Br4d

Nah, he's too old and wouldn't move the needle on the ice. Well, now that I think about it he definitely would have a pulse on every shift and that's more than you can say for half the top 6 these days.

Rangers now multiple games out of playoff position. I'm worried.

WTF... It's like the Rangers went into sleep mode there. Can't lose this game after being up 3-0.

Yes. Laffy would get to play with 2 of the Rangers 3 best skaters in compensation for playing off-position at RW.

I might wonder why the kid line is not moved up to 2nd line in that lineup. Vesey - Trocheck - Goodrow lines up pretty well as the third line.

Break up Kreider and Zibanejad. You almost have to do this at this point because it sets a lot of wheels in motion elsewhere in the lineup. Why are Panarin and Zibanejad not playing together given their evident synergy on the PP? Shouldn't the most valuable young prospect on the team get a shot with the two best players on the roster? That would be Panarin - Zibanejad - Lafreniere with Laffy getting compensated in a big way for having to move to RW.

100%. 7 goals in 6 games will get you to 0-6 pretty easily.

Miller's not the problem. His partner is the problem right now.

There's too much talent to be doing this every other night. GG needs to shake things up some. Panarin - Zibanejad - Lafreniere. Kreider - Trocheck - Kakko Blais - Chytil - Kravtsov/Gauthier Vesey -Carpenter - Goodrow

Bleah.

Panarin - Zibanejad should be a thing moving forward. Maybe put Lafreniere on the RW there and count on him getting chances with the other two.

The Ducks have 111 pts. Just saying... Oh and just to add the way things have been going this season this is a 3-1 loss with the Ducks getting a late empty-netter after the Rangers score 1 goal on 48 shots in the first 59:51.

Something is wrong with the chemistry on this team. There's a passivity when the top 6 are out there that is hard to fathom. I really would prefer the kid line was mostly in the top 6 on other lines but man they look like the only line with a pulse at times.

Rangers woke up. 1st period looked like another dragging through the mud.

I'd be on this also but I love to watch the Rangers play and if I look at the score in the morning and it's a loss I won't watch. I'll look at the highlights but the game is dead to me as soon as the horn sounds on a loss.

I would kill for a guy who is regularly in the slot 15-20 feet from the goal and taking the damn shot when it comes his way. Nobody does that. When Panarin gets in there he passes the puck out, often getting somebody a shot but it is a much worse chance then the one he had if he had just unloaded when he penetrated. Zibanejad hangs by his spot and sometimes he gets the one-timer, which is great, but often he can't get it off and he winds up passing it down low to nobody who will shoot the damn puck or kicking it behind him to the point where we freaking rinse and repeat. Kreider? I don't even know what Kreider is doing this year but hanging in front of the net waiting for a deflection or setting a screen isn't happening as much as it did last year. The whole damn team is playing keep away in the offensive zone and then screwing up the shot at the end. I don't think I've ever seen a Rangers team that is as good at moving the puck in the offensive zone and I'm pretty sure I've never seen one as bad at finishing.

The on-ice play has been pretty dominant at times except for putting the puck in the net. The game we just saw should have been 5-1 Rangers. The Islanders game should have been 5-1 Rangers. There've been a number of other games this season where the Rangers had the lion's share of the puck and the shots and either just squeaked by or lost inexplicably. The backup goalie is like 0-5 largely due to this phenomenon. Halak should have a couple of wins at this point in the season but he keeps getting these dominant Rangers games where they can't put the puck in the net. The Rangers have scored 5 goals in his 5 starts while outshooting the opponent 175-139. That's insane. The opposing goalie has a 97.1 save percentage in his games.

The point GG made about the Rangers essentially getting lucky last year was a good one. That kind of luck does tend to revert towards the mean over time. However each game is an independent result and if the Rangers really are playing better than last year they should snap out of the funk as a product of all those individual play better events. I think I'm not going to get worried until the Rangers are multiple games out of playoff position and so far that has not been the case.

The Rangers stickhandle and pass the puck extremely well. Like Eurozone well. Nobody shoots the puck! 5v5 winds up looking like a powerplay in the offensive zone most of the time except nobody shoots the puck! Somehow this is all Panarin's fault. Haven't quite figured it out yet but I think everybody in the top 9 is trying to emulate Panarin's style and the bottom 3 would be also but their stickhandling and passing skills aren't quite up to the burden.

That was the most dominant almost loss that we've seen in at least a week. There's something deeply wrong with the chemistry on this team. Either that or they got lucky as hell last year and we're paying for it this year.

The empty net made a couple of good saves there but eventually the Rangers scored!

Panarin normally tries to do a little too much. These days he's trying to do a little too much^2.

That was a great look: is the puck in the net??! Why no, I have it right here in my glove...

Rah!

If the Rangers lose this game GG should draw lines out of a hat tomorrow night to try to shake things up.