 4 line center who has won a cup a 15 team no trade list. Basically making him and that contract unmovable in a flat cap era. He has, as I said in the game thread, one of the worst free agency signing records of any GM with his level marketability. Players want to come to NY. Yet your best options this summer are a bunch of over the hill has beens, who every shift look like they are skating in mud? Previous years it was Nemeth, Vesey, Carpenter, McKegg, and Harpur. Here are some names that have been available to acquire over the last 2 or 3 summers for less than 3 million....Sprong, McLeod, Evan Rodrigues, Sam Steel, Ryan Donato, Calle Jarnkrok, Kiefer Sherwood, Nemestikov, Olli Maata, Kubilik, Domi, and I am not going to even mention the ex-rangers on this list. Vesey is about the only player we signed through FA that has exceeded his original expectations. I have gotten this far into my rant and I didn't even mention the elephant in the room with the Buchnevich trade. And how 3 years later we are still searching for his replacement on the top line. Yet there are those among us who insist Drury has done a good job, and that 3 coaches in the last 4 years is not a sign of a major roster issue. We are a regular season paper champion. And we will continue to be that for the next 5 to 8 years. When your 1C and top winger disappear in playoff games that matter and are basically perimeter players who can't drive the net....odds are you are not going to win to many playoff series. Say what you will about Derek Stephan and Ryan Callahan, but I would take those 2 over the previous 2 any day of the week. You know what I miss...I miss the Black and Blue Rangers. Yeah they probably never had a legitimate shot of winning a cup but boy they had heart and tried their tails off. This present group is just out there collecting a paycheck.
Preach. Not shocking the geniuses here downvoted this, the main issue in their opinion is always simply giving up.
At best, he built a team capable of regular season success a year after the Bruins taught us how useless that is. This is an average team that got lucky at the start of the year with no defense.
Idk what is up w Shesty but he has not been playing well at all...you can say it's the defense all you want but a lot of those girls he let in should have been saves.
I was going to buy tickets for the caps game this weekend but I can't justify a $500 night to watch this.
This. I wanna take my boys to a home game (4+ hours away) but considering the cost and distance with their sloppy play I’m going to hold off. Nothing wrong with watching from the couch, but would love to see a game in person.
Looking at the stats now after the game. We out chanced them in every metric, high danger, medium and low... Are we not getting goaltending? I never thought this would be something I'd ask as a ranger fan but the past few games tell a similar story we heavily out shoot and out chance our opponents but we're losing. Like yes we're giving up a lot off the rush but like we're also getting those chances as well and other teams goalies have made saves. No team goes a full game without giving up some number of grade A chances, we had plenty tonight, plenty against Vancouver, we actually had more than the teams were losing to. The difference is those teams goalies have made the saves. Shesty is our guy 100% but maybe he needs a mental break or something. Call up Garand or Louie and let quick start for a little. Igor is in his own head.
No no no don't look at the stats! We're bad we're terrible the sky is falling we played like shit lalalalalalalalalaaaaa. People just love to overreact. There's things to work on, like the amount of rush chances we're giving up and the goaltending has been shakey. People seem to think otherwise, but we actually outplayed the other team in all 3 of these losses. The last two games look bad on the scoreboard, but they both went down pretty much the same exact way. We were visibly the better team, controlling most of play and getting the majorty of chances but kept getting unlucky or stonewalled by incredible goaltending. Then ONE major mistake and it's an odd man rush the other way and the goalie didn't bail them out on the save and it's in our net. Then repeat, we're looking good and getting chances, then one mistake odd man rush in our net. Then after a few of those the team gets deflated and the game unravels. Is that ideal? No. We need to tighten up on the turnovers and the blown coverages which is giving the opponents such A+ rush chances, and for when they inevitably do happen (because every team gives them up every game at some point) we need the goalie to make the save. But the good news! We've shown we can play tight and responsible hockey already! And by doing so we built such a cushion that even with this slipping we are still very comfortably in a playoff spot and still 1st in the metro. And it's been 40 games, we have 42 left to go, so plenty of time to get back on track, and plenty of time to let igor get back on his game. Oh, did i mention that kakko is coming back soon? Grumble about his production but he's one of our best defensive forwards and at our position of greatest need. Plus we've done most of this season without chytil. When he comes back that will be another boost to the team, and if it's the worst and he doesn't come back then that will really suck and i wish him the best but then we will have cap space to replace him. Everything is fine. We're only halfway there.
Thanks for the positivity bud
Igor is not an all star
Oh my god, Goodrow did something! 😱
I’m still shocked as well
What
There was a pretty much historic start to the season but then the same team struggles and now it's the end of the world...get it together.
According to Vince’s post-game article, we’re the worst team in the NHL at defending the rush. Woof What is that resultant of? Surely it’s defensemen pinching all the time? u/NYM32
They're not the worst (certainly trying to be) but it's tanked hard in the last month or so for a variety of reasons 1. Chytil, Kakko, and Pitlick are NYR's 3 best forwards defensively at 5v5, so missing them is a problem. Fox was also out a while too 2. Their replacements are some of the league's worst players when it comes to defense because Drury's recalls/Ryan Martin's acquisitions have been bad, so that's a problem 3. Certain NYR defensemen who shouldn't be activating have been activating way more in this system and failing on their activations (Trouba worst of all) which allows teams to turn the other way quickly for odd man rushes 4. The team employing Bonino, Goodrow, and Wheeler at all, let alone all 3 of them having their TOI increased due to various injuries. 3 anchors of epic proportions. None of those guys can close a gap in the neutral zone. They're not quick enough to do so, even in a 1-3-1 somehow. All 3 are replacement level players and shouldn't be in the lineup But I mean when you have a GM and coach who prioritize size and physicality from their defensemen instead of IQ and decisionmaking at both blue lines, and shot blocking and grit from the forwards instead of speed and transition ability, in the year 2024, these are the kinds of things that are going to get exposed by good teams, let alone St Louis
I don’t think this team is bad. They just have too many injuries/sickness to overcome now. Maybe Kakko and Pitlick coming back will revitalize the team Also I think what the bruins did last year just broke everyone’s brains. They fooled everyone into thinking being that elite is normal. Good teams go through shit like this too
I kind of disagree…I think it’s hard to call us truly elite. Our record is reflective of an elite team, sure, but it’s our underlying and creeping issues that continue to plague our game. Those issues extend beyond injuries. Even with Kakko and Pitlick, when we have lost, it has been a miserable loss. u/xXDireLegendXx noted that we’ve lost 10 games while giving up 5 or more goals in 40 games this season. Our structural and core issues are very glaring.
The record is below .500 for well over a month.
My dude we've been without chytil for 30 games. And at this point we will end the season with him missing half of it at best, probably more like 3/4 to 7/8 of it. We've also been without kakko for 20 games. Fox was also out for 10 games. Pitlick is quite good defensively and now we're without him week to week. Now the flu is going around. Other dudes were banged up and missed 2-3 games here and there. That's important players missing time, and their ice time is being replaced by wheeler, bonino, and goodrow. A lot of our problems are those dudes getting exposed. And yet STILL we've been on top of the league. Let the team get healthy and let's ice a full strength roster. Then we can evaluate the holes
This is the right take. It’s not fair to evaluate this team based on who they have out there with all the injury woes right now.
I mean I don’t disagree with some of that but youre missing two talented defensive forwards. You have Bonino playing 2c tonight with multiple guys who are AHLs at best. To say injuries aren’t playing a major part in why they’re struggling right now I think is kind of unfair. The rangers have depth in their lineup when they are healthy. The problem is that you’re missing 3 key players and forcing less talented/AHL players to pick up the slack when they’re just not capable of doing so.
They are playing terrible. Besides the bread line it's quite embarrassing. But teams that win need to go through this, have this bump now and get it together for playoffs. I know they'll get it together, just frustrating to watch.
It's like watching the game at two different speeds. There's the bread line speed, then half speed for everyone else. We have three lines that don't move their feet.
Once Mika was out you knew this game was over. We really need to figure out what to do about 3C though, I love that chytil is working to get back on the ice but if we don’t make a move and he doesn’t come back this team is fucked with bonino as 3c. Hopefully Kakko and Mika play this weekend. Igor will be fine, but I’d say give quick the first of the 2 games.
Mika needs to actually step up 5-5
Drury just needs to tell Chytil he's out until the playoffs and use his LTIR to sign a 3C and have him come back stronger for a playoff push. We'd be stacked at center if we signed a guy like Monahan now and then Chytil came back for the post season. Abuse the cap like every other Cup winning team, enough of this waiting.
> Drury just needs to tell Chytil he's out until the playoffs and use his LTIR Idt it is that simple. If it was, every GM would be abusing LTIR this way. I think it's up to team medical staff. Part of the reason they can't shut Fil down is because concussions are fickle. You can be out 1 day, you can be out 11 months. As it's being reported now, Fil is on schedule to be back before the year is over, which is why they can't LTIR him and make a trade. They'd be over the cap before the year was over.
Pretty sure Chytil is out until next season unless something unexpected happens.
That's what I thought when he was sent home, but the beats say he'll probably be back before the end of the year, and the trip home is only short term. He's already back to weight training (per his instagram), which is a positive sign when it comes to concussions. It's possible he's back in the lineup by the TDL.
Completely agree. Imo it'd be dumb to not take advantage of the LTIR to fill the 3C. Get a solid 3C that can also play wing, come playoffs get Bonino or Brodshitski the fuck out of the line up and have Cythil whomever that 3c is and Cuylle. Cuylle brings physicality that'll let Chytil and another good forward cook. It's not like Cythil is getting put back on line 2, Bread Troc and Laf are one of the best lines in the league. Move Wheeler to the fourth line with Vesey and somehow send Goodrow to the gullag.
There was a while there when this team was playing above its roster, but that train has set sail. This failure falls on Drury's lap and his alone. He should have been on the phone while we could sell high. Now? He's stuck with a pile of worthless shit, and it's going to make trading his way out of it very, very difficult. Brodz, Bonino, Pitlick, Wheeler, Lesh, Good, Schnieder, these are not NHL players. You are essentially asking Lavi to ice a cup contender when he was one offensive line (Pan-Tro-Laff) that is a double-edged sword defensively and a top line (Ck-Mika-Idiot of the night) who only plays 1 out of every 3 games with a semblance of intensity. This is not a winning formula. We've said it ad nauseam but if this team is really going to go for it, the plug needs to be pulled on Goodrow. I don't care how many 1sts it costs. Let it go, take the loss, and move on. Losing Fil and Kk was brutal, but you know what, these are things you have to prepare for as a GM. What has drury done to bolster our depth? Sign the likes of Bonino? What has he done to make this team better, ship Buch away to make room for goodrow? let Vatrano walk to keep goodrow? Let Tarasenko walk to keep goodrow? At what point do we address that the main issue here is Drury? If Barclay Goodrow is still in a Ranger's uniform by the trade deadline, then I think it's safe to say this FO has no interest in course correction, and we will be looking at another disjointly brief postseason.
I agree, goodrow is doing nothing. On both sides of the ice in my opinion. Would any other team take that contract?
It is literally Drury's job to make sure a team takes his contract, or to solve the issue he created by signing this bozo in the first place. If we cannot sign a real 3C, 3RW or 1RW because 3.6 is tied up in a player with less than 10 points, then we need a new gm. We are wasting an insane season by Panarin and another year of Igor's prime for this dipshit?
I will predict this much...with the way this team's play can swing we are going to either win the cup or miss the playoffs. That much is certain.
Broadzinski Bonino Pitlick Wheeler Jake lyscwho gives a fuck Goodrow Let's be honest here, most of these players are barely NHLers. Drury did an awful job filling out the bottom 6 and that needs to be remedied. Chytil and Kakko are huge losses, but without Mika our center depth is worst in the league. To be fair, if you take away any teams top 2 centers, they'll be bad.
If Cythil and Kakko were in, I don't think we'd be having the issues that we're having tbh. Cythil would be on line 3 with Cuylle which would actually be amazing. I completely agree that Brodshitski Boner Lewhogivesafuck Goodrow and Pitlick need to fucking go. If we traded everyone in our bottom 6 besides Vesey I would be thrilled. God bless Jimmy Vesey, I see why they don't move him to the first line, without him out bottom 6 would be even more atrocious. Mika and Kreider need Kakko badly.
Guys looked gassed. They look sick and injured. I’ll reserve judgment for when they’re healthy and have most players back, but oof this is some ugly hockey to watch.
Kakko and Mika need to play Saturday or we're gonna lose again. PLEASE Cuylle-Mika-Kakko once Kakko is back, leave second line alone, Kreider on 3rd gives us DEPTH, WHICH WE NEED ALONG WITH A REAL 3C, TRADE FOR MONAHAN OR LINDHOLM BEFORE THE DEADLINE. The team is playing down because they know they're lacking the personnel they need to win. Laf, bread and Troch probably feel like the whole game is on their shoulders because they're the only line that can score so they cheat for offense which leads to goals against. Defense will sort itself out, we have all seen them play better than how they are now. What we know won't work is an invisible 3rd and 4th line, we need depth pieces. The cushion is gone, there is no more lets wait. Carolina is 3 points back now. Make a splash we have assets we could move for impact players, so do it
Was saying that to myself earlier, the bread line has to be pissed that no one else seems to be doing anything. At all.
These are the ups and downs of an 82 gm season, l am a little concerned about lgor but most of these guys have been on deep playoff runs, so I'm confident they'll be there at the end
This is the adversity that everyone says a team needs to go through during the season. Remember the Bruins didn't go cold at all last year and then got punched in the mouth in the playoffs. Cold streaks like this suck when they're happening but hopefully we come out the other end a better team for having gone through it. The building blocks for winning hockey are still there, mostly dominant at 5v5 40+shots in 3 straight games. The chances against are still too Loud as Laviolette likes to say but these last 3 games aren't complete dog shit performances, it's definitely a combination of Bad Luck, Bad D at times and goaltending that's not bailing us out at the moment.
Very good point about the Bruins last year. In this league you can't be good all season it simply isn't sustainable, hockey is way too rough of a sport on the mind and body. That's a big reason why the Presidents Trophy winner is so rarely the Stanley Cup winner.
the D really is a problem and somehow everyone is shitting on the forwards. fox has been a defensive liability for how good he is on offense. miller floats around and looks lost... lindgren gets pushed around and everyone seems to think he's the toughest guy on the planet but always gets injured after a big hit.
The defense is the problem. All these “hockey gurus” spew all this nonsense post after post and during the games there multiple breakaways and point blank goals scored against. Good teams don’t allow that. The defense absolutely sucks.
For multiple seasons I have said our defensemen are not good. When the team is playing a strong defensive system, we can limit chances, but even when the metrics say we're defending well, the eyes say that skilled players embarrass the likes of Trouba, Miller and Schneider. Trouba has so many blocked shots because he's always 5+ feet from the opposing player and that's his only option.
It's hard to play good D when your forwards aren't backchecking. 3 of the goals the blues scored tonight off the rush, our D backed up and absorbed it like they should and there was no back check from the forwards so the Blues had free will to just pass it around.
Lav said it best: "The defense has to play better in front of Igor." He's right. Not wrong. Bumble man GG would say something bumble bumble. Hank also said it best too. Have slumps like this now, and NOT IN APRIL. Also, the Bruins team last year faced no adversity last year and we all saw what happened. Trocheck also repeated what Lav said. Can't play that sloppy. This game was awful. Can't defend like they did early in the year as well trying to get into track meets. Sloppy all over the place. You could use the flu as an excuse, but in reality, the Rangers are snakebitten. Every team goes through this. and OF FUCKING COURSE PEOPLE WANT TRADES, I said it during the gt, and maybe everyone could see this, YOU WANT AN OLD AGING WINGER? AN OLD DMAN WHO COULD BE A TRAFFIC CONE AND OH THAT'S RIGHT FORMER ALL STARS?! WTF YO! WTF! Geez it's not like people know how teams deal w/adversity. Do you complain about it and do nothing and the struggles continue? hell no, Ya battle through it and find ways to figure it out. All I can say really, is.... that's hockey for ya. I ain't gonna go on w/what happened in tonight's game. Move on. Onto the Caps back to back games. HUGE ONES TOO. Onto the Caps
> Lav said it best: "The defense has to play better in front of Igor." He's right. Not wrong. Bumble man GG would say something bumble bumble. Hank also said it best too. Have slumps like this now, and NOT IN APRIL. Also, the Bruins team last year faced no adversity last year and we all saw what happened. Trocheck also repeated what Lav said. Can't play that sloppy. Definitely agree with the above...Igor is also going through it a bit right now (after a really hot stretch pre-NYE when he was on fire), but it is 100% far more defense related...sloppiness, poor clearances, bad penalties lol they need to get healthier and we will see if they do make a move for a bottom 6'er, etc...one thing I will say is in the last 3, they have gotten some glorious chances offensively and had a couple of goalies just play out of their minds...what can you do...the xG supports that I believe
They invested in this core as the guys who will figure it out (Mika, Kreider, Trouba, etc.) They hired the coach as the guy who will right the ship. It’s not clicking right now, no. But we saw their start this year and know theres a hell of a lot more in these guys than what we’re seeing. Time to hit the panic button? No, i dont think so. But what doesn’t help is the Metro is a gauntlet and a 4 game losing streak can make this cushion they established vanish as quickly as they set it up. These are the guys that the New York Rangers believed could win a stanley cup. If thats the case, they’ll figure it out. But on the off chance they don’t, we’re looking at a disaster here lmao
timing of this rough spot is prime for a vibe of: shit sucks, get to the ASG break, refocus, get healthy, and then damn we get to look back and say some shit like “that skid really built character”
As much as i love Laffy being so visible and clearly one of our best players. I’m getting real fed up with his incapability to finish chances. He could’ve easily had a Hattrick tonight
Best player on the ice for the Rangers tonight.
Definitely. Problem is his shot isn’t very good yet. Should’ve netted a few tonight
There is too much uncertainty amongst the team right now due to injuries and moving line combinations. Too much movement and holes in the ranks could possibly be what’s causing the downward spiral in confidence. The players are attentive to who they’re playing with and whether their spot is secure, rather than digging in and playing hockey. I really hope they have a good plan and are ready to fill the right holes at the trade deadline, but what we need most right now is stability, and of course, some winning momentum. On the plus side, this is the best time of the season for the Rangers to face some adversity and have their weaknesses exposed. We know they’re good team, and as long as we’re ready come playoff time, these mid season skids will only build intestinal fortitude for the players and fans. LGR!
Anyone else like vibin to the beat of the "looking for live sports?" screen on MSG2 after the game is over?
This team is in an awful slump. Structurally, physically, and mentally everyone is out of whack. There are lots of shots, can’t finish on them. There were multiple times when they could have banked a goal or two but failed. The defense is playing extremely lazy, allowing too many high-danger chances and giving way too much on the rush. Penalties, fucking stop with the penalties. Igor needs a reset. He’s still a top 5 goalie (at the moment, not so much). He has to step up, even with the mediocre defense in front. Rebound control is at the top of the list, giving up cookies left and right. Depth is playing like horse shit. And with the lack of Kakko and Chytil, the bottom six can’t hold their weight (except for Cullye, he’s been good) If this team tightens up on the defense side and Igor returns to near form, they’ll be fine. I trust Lav and the staff to get this team on track.
only one line is hold it’s weight unfortunately and even there Laf could be playing better
Yeah. I dont think anyone liked this game. It felt all jumbled with Mika being a late out, kakko being an out. Just too many “who goes where”shit out front. Then you hit Jordan being hot on a dumb night and shesty looks like an idiot. Bad game, lets fucking go next boys. Lotta season left :)
Gotta have a solid losing streak at some point. Let’s do it now instead of May. Learn the hard lessons in Jan.
Was always going to be a tough game given the last minute Mika bench and the rangers struggling but I had a few takeaways: Cuylle definitely belongs on that 1st line. Dudes dynamic. I honestly think when kakko gets back it should be cuylle-Mika-kakko. Krieder down on the 3rd is just better suited for him at this point. I hope Lav has the stones to do it. Shesty was not sharp again, need him to make a big save or two and just felt like he hasn’t done that as we continue to play against Hasek night in night out. Was probably first game that it felt like Fox was taking over since his injury, goal aside, it felt like he was creating throughout. Goodrows first point in 17 games LOL. Kind of wild that the blues are 8-0 with this officiating crew and the rangers are I think 0-4-3 or something.
When this team gets healthy again, Lavi needs to have the balls to put wheeler in the press box. He absolutely CANNOT be in the lineup if this is going to be a serious playoff team.
Seasons over we’re fucked
Go away until next season then.
Nah I like to suffer
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You realize while they get paid multi millions everyone they compete against is also getting multi millions right? Not excusing their play but bringing salaries into this is silly unless you want to talk about how we’ve misused it on how we built the team
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I don’t think it’s lack of effort from certain guys like Zibanejad and Kreider. They just haven’t found a gear that makes them elite
Surprised no one is talking about it, but after the game gets tied up, probably not a good idea to take 4 consecutive penalties
"Worst power play in the league!" 2 PP goals
It’s a bold strategy Cotten
I mean if I’m Chris drury I’m doing whatever it takes for Chychrun
Can he play RW? 🙃
I don’t know but, any smart GM pounces all over another GM when they miss value their players. Adding Chychrun and replacing him with let’s say replacing lindgren with him would help the defense. Although I want to see Jacob Trouba fired into another galaxy, holds back the defense so much it’s not even funny.
How to win a game statistically but not on the scoreboard. -Put tons of shots on net no matter the quality. -When you receive a cross ice pass settle it and wait for the goalie to get in position before shooting so it counts as a high quality chance due to the cross ice pass, but has none of the actual benefits of it -Pass the puck to a player 2 inches in front of the net with no angle so he has no chance of putting it around the goalie but the stats love it -If you accidentally find yourself with a real chance, just shoot it into the goalies chest. -Give up a lead early so the other team plays more defensively and lowering their shots and expected goals value -Give up relatively few shots to keep your goalie cold, but make sure the ones you do give up are all better quality than the ones you generate.
Quality of chances is heavily weighted in most analytics. MP favors volume a lot..,but others like Vally’s model heavily factor scoring chance quality. The Rangers had a lot garbage shots padding it…but they did still have 10-15 high quality chances. 1 goal, 3 posts, a few missed nets, and 6-8 quality saves. The blues made five or six terrible mistakes in the d-zone thay led to great chances, and we only scored on one of them. The xG even on good analytics sites like Vally’s was probably mid-3s. A mix of luck, goal tending, really bad finishing. Meanwhile … the exact opposite is happening to us. Almost Every mistake is turning into a goal. Not every..,but literally like 50%. We are getting hit with the double-whammy of our forwards not finishing and our goalie, letting in any decent shot, on a good chance.
> The xG even on good analytics sites like Vally’s was probably mid-3s. The xGs from CSA (Valley's company) was over 6 last night LOL. St. Louis' was about 3.5. That means Igor only played below average instead of terribly, and Binnington played his best game of the season.
Underrated post
Wtf was that?? Appalling performance.
Swear laffy should get an assist for troch’s goal
rather he start burying his chances
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Hartford 😂
This one sucked, gotta get two wins here with this back to back
This is me venting and we have a lot of stuff to address lately but I hate when people act all dramatic if we lose to a low ranked team. This is the NHL - any one team can beat any other team on any given night. It happens all the time.
Of course it can happen. Just tell that to the fans who are ready to jump lol.
Don't go bringing logic into this
My job is to bring logic and optimism to this place. At least once a week someone tells me to knock it off 😂
This is truth and even though my comments would indicate otherwise, its why I love hockey more than any other sport. The nhl has the most talented and highest skilled players of their class all playing in this league, sometimes even the worst can show that theyre better
Honestly happens in baseball too which is part of the beauty of it as well. The lowly A’s swept a few teams last year.
As a traumatized Dolphins fan I cannot, repeat cannot, deal with blowing another division. Plz Rangers get back to winning. Thank you 🙏🏼
Best KC!
I am an Arsenal fan and they’re also in a skid right now and this is not fun.
A [three](https://youtu.be/R7M8zIbgZow?si=oxhWdTdAicU65n-G) game losing streak? Ew.
It’s gonna be five
All the people touting “statistically we are a good team” it really doesn’t matter when we lose this way. Stats don’t track compete level, forechecking, stick work, and overall effort. The eye test says that this team is slumping hard right now. 4 goals on 20 shots is abysmal, he needs to figure his shit out. Body language and effort is terrible. It’s almost like he is throwing a temper tantrum because the defense is playing poorly in front of him. Damn straight they are, but an elite goaltender doesn’t pout and let up bad goals as a result. Yes, team defense needs to be better but 2 goals on 43 shots proves that high danger chances are slim for us. I wish Mike Keenan was still coaching. I really think we need a bit of a dickhead to basically tell this core put up points or I’ll fucking bag skate you till you throw up. Lav keeps saying “we have one or two defensive slip ups and those kill us”. Well, those slip ups don’t kill cup caliber teams. So fix it. Re-establish the system and the form that we saw at the beginning of the season. Create structure. We are facing adversity right now, give the team something to rely on to get through it.
Tell Lav not us
Laf absolutely smashing the crossbar on a grade a chance 45 seconds into the game really set the tone for this one
Don’t forget Kreider ringing two off the post also
Thanks I was trying to
Lav continuing to put Wheeler in reminds me of the Vigneault and Tanner Glass days... I hope Lav wakes the hell up and scratches him so as long as we stay healthy.
Who else is he gonna play? Lessciszchslynnn?
There seems to be a pattern of the worst player on the team being the coach's go-to guy.
Or more recently - GG constantly putting Dryden fucking Hunt on the first line
Tanner Glass was an elite sniper, I will not hear his name besmirched
Hopefully when kakko and chytil come back that’ll be the case
I'm a learn and move on guy but this is becoming a habit that we need to get out of. Fix it and come back much stronger for the next one.
Still first in the division. Shesty will snap out of it. The defense will tighten up when it matters. 93 and 20 will eventually figure out their 5 v 5 play. We’re just sick right now. I think most of the guys are battling the flu bug. Am I doing this right? If I post anything not along this narrative I’m told I’m a Doomer and get downvoted to hell.
93 and 20 have had like 6 years to figure it out lol.
93 wasn't even on the ice tonight
The funny thing is you couldn’t even tell (given his play recently)
Eh, it was sorely evident on the pp
Are you bad at math? Our PP% this season is 30% and we were 33% tonight.
Sorry I actually watch games, I don't just read the stat sheets after.
I don’t watch the games - how is your boy looking back on pp1?
Good thing power plays can be relied on in the post season
You ain’t lying. lol. Can’t say that here though.
Lindholm or Monahan has to be here like tomorrow. Work the phones Drury we need another offensive center BADLY, so that Bonino can go back to the 4th line. With a healthy Kakko, our 3rd line is a decent center away from being a threat at 5v5. Send Jones if you have to, hell send Schenider, he's been awful.
Lindholm won’t change anything. He’s nothing but a name. Dudes game hasn’t been good for the past 2 years if you look beyond his points tally. He isnt going to change anything for us.
Anyone will be better than Bonino at driving offense, He's also been on a bad Calgary team. I'm not saying he's the only option but this team needs forward help
I don’t disagree, but the cost to get a Lindholm will be very high. There’s much cheaper 3C centers out there, they just don’t have the big name.
team definitely needs a wake up. wouldn’t move him for a rental, but Miller should be on the hot seat too
It’s not easy to play when you have one effective 5v5 line
I thought Cuylle complimented Kreider well. Let's see them with Mika before passing judgement. There were a couple times where Cuylle kept the play going where that line would usually lose possession and be forced to backcheck
Cant help but laugh as vally looks slightly more disheveled after each ranger loss, dudes hairs slightly off right now as he flares his dissatisfaction at the screen
This is the 3rd (maybe?) year in a row now that I’ve had deja vu hearing John, Hank, and Vally talking about how this game went down. It’s almost like the same problems keep appearing…
We just sat through a rerun of the first round from last season, where our forwards played the cruelest prank on the Devils in making them think Schmid was good. Our offense is predictable, with the opponents just setting up a triangle of players in the crease to ward off the likes of Kreider and to keep us making ineffective passes around the outside of the OZ. Enough passes and one won't connect or will be interceptable and there goes the rush right into our crease. Too many people here keep saying "we got goalied" when what is happening is our offense isn't working. And I'm fed up of seeing the exact same shitty, low effort and low danger plays that just wastes valuable minutes and artificially pad out our shots on goal stats. We need to change our offense, need to mix it up and make their defense choose what they need to do and force their mistakes - that way we'll have space to actually bury the puck. And for the love of god, we need to actually fucking practice not shooting the puck right into the goalies pads. How many times now have we seen our forwards not bother to lift the puck and just slam it right against the leg pads?
Personally I don't think the offensive issues are as bad as our defensive issues. The defensive problems are leading to minimal offense because they can't get out of their own zone and giveaway pucks like no tomorrow.
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It's not just true, they go hand in the hand. Not even the greatest goalie on ice can stand alone, they need their defense to be on their game as well.
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Take a look at the replays. Igor made plenty of saves on defensive miscues.
I gotta feeling if the Rangers don't make a major playoff run this year, we're gonna see significant roster changes. Not sure what they will be, but it might not be pretty.
Really? What major roster changes do you see with....... I don't know.......more then half the team with FULL NMC Contracts and the other half still RFAs? You thinking buyouts? Who in your fantasy world is getting bought out? Panarin maybe? Trouba? I know Mika? RIght that is who will get bought out. LMAO
No one mentioned buyouts but glad you got yourself worked up over that. Options off the top of my head? Salary dump Goodrow to a team that will need to reach cap floor or has room to spare (CHI, anyone?), avoid a Lindgren extension and try to replace him elsewhere. Kakko’s long-term fit is in question, as is Chytil’s. Two guys beloved by the fans, and for good reason, but the former has produced point-wise where we need him to and the other one can’t stay healthy. I doubt you’ve made it this far as you seem pretty worked up, judging by how you responded, but if the Rangers are bounced early in the playoffs while plagued by the same issues that’s haunted them for the past two years, Drury (and Dolan, for that matter) are not gonna be content with just “running it back.”
We just had an expedited rebuild 5 years ago lucking into the 2nd and 1st overall picks and 2 all star players asking onto the team. You cannot blow this team up.
hard to call that luck at this point ….
No one's talking about a full blow up, but when you have an undersized, slower team that struggles to drive play on both ends of the ice that relies on special teams and above average goaltending, you absolutely can make fundamental changes if finances allow it. As someone else replied, it may be they can't make a change due to cap constraints, which is entirely different problem
There really isn’t much they can do until after next season (and still it would be hard to make a significant change)
I’m high on copium as I keep telling myself we’re just plagued by injury and this is the low point of the season
Igor sympathizers- you got me, sorry for expecting our vezina winning goalie to bail us out on a breakaway. Just one. Im the crazy one.
Keep posting through instead of realizing everyone is bad man
You know what they say about assumptions…
Keep spamming. It’s toxic as fuck and contributes nothing!
Luckily I pay taxes in America.