Gravesy

31 minutes ago, Pete said:

I do think they should dress him.

 

But that's just my opinion and I can easily see the other side. They need goals, not sure he really helps with that. 

 

Despite what ESPN would have you believe, this game came down to Igor making two mistakes he probably will never make again, a bad bounce off Laffy stick, and a goalpost by Schneider.

 

The margin for error is razor thin. You just can't afford to make mistakes, and Rempe doesn't play mistake-free hockey. 

 

I would dress him.

 

But I don't know that the results would be any different if he played in game one. 

It almost certainly wouldn’t imo. When the top 6 is unable to play their game because of FLA’s relentless forecheck it’s extremely unlikely he makes a difference.

You probably do dress him for game 2 though, even if I’m highly doubtful it changes anything. 

Although his involvement in the 2nd was awful I don’t really see how you can possibly place any blame on the goaltender when the team scored 0 goals, generated next to no offense, had virtually no sustained pressure and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd lines were completely unable to deal with Florida’s fore check and neutral zone game plan. 
 

Totally agree the game was winnable though, and it’s honestly a slight positive that they were in the game all night long despite the above. No reason to get too down, it’ll be a long series. They obviously have to come up with a plan to drastically improve their breakouts though.

Man, it would be really enjoyable if the Oilers can pull this off.

But I'm pretty sure they can't, even with the Stars injuries piling up.

Dallas is just a total wagon.

42 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

45 minutes ago, siddious said:

And Rempe obviously 

And Chris Kreider.

Don't sleep on the Rangers potentially unleashing Blake Wheeler either.

I don't think we need to do the analytics thing all over again. 

An analytical model looking at who would win most of the time of you played the games a 1000 times (which I think is what Dom's model does) will very obviously favor the team that dominates possession, o-zone time and shots. That's hardly surprising. 

There's really no need to spend calories being upset about it. Apart from maybe the fact they're pretending it's actually worthwhile using that model to predict a 7 game series, when as statisticians they obviously know full well that it isn't. 

12 hours ago, Kick save and a beauty said:

I know the kid wants to play but if there is one team and situation in the league that is just too risky for Filip Chytil and his concussion history I think it is the Florida Panthers in the playoffs.

 

I hope I am wrong but I think that this team as a matter of general principles is going to hit anything that moves and if they get down I have zero doubts that they are fine with late hitting/dirty hitting their way to a win.  I am concerned that Chytil is not ready for that and may never be ready for that.

I mean, either he’s medically cleared to play NHL hockey or he’s not. His career is, or at least should be, over if we have to assess the level of physicality of each opponent before deciding to dress him. 
 

Sure, I’ll be wincing every time he takes a hit. You just have to trust he and the medical team know what they’re doing. Personally, in my non medically trained opinion, I think it’s pretty wild he hasn’t called it a day. But as long as he’s on the roster he’s either cleared to play anyone or nobody at all.

The Panthers are a really tough matchup, no doubt about it.

But my believe-o-meter is through the fucking roof after how they turned game 6 around against the Canes.

I believe in this team and coaching staff.

Rangers in 6.

22 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

The Jordan Staal play was a bad play. It was also one play. Miller-Schneider has been their best pairing. Taking a look at the opposition TOI to see if they've had favorable matchups, here's the lines with the most TOI minutes against:

 

Lindgren-Fox: Teravainen-Staal-Jarvis 38 min

Miller-Schneider: Guentzl-Aho-Svech 43 min

Gus-Trouba: Martinook-Drury-Necas 32-36 min

 

To say I'm perplexed by the Trouba/Schneider swap is an understatement given that it seems Lavi has been matching up Miller-Schneider against their best. Me no get it

I guess he’s trying to help our worst two D men, rather than having them paired up?

4 hours ago, Keirik said:

This is a good team. They are a good team. We won 3 in a row. They won 2 in a row. We will close them out. It's just not going to be easy. 

Yeah. Whatever folks told themselves at 3-0 up, this was always a series. The first 4 games were really tight affairs that could've gone either way. 

This is what a SC run looks like. They were never sweeping Carolina, and it was never going to be easy. Now they have to face some adversity, and if they are real contenders and not just regular season pretenders surfing on pure talent they will find a way to close it out. They are still in the driving seat here. 

If they can't and this was it for them it was all for nothing anyway. They came so close to sweeping the Canes, but you're not going to breeze past FLA and whoever comes out of the West without having to face major adversity along the way. 

If they go down like that we can start the post mortem. For now, they have two shots at winning the series. Strap in, buckle up, just go fucking do it. 

I play him in game 2 without question. 
I’m considering what to do with him for the two games in Raleigh though. They’ll be under severe pressure for stretches there and I’m not sure he moves well enough to hang in those games. 

I think that game was a pretty spot on example of why analytics favour the Canes, and why it might not matter.

Sure, if you play that game 100 times, there’s a good chance the Canes win more games than the Rangers given the possession and o-zone numbers. 
But we’re not playing them 100 times, it’s best of 7. And as long as Igor outplays Andersen, the Rangers special teams are clearly superior and the Rangers big stars take their chances it’s pretty clear that the Canes statistical dominance 5v5 and strong possession numbers might not be enough to win. 
It got a bit hairy at the end. But my feeling for 58 minutes of hockey was that I could clearly see why they’re favoured by analytics models, and I could clearly see how the Rangers overcome it.

4 hours ago, Valriera said:

Great series. You can only beat the team in front of you and we did just that. Now the team needs to enjoy the rest and hope Carolina gets beat up more by the isles. 

Yeah, I was just coming in to say this.

Really professional and a job well done.

Sure, this Caps team is about as bad a team you’ll ever face in the playoffs. The games weren’t played at proper playoff pace and ultimately we learned little from the series.

But historically the Rangers would always find a way to allow this to become a series. The fact they came in, did their jobs and swept the Caps without getting out of 2nd gear is a big positive for me. Tells you that their heads are screwed on right this time.

6 hours ago, Valriera said:

3 pts, hits, everything, amazing so far, keep it up kid

And came flying, I mean literally flying, in to Panarins aid after he took Oshie's head off. Magnifique.

7 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

He stinks. Ignore him. Keep swallowing offensive zone time. Score goals. They create as much off the rush as I do in the bedroom. Just keep it moving. Get your goals. Dust this team. They stink.

Yeah.

I'm well aware cashing in Ranger wins prematurely is fucking dumb, but the Caps are completely overmatched all over the ice, on special teams and goaltending. If they keep their heads they should dispatch this team with relative ease. 

Excellent start, thought it was a really professional performance by a clearly superior team.

1 hour ago, Bieser said:

I'd rather not play Tampa. 

It's this. 

Grizzled vet team, more experience than anyone in terms of what it takes to win in the playoffs, and Kucherov on absolute fire. 

I'd still have the Rangers as clear favorites and I don't really fear anyone, but I expect Tampa to make a series out of it against whoever they get.

The other teams we could get I really don't see doing that. 

When Zib scored his 2nd a Sam voice popped up in my head and said

"MIKA ZIBANEJAD - IT'S A 5V5 GOAL!"

7 hours ago, Pete said:

Disappointed with how far Roslovic fell off but agree it's looking like anyone in that position is suffering the same fate. 

 

Line needs a volume shooter and not someone who tries to "play off" the two of them. That, or split them up.

 

Cuylle Zib Roslovic

Kreider Wennberg Kakko 

I'd like to see that too.

However, I think some of this is looking at that line as our 1st line the way it used to be. If you look at it as the 2nd line, you have a 2C with around 70 points and a 2LW on 40 goals whilst handling consistently tough matchups. Granted, it's heavily PP driven and you'd like to see them do more 5v5. But given you have a 1st line firing on all cylinders that's probably not disastrous for a 2nd line compared to the rest of the league (I haven't actually checked this). 

10 minutes ago, Pete said:

I can't figure out why a team like Montreal would give up FOUR first round picks for this guy. That would set their team back decades, given that their latest first overall pick is not exactly lighting it up. 

They clearly won’t. That seems ludicrous.

14 hours ago, Pete said:

Nothing weird about it. Nobody has the ability to predict how many more points he'd have. You have some people here saying 15, another group saying 30.

 

It's weird to say no one (especially here) can predict the outcome of something that hasn't happened?

 

 

I mean, that's fair, but that's not really what you've been arguing in this thread is it. Unless I'm grossly misremembering (apologies if so, can't be bothered reading back) your angle has pretty consistently been to cast doubt about whether PP1 time would significantly improve his production. I agree there's a range of outcomes in terms of how much it would be increased and nobody can say for certain, but unless you think he's so bad that his mere presence on PP1 would completely tank the unit something in the 10-20 range is an absolute given.

12 hours ago, Pete said:

Great question. 

 

I know he doesn't get a lot of power play time, but he's very unimpressive on PP2. That's why I don't buy any argument that he have X many extra points if he got PP time. 

This is such a strange take. Clearly, being on pp1 and pp2 is a completely different proposition. 
He’d have 15 more points merely by being alive and able to hold on to his stick. As it happens he’s a very good passer, good in front of the net and has a sneaky good shot on him. Of fucking course he’d be racking up points playing on pp1 with Fox, Zib, Panarin +1. It’s an absolute given.

Of course, none of those 5 deserve to lose their spot, and as good as Lafreniere’s been there’s no real reason to shoe horn him in there.

But the idea that regular pp1 time wouldn’t significantly boost Lafreniere’s production is a super weird hill to die on.

Kaapo O’Kakko 

6 hours ago, RangersIn7 said:

It’s the Hockey News.

But it’s also the Buffalo Sabres. 

My only problem with this is the wording really. 

"The Rangers taking calls on Kakko" reads as if they're seeing what they can get, with a view of getting rid of him I presume to regain some assets and recoup cap space. I don't like the sound of that.

"The Rangers actively using Kakko as a trade chip" sounds much better to me, i.e. we're willing to use Kakko in a deal to get someone who improves the team immediately. 

16 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

Vince mentions, as others have, the bad blood between the Rangers and Montreal front offices, thus making a deal for Monahan unlikely.

Is this really a thing? Genuine question. 

I could see it if there's a situation where the Rangers and another team have more or less the same offer on the table, and Gorton chooses not to do business with the Rangers. But if the Rangers have the best offer surely he has to take it? He's GM'ing that team on behalf of owners and a team president. Surely he can't refuse to take the best offer on the table on the grounds that "they were mean to me". 

So last night you have two redirections from in close. That's not on the goalie. 

The 4th goal is a microcosm of this team and why blaming goaltending is wide of the mark: Barbashev crosses our blueline, our D is backing into Shesterkin instead of challenging and he's free to take his shot. Shesterkin saves and, somehow, Barbashev is allowed to get on his own rebound. The rebound ricochets off the boards and straight back out and the New York Rangers are beaten to the puck for the 3rd time in a space of like 5 seconds, leaving Marchessault with an empty netter. You can blame goaltending if you want to, but you're looking in the wrong place. Even if, like I've said, Shesty is having a down year. 

11 hours ago, Pete said:

You know why? Because he used to cover up all the problems, and now he can't cover up any problems.

I think that's a pretty good way of putting it though. This team has no chance to go deep in the playoffs unless Shesty stands on his head.