Ranger Lothbrok

LET'S GOOOOO!!!

All about the first goal IMO. Get one early and the floodgates open. 

Great, Shmid. Now we get shutout on home ice and this no-name Patrick Roy's this series into 7 games. 

Can we PLEASE for once make a backup nobody look like a backup nobody?

29 minutes ago, Flynn said:

I want to see a team that smell blood and the water and goes into a feeding frenzy. No bullshit, just choke them out. 

 

Break the cycle of long series after long series this club seems to live for. 

I'm hopeful this is the difference Kane and Tank make. We've lacked that killer instinct before in the playoffs. This should be business as usual. No stupidity, no letting them in it, no north-south open ice BS. Shut down, take your chances when they come. They'll be amped up from a rabid crowd at MSG but first goal is REALLLLYY important. Can't get sloppy on the energy. 

I WANT to believe we can do this in 4 or 5, but after Tampa last year, and what we did to Carolina and Pittsburgh, I'm terrified of dropping 3 straight. Isn't that what happened in 1994 too? Won the first two, mailed it in for 3, the Guarantee, and then Matteau. Could've been easy, but it's the Rangers so it was double-OT game 7 agonizing. 

God I love nothing more than shutting up the 40% of that arena. 

I was in high school when the Devils were dominant. I work in Paramus and in my time at this job I never saw a single Devils fan. All of a sudden this year the jerseys and t-shirts start showing up. Really didn't want to go into the office tomorrow if this series was evened up. Glad this was another convincing win. Outscoring them on their own ice 10-2 and confining Jack Hughes to 1 penalty shot has GOT to be in their heads now. 

Deeply concerned about the prospect of a sweep. This is just not a good matchup for us. Kane has yet to look like he fits anywhere, and the fact that the lines are subject to change basically by the minute is problematic. Almost all season long this team has looked disjointed, haphazard, and sloppy. 

I do feel like the Devils are kind of where we were a few years ago with the Quinn teams: a lot of offensive punch but if they get shut down, game over. No capacity for forechecking or cycling whatsoever. But that said, this is a terrible matchup for a team that's been as sloppy as we have been. 

Panarin needs to be the best player on the ice and cut it out with the asinine turnovers on forced plays. If it ain't there, put it on net and see what happens. I'm hoping he was somewhat hurt last year because he was awful. If he lays another stinker, he'll officially have a reputation of disappearing when it matters most. 

2 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

Trouba is Gorton's mess. I know they named him captain, but deep down Drury can't be thrilled with him, and especially the contract.

Yeah, aside from Motte, nothing we've done has fixed the team's biggest issues. My deepest fear is that this becomes a legendary addition to the "LOL Rags" reputation of trying to buy Cups and failing miserably. 

I swear I'm not saying this to be contrarian, but I stand by my thought in the other thread. The team is a turnover-riddled defensive mess, and our likeliest first round opponent is the most opportunistic team in the league. Offense clamps down in the playoffs; scoring 6 goals to win is not sustainable. 

The return is mild enough that the trade is inoffensive, but I still don't get it. Reeks to me of "we'll do it because we can and why not?" I have a pit in my stomach that this is really gonna add to the embarrassment when we get swept by NJ because Trouba's a pylon, we're starting Mikkola, and every line is constantly committing egregious turnovers.

Okay, unpopular opinion here, but everything closes up in the playoffs. Mika and Bread were cooking earlier this month but have gone silent. Tarasenko hasn't added much. He primarily scores off the rush anyway, which is also shut down significantly in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Igor is off, we're continuing to give up 3-4 goals a game, and we're in the middle of a 3-game skid with some eminently winnable games (like last night) in there. We're also starting Mikkola.

I know it's a lot of "well he decides where he goes and we can make it work cap wise so why the hell not" mentality primarily, but uh, serious question here: what need does Kane solve, exactly? Remember when we got manhandled by the Caps and spent a summer getting tougher, and now the only remnant of that is Goodrow? What happened to that? Where's the defense been? 

This kind of reeks to me of adding Jagr to a roster that had Bure, Kovalev, etc. without any real plan in place. I know Kravtsov wants out, but trading him for a 3 month rental (when we already dealt a 1st rounder for a 3 month rental who was, ostensibly, supposed to generate more offense) and potentially including a 2nd rounder and/or Zac Jones just seems like poor asset management. 

I guess the answer to my above question is puck possession solves a lot of problems and Kane's good at that? 

Gotta be honest, I don't really get it. 

Am I the only one who feels like he singlehandedly changed the complexion of this team when he came back in the playoffs? I personally loved him and was heartbroken when we lost him. Really wanted to find a way to make the salary work at the time.

Baller fourth line though now. We're all in, baby. 

I just wish they hadn't led me to actually believe. Like, up 2-0 in the series and up 2-0 in Game 3 and I started to think: I wonder if Colorado is good enough to beat our team defense and if Igor could steal that series? Like, could this ACTUALLY be doable? But in classic Rangers fashion, nothing is ever easy. The way they played for the first 100 minutes of this series has been non-existent for the past 200 minutes. And I can't really fault them; they just look gassed. Like Tampa had more than a week off. We're hurting and exhausted. Lindgren leaves the bench at least once a game. Chytil and Strome were game time decisions. Igor is starting to cough up some softies. 

We're handling the puck like it's a grenade with the pin out of it. Get rid of it ASAP or it might explode. We're giving Vasilevskiy absolute gimmes and it's adding to his reputation, even though I feel like us playing our best would've swept these guys, and Carolina probably could've beaten them too. They're gaining this invincible reputation that, to be honest, doesn't feel earned in this series. It's more us not showing up than them dominating. 

I will say there's no shame in coming back from down 3-1 against Crosby (and down by 2 goals in Game 5, for that matter), and beating the team that knocked you out of the bubble in 2020, beat you in the race for the Metro, went up 2-0 in the series, then 3-2 in the series, and everyone picked them to win. Before it started, Carolina was -250 to win the series. They were picked to win by experts almost every game.

Everyone says you need to lose to learn how to win, and it's possible that we just don't want it bad enough. But I don't want to accuse our players of that just yet; I really do think they're just wiped. We'll be back in future years with a healthy Blais, a more developed Schneider and Miller, and Lundkvist/Jones/Robertson on the backend as well. Othmann may make the team out of training camp, Cuylle and Korczak are exceeding their draft capital, etc.

There's a lot to look forward to, and no shame in pushing the back to back Champs to 6 games after playing 7 games in the first two rounds, both comeback series wins, as the fourth youngest team in the league with a blueline that has an average age of 25.5 (that number drops to 23.6 if you take Braun out).

But again, I just wish they didn't make me believe if they were going to go out with a whimper, making Tampa look way better than they actually have been playing. 

Every playoff series, and every playoff run for that matter, comes down to one thing: attrition. And right now, we're losing that battle. Yes; Point is Tampa's most valuable playoff asset outside of Vasilevskiy, and I don't know if we'd be tied if they had him. Shit, I can't even say for certain that we'd still be playing right now after 4 games.

But outside of that, they're just fine. Well rested, shaking off rust, and heating up. I don't know if we're gassed or whatever, but that aggressive, in your face forecheck we had is completely absent. We were forcing turnovers and pinning them for long stretches (remember "The Shift" by the Kid Line? Seems like a lifetime ago already, doesn't it?).

Now everyone, Kreider included, is gaining center ice, dumping, and changing. No effort to press or take a lead. I'd call it turtling but that generally refers to sitting back when you have a lead. This is something different. Can't turtle if you never come out of the shell to begin with. 

They also have all kinds of time and space. What happened to teams entering our zone tentatively and with their heads up because Trouba might kill a guy if you don't? What happened to skating out to every man, fighting along the boards, cycling, etc.? 

We haven't played to win since the second period of Game 2. It's been about 150 minutes consecutively of playing not to lose instead of playing to win, and the funny thing about playing not to lose is that, generally, it results in losing. 

Without Strome, or Goodrow, or Chytil, all our deadline acquisitions are moot. The depth is gone with Rooney, Reaves and Hunt all playing consistent minutes. In this war of attrition, we're fraying at the edges. 

This is not me throwing in the towel, but if we're not healthy, this is a tall task. It's the tallest task possible, in fact. You're playing the back to back Champs. Have to beat the best to be the best. And we're so, so young. 

I'd like to say tonight will be another demonstration of this team's resilience, and that's what my heart so desperately wants, but my brain says the overwhelming likelihood is dropping four straight with a whimper. 

That said, Zubov the Bunny is coming out tonight and I will watch and root my balls off, the way I have all season and every game for decades now.

LGR!!!!

I will say that, if that's the best we can come up with, it's a problem. BUT....we all know that's definitively NOT the best we can come up. Playing a late game Friday, presumably traveling in the wee hours of the morning, coming off a 7 game series against a team that had more than a week of rest, in basically a must-win game for them....and we STILL almost took it. 

That said, hopefully we can come up with a third W before Point returns, because he drastically improves their lineup.

Moment I knew it was over: tie game with 5 minutes left, Kreider skates to a loose puck in the neutral zone right on Tampa's blueline. All playoffs long, he turns the jets on, blows around that defender, and drives to the net. He did a limp-wristed shovel deep into Tampa's zone and immediately went for a change. That's when I knew we weren't playing to win anymore. 

Also, something this team has done previously is rebound hard after shitty games (see Games 6 and 7 after Gallant said we looked tired in Game 5 against Carolina).

Much more passive this game. Makes me worried for the third period. This might be one we have to "survive" rather than win.

MAKE THAT 17 AND 1 FUCKHEADS

Let's GOOOO boys

So I've posted on here before about one our family's silliest of hocus-pocus good luck charms. During the run in 1994, I got a bunny doll for Easter. I thought the name Zubov was funny, so he was named Zubov. He became a rally symbol, and you shook him at the screen so his ears flopped whenever the Rangers scored or needed luck. He's been shaken so many times over the decades that you can see his stitches. He lives in the Rangers stein when he's not in action. I refused to break him out against Pittsburgh or Carolina. The question is: are the ECFs high enough stakes for Zubov to come out of retirement???!!

Obviously, Zubov the Bunny has seen better days. What say you? Does he come out now? If you analogize this to the ECFs against NJ in 1994, then the answer is hell yes. But if we have any shot at a Cup, I might need to save the magic for when we NEED it. 

2 minutes ago, Keirik said:

Friday is going to be so effing sweet when we mop the floor with Tampa and end that nonsense silly streak of there’s while keeping our home win one. 

I want to believe we can do this, but a lifetime of disappointment will jade anybody. The stat that really matters here is one Cup in 81 years. 

That said, I will note the following:

(1) I feel like this team has more heart to it than ANY of the Lundqvist era rosters. Remember when our team toughness was Tanner Glass? Tampa tried to send a message at the end of the game and Reaves....well....Reaves just laughed. I laughed with him. 

(2) I keep seeing pundits saying in literally EVERY series we've played so far that our bottom six is sorely outmatched. By Pittsburgh. By Carolina. By Tampa. Tell me: what is so bad about the Kid Line and Motte/Goodrow/Reaves?

(3) Speaking of the Kid Line, it's nice to see that it wasn't just the forwards. That play doesn't happen if 24 year old Fox doesn't do a basketball jump to keep it in Leetch-style, and what a seamless pass from K'Andre.

(4) We might be "ahead of schedule," and maybe we drop Game 2 in truly embarrassing fashion. All of the experts are saying the Lightning are 18-0 after a loss and we will likely lose the next 4 straight. But we're finding ways up and down the lineup. Let's not forget that Motte opened the scoring against Carolina. That Strome whiffed on a golden opportunity, and then buried with a laser seconds later. That Vatrano knocked a puck OUT OF MID-AIR on a two on one and then scored. Kreider chased Jagr's single season goal record, and Zibanejad is putting on a clinic ever since Games 5-7 against Pittsburgh. He's putting to rest any doubts of whether he can hang in that Top 10 tier. He's not MacKinnon, McDavid, or even Draisaitl. But he is SOUNDLY within that next tier at this point. Stop him and Kreider? Sure....have fun stopping Panarin and Copp. Stop them too? Okay, how's the Kid Line pinning Sergachev in his own zone for 2.5 minutes sound?

(5) Igor does all the little things well. It's like his pads have Velcro. No rebounds. And the blocker saves to get the puck to the boards to clear the zone. Like....WTF. The mental poise and acuity to have the wherewithal to do that in the moment is insane. 

(6) Both my dad and my uncle, lifelong Rangers fans (God rest their souls), said the same thing my grandfather, Papa Tom (a Brooklyn bus driver), used to say all the time: there's nothing more dangerous than a team believing in its own magic.

If we can take tomorrow night, sign me up for the believer category. Right now, file me under "cautiously optimistic but largely fatalistic due to history."

We scored 1 goal each of the first two games against Carolina. We've scored 17 in the last 3. 

Dare I believe?

I'm stunned 

Imma scared

All I say is this: every game we've played in their building was a nail biter for them. Every game they played in ours was a dominant showing for us. How we've only managed one goal in Carolina every game is beyond me. 

That said, I think we have to get in their faces early. It's clear they can't play the buffoonery game with us. A couple hits and some grind and they freak out. Come out the way we did in Game 1 against the Pens and we have a shot. 

Carolina has to lose at home eventually. Whether Game 7 is that game, I have no idea. The Game 1 whiffs really sting right now, but as people have pointed out already, every team has blown chances. It's what you do when your back is against the wall that matters.

My gut feeling is that we play a close game but lose a heartbreaker late or in OT, but I'd honestly rather lose 10-0 than lose like that. I just don't see any way after Game 5 where we were absolutely smothered offensively that we can take one in their building, especially with Panarin and Kreider being largely invisible if not outright bad (in Panarin's case, the turnovers have been pretty egregious). 

BUT....Ben Bishop shut us out at MSG in a Game 7. A goalie playing as well as Shesterkin can steal a game. Really anything can happen, but we gotta get on the board early and get over the 1 goal hump. If we can score two goals by the time the second period ends, I might be a believer. 

This is the second youngest team in the league. Everyone is singing Vasilevskiy's praises, but he has a seasoned defense in front of him and a team that's not prone to coughing up golden opportunities. Before we anoint him the better playoff performer, let's see what Igor does when his defense has an average age over 25. 

I'm proud they've even forced a Game 7 after having to come back from down 3-1 against Pitt and after everyone saying the Canes would sweep. These guys are eminently beatable. I just don't know if we want it bad enough yet to do it. 

No matter what, we've come further than anyone would've predicted, and gained some huge experience. The fact that we're even in a position to move on to the ECFs when everyone on this board deemed everything after the Penguins as "just gravy" is incredible. This is exactly the type of run a young team needs before they eventually win it all. Just an incredible season for this team all around. The experience alone has been worth it. 

Remember the salty Penguins fans? Canes in 4? Yeahhhhhhh.....about that...

Far from over, winner of Game 5 likely takes the cake. And it may be Carolina's time after getting bounced last year but winning Metro this year. But no matter what happens, this is our first playoff foray in 5 years. The success so far is incredible. Igor is gonna be doing what Vasilevskiy is doing when the D in front of him has an average age over 24. The crazy thing is we're just going to keep getting better.

This has been just a weird series from the get-go. Game 1 never should've gone to OT. I don't know where we were at all in Games 3 and 4 and Shesty got lit up. But like, this team shows stretches of dominance that Pittsburgh doesn't. Yeah, they've run up the score on us, but due to bad turnovers and below average goaltending. We've never looked outclassed so much as hapless. Same cannot be said for them with our second period rallies. 

Remember the first 20 minutes of Game 1? Remember the 60 minutes of Game 2? Remember the second period rallies? We can dominate this team at will. The issue is the "at will" part. 

Playing the way I know we can, this should be a blowout victory with all the momentum. But with this series' residual weirdness, I am anything but confident.