Playoffs Rangers-Lightning Round Three — General Series Thread

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, Cr00zng said:

In all fairness, tell that to the 'Canes, they didn't loose a game @home until their game seven in this year's playoff...

Right, so they weren't in trouble until they lost at home.

[Sharpshooter]

Anytime the ESPN crew mentions the Lightning are playing without Point, have a drink.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Sharpshooter

[Ozzy]

Just now, Sharpshooter said:

Anytime the ESPN crew mentions the Lightning are playing without Point, have a drink.

 

...Gotta add that one!!

 

@josh  I have to add the "Igor drops his stick" as well.  I didn't forget!

[Cash or Czech]

Should we even feel comfortable if we have a series lead? We never had a series lead against the Pens or the Canes. Best of three with home ice advantage? I'll take that all day. LETS FUCKIN GO.

 

Hopefully two extra days of rest gets Strome back. If Blais can actually play 10 minutes on the 4th line and provide some energy, that'd be amazing. It's wishful thinking but we really need someone other than Laf who finishes checks. After the first series we've gone a bit soft. Reaves is getting exposed, taking penalties, and is too slow. Would love him to 'release us' in a fresh suit and then chill in the press box. Fingers crossed on Chytil too because we need to keep the kids together. 

[RangersIn7]

Did anyone think this wasn’t legitimately a 6 or 7 game series?

[Phil]

6 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

Did anyone think this wasn’t legitimately a 6 or 7 game series?

Before the series started? No. After they took games one and two and took a two-goal lead in game three? Yes.

 

I thought they had a real chance to split in Tampa and come home to win it in five. Now I think it's gonna take the full seven, as I initially thought.

[RangersIn7]

3 minutes ago, Phil said:

Before the series started? No. After they took games one and two and took a two-goal lead in game three? Yes.

 

I thought they had a real chance to split in Tampa and come home to win it in five. Now I think it's gonna take the full seven, as I initially thought.

Yeah… but I think maybe we all got teased a bit.

 

I didn’t think they’d win Game 3 as I simply didn’t think Tampa would lose 3 straight.

And once they won Game 3, I thought Tampa would find a way to win Game 4.

 

I still like Rangers chances in the series.

 

I think they wake up and play a very strong Game 5 at home. 

[Gravesy]

1 hour ago, Capt said:

 

Pretty simple.  The fans have been here forever the players have been here for a couple of years.  The fans have lived the Rangers past while the players have not.  For myself I've been a diehard fan for 40 plus years.  I know all too well that game 3 and the way we lost is typical Rangers and a defining moment in losing the series.  We let them off the mat and it will take a unRangerlike performance to turn this tide.  100 years of Rangers hockey proves one thing.  This team in fact does not handle adversity well and in turn the fans don't either.  We could be Tampa fans and have faith because their team has actually given them reason to have faith.  

 

I get it this is a different group of players but it's the same fans.  You don't get to just erase 100 years of futility and then bash the fanbase for not believing.  Because this whole believe mantra on here is fake as shit.  No "real" fan will ever believe in this team until this team starts winning in mass.  Much like how the Red Sox ended their curse then won and won again.  

 

What should be said is that the fans have hope.  I have hope that someday the Rangers will win it all.  94 was great but does it really have to last a lifetime?  I was 18 years old at the time and I'm grateful to have seen it.  I will always have hope and this fanbase is loaded with it.  It's a great fanbase that stands by their team that let's them down every single year but 1 in 100.  So people should get off their high horse thinking they are somehow better fans because they react differently to another looming letdown.  Some fans rant about the team others rant about other fans.  It's the same thing, frustration due to futility.  

I don't think I'm a better fan than anyone else. 

I just think the doom and gloom is ridiculous at this stage of the playoffs.

I think some of the stuff being said about last nights performance is a bit embarrassing and hysterical.

I was also a fan in the 90's, but I'm able to compartmentalize the fact that this is a completely new and different team who has exceeded expectations all year long and come back from the dead twice in the playoffs. And I don't have to carry the Rangers painful history on my back like a ton of bricks, because why would I? The post mortem will come when or if it comes.

[-ERIK-]

Really hope Strome is good to go next game

He was skating good in warm ups, maybe one more day of rest.

[Flynn]

This team looked as bad as any beer league team (who drank copious amounts of Busch Light pre game) when they played Carolina in game 5.. With that in mind.

 

1. Last night was not as bad as Game 5 in Carolina, close, but not as bad. 

2. We have home ice.

 

Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor? Your goddamed right it wasn't!!

 

 

 

[Gravesy]

7 minutes ago, Flynn said:

Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor?

[RichieNextel305]

You almost have to look at Tampa in this way: Like a Floyd Mayweather. They’ll come out, feel you out, figure you out, make adjustments. The one thing no one has ever been able to do to Floyd Mayweather (or to Tampa the last few years) is figure out a way to rebound and deliver the KO blow.

 

We have the guys to do it. We just need to make adjustments and show up for 60.

[RichieNextel305]

Strome and Chytil are both game-time decisions for Game 5 per Gallant.

[LindG1000]

So, let's start with the obvious. Sucks to lose game 3 as we did, but Tampa just did what Tampa does - hold serve and look good doing it. They're the champs for a reason - and they showed it. They got the matchups they wanted, the pressure they wanted, and a little bit of good luck for the two wins. No such fortune tomorrow night. We have home ice, and as @Pete said earlier - it aint a series until someone loses on home ice. We're very alive and we're okay, even if it's disappointing to not come home up 3-1 as we probably should have.

 

The not so obvious stuff? Man, this is a fucking crazy way to get re-introduced to the ebbs and flows of the playoffs. We didn't have the part where we make it and get walloped. We didn't have the part where we got to get psyched for an entire offseason and think about "building on last year" and setting the high expectations to meet, or picking up that UFA that's going to push us over the top. We just went balls deep into the playoffs, hit the ropes, punched back hard enough to win, went up against the toughest team in our division and did it again, and then defended home ice against the two time champs. This is the shit they write Disney movies about, people. On top of that, it's almost unfair to suddenly jack up our hopes as high as they've gone this season. None of us thought this was possible even 10 weeks ago, and almost all of us thought we were dead in the water around a month ago. 

 

Just enjoy this. 

[RichieNextel305]

I’m going to make a bit of a prediction here and say that we are going to see Sammy Blais play tomorrow night.

[BrooksBurner]

1 hour ago, LindG1000 said:

So, let's start with the obvious. Sucks to lose game 3 as we did, but Tampa just did what Tampa does - hold serve and look good doing it. They're the champs for a reason - and they showed it. They got the matchups they wanted, the pressure they wanted, and a little bit of good luck for the two wins. No such fortune tomorrow night. We have home ice, and as @Pete said earlier - it aint a series until someone loses on home ice. We're very alive and we're okay, even if it's disappointing to not come home up 3-1 as we probably should have.

 

The not so obvious stuff? Man, this is a fucking crazy way to get re-introduced to the ebbs and flows of the playoffs. We didn't have the part where we make it and get walloped. We didn't have the part where we got to get psyched for an entire offseason and think about "building on last year" and setting the high expectations to meet, or picking up that UFA that's going to push us over the top. We just went balls deep into the playoffs, hit the ropes, punched back hard enough to win, went up against the toughest team in our division and did it again, and then defended home ice against the two time champs. This is the shit they write Disney movies about, people. On top of that, it's almost unfair to suddenly jack up our hopes as high as they've gone this season. None of us thought this was possible even 10 weeks ago, and almost all of us thought we were dead in the water around a month ago. 

 

Just enjoy this. 

 

Well said. I'm personally enjoying every second. It's been magical looking forward to watching each and every game. I woke up this morning not feeling bitter about the game last night. I woke up believing the team will set things straight tomorrow on home ice. I've never seen such a large advantage to playing matchups on home ice as I have witnessed this year. It is truly incredible. We also might be pretty unlikely to get this deep into the playoffs next year due to cap and some expected roster turnover, so it will probably be a couple of years before they can load back up like they did this season. So again...enjoy and savor every last game this deep in the playoffs this year. 29 other teams in the league wish they just watched a 4-1 clunker in the Conference Finals to make it a 2-2 series and a best of 3 with home ice. Fans acting like we've lost the series is fucking    .

 

 

[Bugg]

6 hours ago, Sharpshooter said:

Anytime the ESPN crew mentions the Lightning are playing without Point, have a drink.

Patrick Maroon is the 2nd coming of Jesus crossed with Bobby Orr. or th perhaps the Rangers failed to take the body because they let up on the bolts' 4th line. 

 

Can live with the awfulness of Ferraro and McDonough, but for fuck's sake, enough with the vertigo-inducing camera angles. The high and wide shot has worked forever and doesn't need to be fucked with. And having the chick ask the coaches canned inane questions while the game is going on is dumb. 

[Bugg]

1 hour ago, RichieNextel305 said:

I’m going to make a bit of a prediction here and say that we are going to see Sammy Blais play tomorrow night.

Got to be a tough decision. The guy is a jack  of all trades like Goodrow, has Cup experience and has to be raring to go. But there's a huge gap between practice and games. Would err on the side a guy who hasn't played in that long is gonna be the freshest player on ice. 

[Bugg]

3 hours ago, Flynn said:

This team looked as bad as any beer league team (who drank copious amounts of Busch Light pre game) when they played Carolina in game 5.. With that in mind.

 

1. Last night was not as bad as Game 5 in Carolina, close, but not as bad. 

2. We have home ice.

 

Was it over when the German's bombed Pearl Harbor? Your goddamed right it wasn't!!

 

 

 

Is there a secret strip club with hot cheick and and an open bar til the sun comes up in Tampa near the visitors' hotel? 

[RichieNextel305]

7 minutes ago, Bugg said:

Is there a secret strip club with hot cheick and and an open bar til the sun comes up in Tampa near the visitors' hotel? 

From what I remember, there is a strip club all the way down Channelside Drive, not too far from the arena. 
 

Atleast it didn’t seem that far. This was 10 years ago and I was significantly fucked up. For all I know, we could have been in Jacksonville.

[LindG1000]

29 minutes ago, Bugg said:

Is there a secret strip club with hot cheick and and an open bar til the sun comes up in Tampa near the visitors' hotel? 

It's highly likely. Tampa supposedly has the highest density of strip clubs per square mile in the USA. It's one of their claims to fame.

[Karan]

2 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

I’m going to make a bit of a prediction here and say that we are going to see Sammy Blais play tomorrow night.

 

I'm not sure I get all the hype around Blais being some sort of savior for the Rangers. I'm probably in the minority but I don't put much stock in a 4th liner that'll play less than 10 mins being much of a factor in this series. The success of the Rangers in this series is going to hinge on it's best players being the best players (Zibanejad, Kreider, Panarin, Fox) and Shesty playing true to his Vezina form and 'stealing' a game or two. If we're hoping for a 4th liner to return to the line up after having not played any hockey for 8 months to help get us across the line, then we have pretty big problems. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Karan

[BrooksBurner]

4 minutes ago, Karan said:

 

I'm not sure I get all the hype around Blais being some sort of savior for the Rangers. I'm probably in the minority but I don't put much stock in a 4th liner that'll play less than 10 mins being much of a factor in this series. The success of the Rangers in this series is going to hinge on it's best players being the best players (Zibanejad, Kreider, Panarin, Fox) and Shesty playing true to his Vezina form and 'stealing' a game or two. If we're hoping for a 4th liner to return to the line up after having not played any hockey for 8 months to help get us across the line, then we have pretty big problems. 

The 4th line put us behind the 8 ball very quickly last night. They gave up the goal from poor back checking and took a penalty all within the first 7 minutes of the game. They were like two shifts in. In the regular season it’s not a huge deal. In the playoffs where everything is magnified it’s an important 8-10 minutes they play. Really, you just want nothing to happen when they are out there. More or less to give everyone else a breather. Anything positive they do outside of that is gravy, but it’s an absolute back breaker if they are giving up goals or taking penalties.

[Scott]

Good point for sure.

 

I do think the much bigger issue is not having scored a 5v5 goal for the last 2 games and 18 mins. 

[Pete]

2 hours ago, rmc51 said:

 

Well said. I'm personally enjoying every second. It's been magical looking forward to watching each and every game. I woke up this morning not feeling bitter about the game last night. I woke up believing the team will set things straight tomorrow on home ice. I've never seen such a large advantage to playing matchups on home ice as I have witnessed this year. It is truly incredible. We also might be pretty unlikely to get this deep into the playoffs next year due to cap and some expected roster turnover, so it will probably be a couple of years before they can load back up like they did this season. So again...enjoy and savor every last game this deep in the playoffs this year. 29 other teams in the league wish they just watched a 4-1 clunker in the Conference Finals to make it a 2-2 series and a best of 3 with home ice. Fans acting like we've lost the series is fucking    .

 

 

Thank you for joining me in one of the few folks here who can keep all of this in perspective. 

 

I for one I'm also tired of the endless complaining about the other teams fans, the other teams arena, Ray Ferraro's calls, Pat Maroon, etc.

 

Who fucking cares? Stop whining about shit that don't matter. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Pete