Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc

Well yes, they're playing a team sport. I don't get this argument? Do you say the same about Ovi and his one-timers on the PP? He scored the GWG three games ago, last game he got us going and gave the team life. First with a great tip and then screening the goalie for the 2nd. No one else on the team does that, not even close to it. Players play different roles on a team. I'm not gonna get mad at Panarin for not going to the net and screening goalies and I'm not gonna get mad at Kreider for not skating all round the O-zone trying to do things he can't do with the puck. He's reliable defensively and he scores loads of goals. At the end of the day that's all that matters.

So then he does more than just standing in front of the goal, actually a lot more. I can agree on that. Kreider pre-2021 was very frustrating because you could see the potential, mainly in his speed and size, but it felt like he refused to do it on a consistent basis. Now he might not have turned into exactly the player we envisioned and hoped for, but he's turned in to one of the more consistent scorers in the entire league and our leading goal scorer over the past 3 years. I think he deserves a lot of credit for finding his place and actually turning into a consistent and clutch player.

A bit contradicting, no? I would say that if a player isn't participating in the play, he is a liability. In a cap league a players salary is very important context when discussing a players productivity. How you perform relative to your salary/cap is all that matters really. You need most of the team to perform at or above their salary if you want to be successful.

This all boils down to you expecting wayyy too much of a 6.5m LW. You're over exaggerating hos "invisible" he is and he's not even close to being a liability in any way. If he did all what you wanted him to do + score 40-50 goals he would be close to the best player in the league and would demand double of what he makes now.

Saying Kreider does nothing else than score easy goals is so disingenuous. Just because he doesn't use his body like a wrecking ball it doesn't mean he's not doing anything. He's actually a good two-way forward, both the eye-test and underlying stats agree on that, he's got almost as many assists (33) as goals (39) this year. That's not including A LOT of goals that doesn't happen without him screening the goalie, something our entire roster hates/refuses to do. 39 goals, 33 assists, +17 for 6.5 million. Insane value.

Oh man I wanna know what went through his head the first 10 seconds. He looked mad af lol

Foxy!! There you go!

We get another chance. Shoot the puck now

Oh come on Mika, shoot the fucking puck

Kreider one away from 40. Let’s get it today

How can you not love Kreider? He makes it look so easy

«It’s too much horseshit, too much»

You’re probably right. Maybe I’ll just watch the Bruins-Canes game instead

I’ve done that after bad starts before and it sucks when they end up making a comeback.. if they get the next goal everything’s possible. 4-0 and it’s done tho

PK might be just what we need, time for a big shortie

Next goal… decides if I go to bed. 4-0 and I’m done

Holy shit this is bad

Timeout?

Shit… I’m not surprised tbh. Rangers refuse to have good starts against Isles, it’s the same every game. And this game means more to them. It’s as close to a must win as it gets.

Kreider having a rough few seconds there lol

Islanders playing like a team that must win, Rangers not so much.

In theory that's all fine, I have no problem with that either, the problem is that no team is winning a cup with mostly one line producing all the ES goals, it's just not sustainable in the playoffs. "0.8 p/pg Selke-level 2C" sounds great, but when you dig a bit deeper the numbers are more concering than that, primarily his struggles at scoring 5v5, which affects the entire line since Kreider is no playmaker and Drury decided to not go for a game-changer and just get another passanger on that line. I might sound overly pessimistic here, I'm not. I believe in Zib and I really think he'll get it done in the playoffs, but he needs to be better than he has for the past 70 games and that's just a fact. I'm not ready to Nash-ify Zibanejad just yet. He's good enough to produce offense without sacrificing the defensive side of the game, so I'm not gonna be okay with him performing below expected offensively just because he's a solid two-way forward.

So we're going into the playoffs expecting Panarin to keep his 0.58 G/PG and 0.88 A/PG (1.47 P/PG) while his career playoff average is 0.81 P/PG? That's a recipe for disappointment right there. We're not winning anything if Zibanejad (and his line) doesn't step it up in the playoffs. We're gonna need 2021 Zib (10 goals, 24 points in 20 games) and not 2022 Zib (1g, 4p in 7 games). We said the same about Fox and Shesterkin earlier in the season (and Panarin before the season). We're not winning anything unless our best and most important players (G, 1D, 1C + Panarin) are playing their best hockey in the playoffs. The other 3 are doing it right now, Zib needs to do the same.

Just 9 short of a career high now. Can he do it?

That’s my boy!