LindG1000

Is a Brett Howden breakout getting credited with a carom-off-the-legs goal and making three passes?

I think you'll see Rooney draw in and Howden play 3C. Get ready for MORE BRETT HOWDEN BABY.

We need to keep in mind how stupidly young this team is. Yes, we have two exceptional players in their primes w/Zib and Panarin, but the rest of the lineup can count their pubes on two hands. Doubly so when you go down the line of the mission-critical players for the long-term success of this franchise. Kakko and Lafreniere are just 19. Chytil and Miller just turned 21. Shesterkin is still adjusting to the NHL. Adam Fox is the exception to the rule right now, and goddamn, he seems to be beyond special. We should expect some level of inconsistency - perhaps almost maddening inconsistency at times. We're seeing that - we did not play excellent hockey against Pittsburgh by any stretch, but we absolutely deserved better than 1 point from those games. What's upsetting is that the inconsistency is coming from players who should not be inconsistent. We should expect better from Kreider, Zib, Trouba, Strome, and to an extent Panarin. What's worse is that when you have half your top 6 playing with that kind of inconsistency, you're going to have a domino effect down the lineup with matchups - doubly so on the road.

We like to have some fun with the lineups. Don't expect it every time, but because they all look the same, we occasionally throw a few Easter Eggs in there.

REGULAR SEASON GAME #5 — 1/24/21 at Location: PPG Paints Arena — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Time: 7:00 PM TV: MSG2, ESPN+ Radio: 98.7 FM, 107.1 FM, 710 AM, Sirius XM USEFUL LINKS: Coverage: @NYP_Brooksie • @BrettCyrgalis • @HartnettHockey • @RickCarpiniello • @ColinASteph • @vzmercogliano Team Official: @NYRangers • NYR on Instagram Official Team Websites: rangers.nhl.com • penguins.nhl.com GameCenter - here Standings: [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]RECORD:[/td] [td]1-2-1 (3 Points)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]POSITION:[/td] [td]7th East[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]RW:[/td] [td]1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]HOME:[/td] [td]1-2-0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]AWAY:[/td] [td]0-0-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]S/O:[/td] [td]0-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]LAST 10:[/td] [td]1-2-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]STREAK:[/td] [td]SO1[/td] [/tr] [/table] Team Statistics: [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]DIFF:[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GF/GP:[/td] [td]2.75[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GA/GP:[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]PP%:[/td] [td]19.1%[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]PK%:[/td] [td]75%[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Corsi For (CF)%[/td] [td]54.2%[/td] [/tr] [/table] Team Leaders: [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]Goals:[/td] [td]Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Artemi Panarin, Pavel Buchnevich (2)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Assists:[/td] [td]Phil Di Giuseppe (4) [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Points:[/td] [td]Artemi Panarin (5)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]+/-:[/td] [td]Brendan Smith, Phil Di Giuseppe, K'Andre Miller (+4)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]PIM:[/td] [td]Mika Zibanejad, Tony DeAngelo, Chris Kreider, Brendan Lemieux (4)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]TOI/G (D):[/td] [td]Adan Fox (23:47)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]TOI/G (F):[/td] [td]Artemi Panarin (21:50)[/td] [/tr] [/table] Starting Lineup:^ The Ghost of Chris Kreider A / Mika Zibanejad A / Alexis Lafreni?re Artemi Panarin A / Ryan Strome / Pavel Buchnevich Phil Di Giuseppe / Filip Chytil / Kaapo Kakko Colin Blackwell / Brett Howden / Kevin Rooney Ryan Lindgren / Adam Fox K'Andre "The Giant" Miller / Jacob Trouba A Brendan Smith / @NYRFan92360244 Tony DeAngelo ^ Subject to change Starting Goaltender: Igor Shesterkin [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]GS[/td] [td]2[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]REC[/td] [td]0-1-1[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]SV%[/td] [td].899[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GAA[/td] [td]2.95[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]SO[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [/table] Healthy Scratches: Jack Johnson, Brendan Lemieux Taxi Squad: Anthony Bitetto, Libor Hajek, Keith Kinkaid Injuries, Suspensions, Misc: None Standings: [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]RECORD:[/td] [td]3-2-0 (6 Points)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]POSITION:[/td] [td]5th East[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]RW:[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]HOME:[/td] [td]3-0-0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]AWAY:[/td] [td]0-2-0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]S/O:[/td] [td]2-0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]LAST 10:[/td] [td]3-2-0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]STREAK:[/td] [td]W3[/td] [/tr] [/table] Team Statistics: [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]DIFF:[/td] [td]-3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GF/GP:[/td] [td]3.33[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GA/GP:[/td] [td]4.25[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]PP%:[/td] [td]27.8%[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]PK%:[/td] [td]73.7%[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Corsi For (CF)%[/td] [td]53.3[/td] [/tr] [/table] Team Leaders: [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]Goals:[/td] [td]Sidney Crosby (3)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Assists:[/td] [td]Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust (3)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]Points:[/td] [td]Sidney Crosby (5)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]+/-:[/td] [td]Jared McCann, Chad Ruhwedel, Bryan Rust, Kasperi Kapanen (+1)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]PIM:[/td] [td]Jake Guentzel (6)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]TOI/G (D):[/td] [td]Kris Letang (26:59)[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]TOI/G (F):[/td] [td]Jake Guentzel (20:08)[/td] [/tr] [/table] Starting Lineup:^ Jake Guentzel / Sidney Crosby C / Kasperi Kapanen Jason Zucker / Evgeni MalkinA / Bryan Rust Jared McCann / Mark Jankowski / Brandon Tanev Colton Sceviour / Teddy Blueger / Evan Rodrigues Brian Dumoulin A / Kris Letang A John Marino / Cody Ceci Pierre-Olivier Joseph / Chad Ruhwedel ^ Subject to change Starting Goaltender: Tristan Jarry [table=width: 300, class: grid, align: center] [tr] [td]GS[/td] [td]3[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]REC[/td] [td]1-2-0[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]SV%[/td] [td].821[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]GAA[/td] [td]5.28[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]SO[/td] [td]0[/td] [/tr] [/table] Healthy Scratches: N/A Taxi Squad: Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau, Drew O’Connor Injuries, Suspensions, Misc: F Zach Aston-Reese [iR] — Shoulder; Out since Jan 2 D Zach Trotman [iR] — Knee; Out since Jan 12 D Mike Matheson [iR] — Upper-body injury; Out since Jan 16 D Marcus Petterson [DTD] — Upper-body injury; Out since Jan 18 D Juuso Riikola [DTD] — Upper-body injury; Out since Jan 18 QUOTE(S) TO NOTE: [table=width: 630, align: center] [tr] [td=align: center] "“I think it’s part of our learning curve. We have to understand situational hockey. You know, we’re up 3-1 and a lot of good things are happening, and we didn’t really understand the moment. With six minutes to go (in the second), we’re still doing things like we’re down 3-1, and it came back and bit us. … It’s part of our learning curve. We’ve got to understand, when we’re up 3-1, there’s a certain way to play. We certainly didn’t do that." [/td] [/tr] [/table] — David Quinn on blowing a 3-1 lead Wash your hands, you Fil-thy Animal:

It's either ADA being an idiot, or some idiot pretending to be ADA. Either outcome is plausible, but there is an idiot behind that twitter account no matter what.

Woof. That's....a lot for PLD. A lot a lot. He's a good enough player, but even 1:1 with Laine...that would have been too much, IMO. Laine and Torts is a question mark, but Torts has had his fair share of offensively gifted stars that he had to work with. I think he'll figure it out. Roslovic is an underrated piece here - he's precisely the sort of guy Torts would figure out turning into a top 6 player. What a hilarious bit of schadenfreude for the GMs, though. Two players looking for bigger stages get swapped to equally "get me the fuck out of here" places. Probably not the end of the saga for either of these two.

At some point you have to feel for the fans. Every decent player this team pulls in tries like hell to get out.

This is the closest I've ever seen to Torts basically saying "fuck it, I'm out of ideas here". Wildly out of character for even his feistier days. Have to imagine PLD isn't long for Columbus.

Holy shit, their defense might actually be worse than ours.

Fox on PP1, it seems.

We'll have a solution soon. The Rangers have a monster advantage in that they're cash rich at a time where most of the league is cash poor, they're youth asset-rich at a time where the rest of the league is looking for "cheap and effective", and they're not really in much cap trouble. They could basically cash-bully a team with an offer sheet (not that they ever happen) if they really wanted to. It won't be Nathan MacKinnon (unfortunately), but it'll be someone who can at least hold toe with Zibanejad circa 2018.

PLD is a real good player - don't get me wrong - but right this moment he's a solid top 6 C, even if the Jackets seem intent on playing him as much as Boone Jenner for some fuckin reason. The Jackets seem to want - and the hockey community writ large - a 1C caliber package here, and if that's the case you need to be absolutely sure he jumps up to the next level. If they're willing to do a hockey deal kind of thing, and something like ADA and a 1st does the trick? Great. If PLD is willing to take a discount on the contract extension to facilitate a trade? (less Aho, more Larkin) Also great. Happy to do it. The thing I keep coming back to is that for the kinds of packages and prices being thrown around here (roughly the 3 1sts equivalent plus the contract), you could probably get a more certain player on a more certain contract.

Honestly didn't want to say Avery. Lack of a better comparable is a real thing here (and Brendan was and still is pretty frequently compared to his dad with regard to play style, even if his dad was more skilled offensively). I'm not saying he's going to be a 25/25 guy who anchors your PP1 from the front of the net. I'm saying that he can be more than a Hollweg/Kaleta/JAG if he plays like he did against the Devils with consistency. Stuff like that - blocking shots, making defenders think twice, getting in deep and digging pucks out - that's real value for a player like him to provide.

The Lemieux that showed up in the last 40 minutes of the Devils game is a Lemieux that can play on any line on my team. You kind of forget that he was a borderline 1st round player for more than being a pain in the ass sometimes. If he wants to start being less of a Patrick Kaleta and more of - for lack of a better comparable - his dad? Fine by me. I'll look forward to it.

The problem, so to speak, with PLD is that you don't really know what he is. Much as I dislike Puck Soup sometimes, they had a real good back-and-forth about this, and they're right. If you're going to trade for this guy, and presumably give him some 7-8 years and some 50-60 million dollars, you need to know what he is. You can't give him that for what you think he's going to be. Even if you drill it down to folks reasonably in his age bracket - he's absolutely not in the same breath as McDavid, Matthews, MacKinnon, Eichel, Draisaitl. He's not yet proven he can run with the Ahos and Points and Barzals and Barkovs of the world. Maybe he's proven to be as good as Dylan Larkin? Or Bo Horvat? And that's the core of the problem. If CBJ sees him as an Aho or a Barkov, and you pay up as if he's an Aho or a Barkov, and then you hand him a contract as if he's an Aho or a Barkov, and then he plays like Bo Horvat or Dylan Larkin, or ...well, that's a pretty big sacrifice to have made. If you've turned around and given a 2021 1st, a player like Filip Chytil (for example), a prospect that's a former 1st rounder (I'd imagine CBJ would be targeting a Kravtsov or a Lundkvist), probably another piece of moderate consequence, plus the cap space, and it turns out you've not only overpaid on the trade by at least one solid piece, but also the contract by multiple millions? That's a real hard pill to swallow. Really looking at it - is his output that different than, say, Max Domi's aside from being a center? Should that trade set the price we start at?

Breathe, jerks.

I think the Kakko group writ large had a good game. It's maddening watching Kakko fling some of those shots, and it's even more maddening watching PDG do ECHL things, but they controlled play well, and Kakko made a few really strong defensive plays. That's a group I'd have expected to be more pinned in their zone. I dislike their inability to turn control and good defense into offense. I'd like to see better situation management for those two and Chytil. They've got more to offer. I wonder if getting Kakko and Chytil with Kreider helps some - and that lets Laf play up with Zib.

I think we're hitting on the right things here. It's a question of consistency, imo, and some stubborn coaching. Strome and Kreider are struggling. A lot. And that's fine for game 3, but it's also not okay to roll those two out on a critical power play when your team is down by 1 and they're playing like that. Doubly so when you have a couple of guys (Buch, Chytil, Lemieux, Kakko) having pretty damn strong games. And yes, Kakko had a good game yesterday in spite of getting almost no ice time. Trouba had his worst game as a Ranger. Lindgren might have as well. On the other side of it - give me that Lemieux every day. If the coaches can make him do that in every game, he's immediately 10x more useful. Give me net crashing Chytil every game. Give me an oddly defensively confident Kakko every game. And for fucks sake, give me more Lafreniere. Don't do to him whatever we did to Kakko last year. Assuming Zib is in, I'm rolling some new lines next time out. We have to get Kreider and Strome some confidence back. We have to get Chytil, Kakko,.and Laf a better chance to impact the game.

If Buch plays like he did against the Isles on Saturday with regularity, I'm happy to give him the exact deal Bjorkstrand just signed. Probably wouldn't even blink.

CBJ are a team to watch. They're off to a poor start in a poor division, and might be like to blow it up - especially if they're right and truly fucked this season. Foligno is a classic rental piece, as is Riley Nash. David Savard probably fits that mold too. I'd imagine there would be good interest in someone like Boone Jenner or Max Domi too. What's worse is that their defensive prospect cupboard is pretty much bare, and their offensive cupboard is pretty damn close to it. They've graduated the bigger names on offense, (Texier, Bemstrom, Foudy) with really just Marchenko and perhaps Chinakhov to go, and I think either of them is probably multiple years off. We could just deal from the strength of our prospect pool and give them, say, Robertson, Kravtsov, Reunanen, and a 1st. That probably puts three NHL-ready bodies on their team in October.

The Nash deal might be a tad heavy value-wise. That was two young mid-six centers (Dubinsky, 25, and Anisimov, 23) - both of whom were coming off roughly .5 ppg seasons, plus a top prospect (Tim Erixon was probably a top 5 prospect in the system at the time), plus a 1st - and the return was a 27 year old coming off five straight 30+ goal seasons on a club that flat-out could not score outside of him. PLD is a center, and he's young - that certainly helps push his value. I'd guess that in this sort of deal, Chytil is the centerpiece. The Rangers would probably want to deal a prospect from a place of strength, so I'd guess someone like Robertson goes. The first is non-negotiable here. I do that. I don't love trading Chytil, but with the return being PLD, it's hard to complain.

Torts shoots straight, but I doubt Torts just goes out and gives the actual reason because I'm certain it's either team or city damaging.

I'm pretty sure that the analytics people have concretely said that blocking passes by taking the one-knee approach is asking for unnecessary randomness.