Brooks Blueshirts Are a Legitimate Threat to Get Out of the East

[Phil]

Quote

The Magic Number for clinching a playoff berth has been sliced to two points, they hold a six-point edge for home-ice advantage in Round 1, and do you know what? 

 

That with 10 games to go in the regular season, the Rangers just might be as good as their 46-20-6 record says they are. Might be as good as their record has said they’ve been pretty much all season. And that three-weeks plus away from the tournament, the Blueshirts are a legitimate threat to get out of the East. 

 

Quote

As the playoffs approach, the Rangers have focused on playoff-style hockey. The 30 shots they allowed on Tuesday marked the most they have yielded over the past eight contests in which opponents have gotten an average of 23 shots per. The nine games prior to that, the Blueshirts had permitted an average of 33 per — 10 more a game. 

 

If Shesterkin returned to form in this one, so did Adam Fox and his partner Ryan Lindgren. That nominal first pair has wobbled for a stretch. Since returning to play following the extended All-Star break, that pair had been on for 18 goals against at five-on-five while the K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba tandem had been on for 13. 

 

Quote

The Rangers seem quite content to stifle opponents rather than run-and-gun from the moment the puck is dropped. The Blueshirts might want to skill it up, but they’ve reared their game in a bit and have been more conservative and careful with the puck. 

 

They’re playing the kind of style that is prone to be more beneficial in the playoffs. They are playing the kind of hockey that makes it possible to dream what should be an impossible dream.

 

https://nypost.com/2022/04/08/rangers-look-like-legitimate-threat-in-east-entering-playoffs/

 

--

 

[BlairBettsBlocksEverything]

I don't think we're the best team in the east. With that said, I don't think there's a team in the league that we can't beat in a 7 game series. Doesn't mean we definitely beat every team in a best of 7. I just think we can run with some of the big dogs and we are trending upwards at the moment

[RangersIn7]

With Igor in net, the added depth, and some other pieces playing better, it is possible. Matchups could dictate their advancement.

 

Last night was encouraging but I’m interested to see how they play the rest of the way, particularly vs Carolina, as opposed to last night vs a Crosby-less Penguins team. 

[phillyb]

Let’s fucking go! With that being said, CAR still scares me. 

[Morphinity 2.0]

I said this in another thread, but I think with the way they play, they can beat any team in the division, maybe in the league. They've shown that on a regular basis. 

That doesn't mean it will be pretty or easy. They're scrappy and they're probably going to have to grind out all of their wins. That's fine though. Plenty of teams went deep scrapping out wins.

[RJWantsTheCup]

As long as they don't play the Islanders they have a chance.

[RichieNextel305]

All year, this team has risen to the occasion. They seemingly play their best against the best teams in the East. For example, look at the Atlantic. We are 9-2 against the 4 playoff teams there. That’s no easy feat. We’ve split 2 games each with DC and Carolina and have for the most part dominated Pittsburgh across 4 games when it comes to the Metro.

 

Listen, am I thinking this is going to be the year we do win the Cup? Nah, I don’t. I think other teams who have been on the same path as us, who have put in the time, may go and get it this year. “Gotta learn to walk before you can run.” That being said, as has been mentioned in this thread previously, I don’t think there’s a series we can be put in (aside from maybe Carolina; I want to see how we do the last 2 against them) where I’d go, “shit, we have no chance here.”

 

They lack experience, sure. But this team has talent, it has balls, it has depth, it has great coaching, it has elite special teams, elite goaltending and it now has figured out how to win playoff style games. They can beat you in a variety of different ways.

 

They are going to be an extremely tough out. And rest assured, as deep and as tough as the East is, there isn’t 1 team that would want be smiling at the thought of seeing us.

[Valriera]

This is true of any team in the east this year. It's historically stacked. Anything can happen. 

[ThirtyONE]

I don't know how the Rangers continue to get slept on. They could win the division for gods sake. I mean, I guess it's fine with me, but per last night's telecast and most national telecasts this seasons, you'd think they were lucky to be nearly 30 games over 500.

 

[RichieNextel305]

Every team in the East is going to finish north of 100 points.

 

Our franchise record for points in a season came in 2014-15, when we won the Presidents Trophy with 113 points. It’s possible we eclipse that total this year, which is wild, and it may not even win our division.

 

The East is just disgusting this year. The fact that all 8 teams have managed to all have the success they’ve had all season long is just remarkable.

[AliveIn94]

50 minutes ago, ThirtyONE said:

I don't know how the Rangers continue to get slept on. They could win the division for gods sake. I mean, I guess it's fine with me, but per last night's telecast and most national telecasts this seasons, you'd think they were lucky to be nearly 30 games over 500.

 

The Rangers are massively underrated while Shesty is slightly overrated to them, so the conclusion is a GOAT goalie performance is carrying a team that would be 15-20 in the standings if not for goaltending. Which is not true and discounts the massive steps forward by Trouba and Miller as well as more consistent bottom 6 play. I don't think it's quite like "apologizing" for a player being good, goaltending is critical in the postseason especially when most teams can lock down the game with the lead. To frame Shesty's skill as a weakness undermines the strides this team has made to be a consistent top 10/ top 5 team throughout the season, imo.

[BrooksBurner]

1 hour ago, ThirtyONE said:

I don't know how the Rangers continue to get slept on. They could win the division for gods sake. I mean, I guess it's fine with me, but per last night's telecast and most national telecasts this seasons, you'd think they were lucky to be nearly 30 games over 500.

 

 

That's because the story line of the Rangers being "Igor with an elite powerplay" became mainstream. While it was baked in some truth, that story is based on outdated information and has been flipped on it's head since the trade deadline.

 

Before Trade Deadline (63 games)

 

23rd in 5v5 goals for, 1.81 GF/game

10th in 5v5 goals against, 1.79 GA/game

26th in Shot Differential, -3.6/game (28.6 for vs 32.2 against)

 

We essentially played even at 5v5.

 

Post Trade Deadline (9 games)

 

11th in 5v5 goals for, 2.44 GF/game

15th in 5v5 goals against, 2.1 GF/game

4th in Shot Differential, +6.6/game (30.3 for vs 23.8 against)

 

We are at a much higher, and positive, goal differential at 5v5, and scoring significantly more. Shot differential is exponentially better. Goalie play is still good overall, but has certainly dropped off.

 

The "just Igor and PP" bit has been taken out back to the woodshed, but it's too late now to change the public perception. We won't get any love unless we actually win in the playoffs, playing this same brand of post trade deadline hockey. And I'm fine with that.

Edited April 8, 2022 by rmc51

[RangersIn7]

22 hours ago, ThirtyONE said:

I don't know how the Rangers continue to get slept on. They could win the division for gods sake. I mean, I guess it's fine with me, but per last night's telecast and most national telecasts this seasons, you'd think they were lucky to be nearly 30 games over 500.

 

It’s just cause of the goaltending. So many around the league are insisting it’s due to Igor completely carrying the team night in and night out, plus the power play. That doesn’t seem the case anymore at this point. 

[The Dude]

They are going to need all hands on deck. Building a 3rd line that contributes and adds continuous pressure offensively is going to make or break this teams chances.

 

Having a 4th line that can be trusted to play some minutes and not be a liability with stupid or lazy penalties is also something they potentially have here, IF Goodrow plays there. If he's on the 4th line, that means we can roll 4 lines consistently. It's  a completely different line that adds energy and pain in the ass factor, when he's on it. Although Goodrow centering the 3rd line is appealing,  I think that forces Gallant to shorten the bench. I feel that they really need to play everyone and not burn out the top 6. 

 

With that said, I hope Gallant doesn't burn out our top 2 D pairings. I wish they would stop playing Nemeth and go with Braun and Schneider.

 

If there's a hole anywhere or a weak point.  It's Nemeth being trusted in big spots (PK) and Hunt or Reaves being trusted to even take shift.

 

These last few things are small things. Not really something to be worried about. I'm not pinning allll the teams chances on Nemeth and 4th line garbage. I just think the Rangers need to believe in every player that dresses. That 3rd line really needs to take pressure off the top 6 though. 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2022 by The Dude

[Pete]

1 hour ago, RangersIn7 said:

It’s just cause of the goaltending. So many around the league are insisting it’s due to Igor completely carrying the team night in and night out, plus the power play. That doesn’t seem the case anymore at this point. 

A little loose math just to get a sense of change...

 

Pre-trade deadline: 5v5 GF 23rd, 5v5 GA 10th in the league

Post-deadline: 5v5 GF 12th, 5v5 GA 14th in the league

 

And...They're not even 100% healthy.

Edited April 9, 2022 by Pete