BrooksBurner

Panarin - Zibanejad - Vatrano Lafreniere - Chytil - Copp Kreider - Strome - Kakko Motte - Goodrow - Hunt

I don’t tweet. And I know. I get it. I don’t know more than the guys putting this data together. Whatever.

A shot that has a low percentage of making it through to the net is a low percentage chance. Otherwise any limp wrister from the blue line with bodies in front, of which there were many last night, should be classified as high danger. The fact two (3 if you count Lindgren’s) made it through is luck, not from generating high danger opportunities.

That chart is bullshit. One of TB's goals was a high danger chance? Which floating, seeing-eye limp-wrister was a high danger chance?

I can agree with that on Kakko. Nice hands, challenges puck carriers pretty well, and in general if there's a loose puck along the walls I kind of like his chances coming away with it. I certainly don't dislike him. He's a fine player. Just don't know whether he's a 3rd liner or a 60 point 2 way top 6 player, and don't see him likely to be one or the other. It's closer to a coin flip to what he will be than what I think Laf will be.

Lafreniere has 28 in his last 54 games (playoffs included) averaging under 15 minutes a night and little PP time, and has looked great doing it while carrying the responsibility of not fucking up in big games. Hughes' 31 in 56 was with 19 minutes a night and top PP time, without having to give a shit about winning or losing. But I digress. There will be plenty of time to dig in this offseason.

Yeah I mean I get that. Comes down to eye test and educated gambles. Jack Hughes wasn’t producing that much even with top line minutes. But he passed the eye test and NJ gambled correctly. Miller passes the eye test and he’s a good 2nd pairing already. He’s the easiest one to lock up long term out of the bunch. Lafreniere is in the Hughes boat for me. He’s been passing the eye test for months now. I would consider extending him before next season even hits, especially if they plan on elevating his role which would equal more production. Kakko doesn’t pass the eye test nor does he produce enough. This is the type you bridge (or trade).

Wouldn’t that make both UFAs at the end of those contracts, 7 years of service (3 yr ELC + 4 year bridge)? I can’t remember if they also need to be 27 years old or not in order to be UFA.

I’d like to see him re-signed, but even if they wanted to I don’t see how it works out in Summer ‘23 at this point. Lafreniere and Miller need to be signed long term rather than bridged at that point, which is going to cost a lot more cap in the short term in order to save cap long term. That’s a relatively new development. I was thinking 2 year bridge type deals 3-4 months ago. Not anymore. Lock ‘em up.

Nah. It’s a crapshoot. Carolina is a much better 5v5 team than the Rangers, but they lost G7 and the series because the refs actually decided to call penalties that were penalties that night. There’s no rhyme or reason for it. It’s either luck with how a game is going to be called any given night, or willfull negligence. I’m not sure which it is anymore.

I don’t even think it was a miss from “choking”. The pass was behind him and he couldn’t quite reach back far enough to get solid wood on it when he swiped at it. But I do think he overskated too much and took himself slightly out of position to receive a pass. It is what it is. These still frames I am seeing come out that are disregarding both his momentum carrying him away from the puck and the puck moving away from him are incredibly disingenuous, and it’s really just being driven by people who have hated on Strome all year or longer. The open net miss against Carolina in G7 30 seconds before he wound up scoring was far worse and much more of a headscratcher. Hopefully he can redeem himself in similar fashion next game.

Motte would be a terrific 4th line signing if he's cheap enough. As solid as he is, you don't pay a 4th liner more than like $1.5M. We can't afford to. And he isn't more than a 4th liner. Not enough offensive prowess.

IDK man. That lacks context IMO. Tampa scored both their goals on shots from the same kinds of areas. They were just better at consistently getting bodies in front. So yes, this is what great teams do in big games, because a great team just did it to us.

I want to talk about the refereeing and it'll sound like sour grapes at this point, but I don't really care. The quality of calls, and lack thereof, clearly changed in this series starting in Game 3 when the Rangers made it 2-0 in the 2nd period of that game. It's been heavily tilted towards the other side. Soft calls in favor of Tampa. Non-calls in favor of Tampa. This game included. That's all I'll say I'll say about that. Yet the Rangers still had a good chance to win this game. Unfortunately they passed up too many prime shooting opportunities again, and the one time it actually made sense to do it, Copp's pass just missed Strome's stick for the potential winner. Meanwhile Tampa moved the puck up the boards to the point men, crashed the net, and flung pucks from the blue line to the net almost the entire 3rd period every chance they got. They understood how the game was likely to be won, and that's how it was won. Learning experience. Maybe not for us fans as we have seen it a bazillion times, but for this team it is. I sense a similar, tight game in game 6.

Tough game boys.

Not sure where Strome was skating to there. I mean he put himself out of position.

Unbelievable save by Vasy

You know Tampa’s game plan will continue to be to turtle and collapse around net. They are comfortable playing that game. The Rangers need to be careful not to force anything offensively. Take what’s given and do it with conviction, but don’t go balls to the wall on 50/50 pucks that give them numbers the other way…

McDonagh turned into a bit of a cunt since leaving here didn’t he

Rooney is such a useless player.

The defensemen need to stop fucking pinching so much right now. Can’t give up those odd man rushes in a muddy game like this.

They might start opening up, and that’s when the Rangers can strike.

Well done sir

Panarin looked way, way better to start this game.

Tampa only has like 3 shots on goal, but they were pretty much grade A chances. Plus 2 posts. The Rangers have left themselves a bit exposed to giving up odd man breaks as a result of an aggressive forecheck, which by the way was quite good. Rangers just have to be careful not to be lulled into a false sense of security that things are going their way just to give up an odd man break goal. Tampa has done that countless times. Turtle and wait for the mistake.