gdt: [ECQR] (#2) Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes // High Noon in Downtown Toronto

The reactions here are overblown. The Rangers generated several high quality chances today and Mrazek stood tall at key times. Howden, Zibanejad robbed in particular. Lundqvist didn't reciprocate. In fact, it was the opposite. First two goals were junk. The Canes didn't earn those. They were given to them.

xGF at the start of the third was approximately 70-30 Carolina according to NST. They got blown the fuck out.

he's not prime Hank anymore but he's also far from the reason we're losing this series so quickly

Callahan threw him under the bus BT periods, Valiquette did after the game. If you are the top paid player and you habitually give up soft goals and early goals, you are not a good goalie. Because he is a good guy with the media and MSG likes selling him doesn't mean he is a good goalie, and not for a very long time. Grant you the whole team barely showed up. But as Callahan pointed out, give up a weak early goal and teams lose 80% of the time. It's hard as hell to dig out of that hole on a Tuesday in Detroit in February, in a playoff game, almost impossible.

MATH IS HARD; Lundqvist's playoff record stands at 61 wins, 67 losses.

Eh.

I'll take a naive positive spin on this:

1 - We shouldn't be here. Or, at least, the list of things that needed to go right for us to play any postseason hockey this year should not have borne out. This is gravy on the season for us.

2 - Henrik Lundqvist has more playoff experience than the entire rest of the team minus Kreider and Staal. Combined. For those who have playoff experience, it largely came on first-round eliminations. We have almost no experience on how to win in the current high skill NHL.

3 - Kakko looks like the kind of player you expect to get with a 2nd overall pick. We have to be excited about that too.

4 - We're going without two of our better mid-six forwards and our top goalie right now.

5 - Our prime players are at the beginning of their primes, not the end.

This isn't 2017, where we were desperately trying to keep a window open - this is us using a crowbar to open a window. This is a bonus, as frustrating as it is.

We're not done yet, but we're very much on the ropes. Regardless, this is something to build on for next season. Ideally with a little luck, a shiny new Lafreniere in tow on top of it.

The reactions here are overblown. The Rangers generated several high quality chances today and Mrazek stood tall at key times. Howden, Zibanejad robbed in particular. Lundqvist didn't reciprocate. In fact, it was the opposite. First two goals were junk. The Canes didn't earn those. They were given to them.

Mrazek early made some very good saves, especially early, but the team certainly folded after that. down 2 going into a third period and we only had 7 shots? and i'm pretty sure at least 3 of them were in the last flurry when it's already out of reach. we definitely don't have enough depth to grind out a series. I'm happy they got a chance to go in and play meaningful hockey. And it'll be good for young players to see the kind of hockey it takes to win a series. But I'm not confident we have the horses to make a series out of this

Callahan threw him under the bus BT periods, Valiquette did after the game. If you are the top paid player and you habitually give up soft goals and early goals, you are not a good goalie. Because he is a good guy with the media and MSG likes selling him doesn't mean he is a good goalie, and not for a very long time. Grant you the whole team barely showed up. But as Callahan pointed out, give up a weak early goal and teams lose 80% of the time. It's hard as hell to dig out of that hole on a Tuesday in Detroit in February, in a playoff game, almost impossible.

 

MATH IS HARD; Lundqvist's playoff record stands at 61 wins, 67 losses.

Next game might be our last. I hope to see Hajek, Kravtsov, Gettinger, Lemieux and Georgiev in; and Lundqvist, Smith, Di Giuseppe, McKegg, and Fogarty out. If we gonna lose at least give some decent prospects/young players some playoff experience.

Callahan threw him under the bus BT periods, Valiquette did after the game. If you are the top paid player and you habitually give up soft goals and early goals, you are not a good goalie. Because he is a good guy with the media and MSG likes selling him doesn't mean he is a good goalie, and not for a very long time. Grant you the whole team barely showed up. But as Callahan pointed out, give up a weak early goal and teams lose 80% of the time. It's hard as hell to dig out of that hole on a Tuesday in Detroit in February, in a playoff game, almost impossible.

 

MATH IS HARD; Lundqvist's playoff record stands at 61 wins, 67 losses.

yeah not saying he played well, but like, there wasn't a ton of help for him either. He's not the steal you a series goalie anymore, we knew that already.

Mrazek early made some very good saves, especially early, but the team certainly folded after that. down 2 going into a third period and we only had 7 shots? and i'm pretty sure at least 3 of them were in the last flurry when it's already out of reach. we definitely don't have enough depth to grind out a series. I'm happy they got a chance to go in and play meaningful hockey. And it'll be good for young players to see the kind of hockey it takes to win a series. But I'm not confident we have the horses to make a series out of this

We don't have the horses. We have Panarin, Zibanejad, and some ponies. But that's fine; we're super young and super exciting.

We don't have the horses. We have Panarin, Zibanejad, and some ponies. But that's fine; we're super young and super exciting.

For sure. There's still a lot to be excited about. I'm not going on suicide watch because we didn't show up for the bubble cup.

yeah not saying he played well, but like, there wasn't a ton of help for him either. He's not the steal you a series goalie anymore, we knew that already.

We're also facing a team that can win games against high-octane offenses with a 42 year old zamboni driver in net.

If these were 2 coin flip losses I'd agree.. Game 1 was not as close as the 3-2 score would indicate, game 2 was an absolute dud. I'd have expected to see some kind of impassioned response after game 1, but they just sat there and took it. No way possible to polish either of those turds.

Not trying to polish anything. But even though both performances were awful and they were thoroughly outplayed they were in G1 until the final buzzer, and this one until Strome cocked it up. The point being that just a moderately competent showing could have made a difference.

For sure. There's still a lot to be excited about. I'm not going on suicide watch because we didn't show up for the bubble cup.

Yeah, I mean, a win would be really nice, but I'm not about to suddenly change my expectations for the season.

All we have done was prove we didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs . I’m fine with that especially considering we tripped our way into a chance at the first overall.

Look, if we get 3-5 playoff games and a top 10 pick out of this whole season, it's the veritable equivalent of having our cake and eating it too. Doubly so if we get Lafreniere.

This team has a top 6, a super strong goal-tending prospect, and several defensive pieces.

What its needs is a huge injection of bottom 6 talent, more than 1 actual defensive paring, and to rid themselves of 3 absolutely heinous contracts. There is still much to fix.

This series shows you the value of a rock solid back 6(even with 2 of their best out) and a really good bottom 6. Great D can even make Petr Fucking Mrazek look good.

Mrazek early made some very good saves, especially early, but the team certainly folded after that. down 2 going into a third period and we only had 7 shots? and i'm pretty sure at least 3 of them were in the last flurry when it's already out of reach. we definitely don't have enough depth to grind out a series. I'm happy they got a chance to go in and play meaningful hockey. And it'll be good for young players to see the kind of hockey it takes to win a series. But I'm not confident we have the horses to make a series out of this

The Canes' strength is playing with the lead. Handing them a lead on bad goals allows them to play to their strength. They've had a lead within 5 minutes of the start of each game. They were gifted a lead twice today.

You're right though in that this is great for the kids to see how to play with a lead in the playoffs. The other silver lining to come of this is potentially making it easy to buy out Lundqvist if he doesn't retire.

Look, if we get 3-5 playoff games and a top 10 pick out of this whole season, it's the veritable equivalent of having our cake and eating it too. Doubly so if we get Lafreniere.

No doubt. Would’ve been nice to show up for the playoffs though, for a free nibble of said cake.

We don't have the horses. We have Panarin, Zibanejad, and some ponies. But that's fine; we're super young and super exciting.

I'd feel much better if the players that we are supposed to be building around showed up - other than Kakko and Panarin, I didn't see much from Kreider, Buchnevich, Strome, Trouba. If we give it our best and lose to a superior team, I don't have an issue. But when we mail in a playoff game, especially that third period, that's very concerning.

Look, if we get 3-5 playoff games and a top 10 pick out of this whole season, it's the veritable equivalent of having our cake and eating it too. Doubly so if we get Lafreniere.

Oh definitely. We weren’t winning a cup, so the handful of “playoff” experience is very nice as well. God if we get 1st overall........

I'd feel much better if the players that we are supposed to be building around showed up - other than Kakko and Panarin, I didn't see much from Kreider, Buchnevich, Strome, Trouba. If we give it our best and lose to a superior team, I don't have an issue. But when we mail in a playoff game, especially that third period, that's very concerning.

I’m not trying to sugar coat it, but these are extraordinary circumstances. I don’t think it’s wise to draw conclusions on individual players based on what we’re seeing in this tournament. Looks like the preparation has been less than ideal, but I don’t think we’re learning anything about anyone specifically.

I’m not trying to sugar coat it, but these are extraordinary circumstances. I don’t think it’s wise to draw conclusions on individual players based on what we’re seeing in this tournament. Looks like the preparation has been less than ideal, but I don’t think we’re learning anything about anyone specifically.

Agreed it's extraordinary circumstances, but Carolina and every other team in the NHL are dealing with the same circumstances. Some locker rooms are rising to the challenge.