Playoffs Rangers-Devils Round One — General Series Thread

[jsm7302]

2 hours ago, Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc said:

Went to bed after Panarin missed that 3-on-1 by shooting the puck right into Shits' glove. Fluke goal in the 1st minute and Panarin doing Panarin Playoffs things, I knew how this would turn out.

 

But holyyy shit I didn't know it was possible to be this bad. Am I reading the box score right when it says 20-2(!!!) in SOG for Devils in the 3rd period? They gave up a shortie at the end of the 2nd, down 3 goals and that's what they perform in the 3rd? Gallant obviously deserves some blame here, but there's just no excuse whatsoever for that embarrassing effort in such an important time of the season. TWO SHOTS ON GOAL?!

 

I won't go full maniac before the season is truly over. After the 2nd period of game 1 I really thought they would sweep them. After game 2 I was sure they would. Now I'm struggling to see them score a goal. Playoff hockey is weird and it can change fast. Just win the first period of game 6 and we're right back in it.

 

That said, I'm struggling to see the way back in here. The offense is completely gone, everyone looks clueless and lost while the Devs look fast, dedicated and hungry. Kinda like the Rangers team from last year. You can say that Gallant needs to adjust, and he should (but won't), but I don't think the players would even listen to him. They do their own thing no matter what they're told. Gallant repeats "Shoot the puck and crash the net" before and after every game, but they're still doing the PASS PASS PASS TURNOVER thing every time they have O-zone possession. He tells them to dump the puck in and go for the forecheck, but they continue to try and carry the puck into the O-zone while doing some fancy bullshit move.

 

They've done it before so I don't want to count them out just yet, but this feels different for some reason...

Our boys look disinterested while the Devils are ON FIRE. Schmid could legit carry them through these playoffs. I never thought they were going to be as good as they are playing. Hughes is amazing, Bahl is playing his size, Haula is the piece this team is missing, Lindy Ruff may actually be a decent coach.....

[Gravesy]

Can the human mind imagine a goal more descriptive of the current state of affairs than the 3rd Devils goal? 

The game is in the balance.

The PP has already had a couple of opportunities without paying off, at which point the PP is 0-13 or something like that. 

We get back on the PP, and it starts with over passing the shit out of the puck. Two guys, I think Fox and Kane, pass up the most obvious shooting opportunities of all time, opting to instead try a fancy, cross ice pass - both too loose to cause any problems.

The puck ends up with Panarin, who dilly dallys on the blue line like a fucking moron, loses the puck and of course the Devils go straight down the ice and clinically dispatches the shorty to effectively end the Rangers chances.

I literally did this:

 

[RJWantsTheCup]

What a difference a week makes.  Last week we looked like world beaters.  This week we look like garbage.

[Pete]

15 minutes ago, Gravesy said:

Can the human mind imagine a goal more descriptive of the current state of affairs than the 3rd Devils goal? 

The game is in the balance.

The PP has already had a couple of opportunities without paying off, at which point the PP is 0-13 or something like that. 

We get back on the PP, and it starts with over passing the shit out of the puck. Two guys, I think Fox and Kane, pass up the most obvious shooting opportunities of all time, opting to instead try a fancy, cross ice pass - both too loose to cause any problems.

The puck ends up with Panarin, who dilly dallys on the blue line like a fucking moron, loses the puck and of course the Devils go straight down the ice and clinically dispatches the shorty to effectively end the Rangers chances.

I literally did this:

 

Dilly dally with the puck? That pass was a grenade, even Vally said so. It bounced one foot before it got to him and then hit him in the shin pads. I've seen better passes across the blue line from my kids Mite team. 

[Pete]

1 minute ago, RJWantsTheCup said:

What a difference a week makes.  Last week we looked like world beaters.  This week we look like garbage.

Well, one coach made an adjustment after two really bad games from his team. He mixed up the lines, and he deployed a new penalty kill and fore check. 

 

The other guy is Gerard Gallant. He just says things like the guys need to play harder. 

[Arty]

I know plenty don’t believe 11 would be a good coach but I know that as game 3 evolved he would have been spewing fire at any player not hustling. I also believe that players would respond

 

gallant on the other hand while Rome is burning seems to be thinking about sundry products to pick up after the game. He’s a goner

Edited April 28, 2023 by Arty

[RJWantsTheCup]

59 minutes ago, Pete said:

Well, one coach made an adjustment after two really bad games from his team. He mixed up the lines, and he deployed a new penalty kill and fore check. 

 

The other guy is Gerard Gallant. He just says things like the guys need to play harder. 

A normal coach might just figure out that they have to dump and chase and not carry the puck into the offensive zone at this point.   I wonder sometimes if Gallant watches the game at all?

[Gravesy]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Dilly dally with the puck? That pass was a grenade, even Vally said so. It bounced one foot before it got to him and then hit him in the shin pads. I've seen better passes across the blue line from my kids Mite team. 

I said that in the heat of the moment (watched it in the morning here local time).

Watched it back and agree with you. It’s 100% on Fox. 
The general point stands though, that goal is a microcosm of the Rangers last 3 games. A cavalcade of ineptitude.

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Gravesy said:

I said that in the heat of the moment (watched it in the morning here local time).

Watched it back and agree with you. It’s 100% on Fox. 
The general point stands though, that goal is a microcosm of the Rangers last 3 games. A cavalcade of ineptitude.

Totally agree, to be honest after the first one went in off of Fox stick I knew they were toast. 

[Dunny]

I think our roster has been pretty exposed. Not sure why they changed lanes from getting "harder to play against" to bringing in the rotting corpse of Patrick Kane, but beyond that we have no change-of-pace options. The scratches are all AHL roster filler. Just zero flexibility, mostly due to the Kane fiasco. Such a self own that Drury has to wear.

 

However, all it takes is one goal, one lead, one shift to change everything. We've seen this before, in the 1st round last year. We were DOA in R1 and went to the CF! Nothing is over until it is over...

[BrooksBurner]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Well, one coach made an adjustment after two really bad games from his team. He mixed up the lines, and he deployed a new penalty kill and fore check. 

 

The other guy is Gerard Gallant. He just says things like the guys need to play harder. 

 

What adjustment is there to be made though? The game plan to muddy it up and slow the Devils down has been correct. It resulted in the first two wins. The Devils adjusted to make the games coin flips. Games 3 and 4 were coin flips, even if Game 4 left a lot to be desired in the effort department. It was 1-1 in the 3rd. Game 5 should have been a coin flip. If Panarin doesn't botch a 3 on 1, the story of the game is different at 1-1 with the Devils only on the board from a fluke goal. Last night the game opened up out of desperation from the Rangers and they got their ass handed to them. You know I've been ripping Gallant for in-season performance, with the team leaving the middle of the ice open. This just isn't that.

 

Gallant was OK playing these tight games and I don't blame him one bit leaning on his (better) talent, (better) goalie, and (better) veterans, especially after going up 2-0, but the guys he's depending on haven't been better. There's no checkmark in any of those boxes. Zibanejad and Panarin haven't finished. 0 goals and 2 assists through 5. That's got nothing to do with game plan. Schmid is making the extra save. Igor isn't. Both goalies have been great IMO, but Schmid has been better AND more lucky (like not dealing with an own defenseman deflection for an unstoppable puck).

 

I expect Gallant to be the fall guy if they don't win this series, but that's only because it's way easier to switch out the coach and cross your fingers than it is to remodel the core. Maybe he deserves to get fired, and I wouldn't miss him in the slightest for a lot of reasons we've all discussed throughout the year, but it's not because of this series. This series is on the players.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by BrooksBurner

[RJWantsTheCup]

I 100% believe if we find a way to pull this series out we are going to the conference finals.

[Sharpshooter]

As bad as last night looked, I still wouldn't be stunned if they came back to win this series.  If anything I will give them some credit for doing well when their backs are against the wall. It's been that way since prime Lundqvist, really. The negative is they let it get that way basically all the time.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Sharpshooter

[Bugg]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

Dilly dally with the puck? That pass was a grenade, even Vally said so. It bounced one foot before it got to him and then hit him in the shin pads. I've seen better passes across the blue line from my kids Mite team. 

Yes, but the point is none of these guys shoot. The PP is 5 guys standing around. 

[jsm7302]

39 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

As bad as last night looked, I still wouldn't be stunned if they came back to win this series.  If anything I will give them some credit for doing well when their backs are against the wall. It's been that way since prime Lundqvist, really. The negative is they let it get that way basically all the time.

I don't think it is happening this time. The third period is a perfect example why; this team is outclassed by the speed and skill of NJ. Just like they would be outclassed by the skill and strength of Boston. This team is a mediocre group with more to talk about in their past than their future. The voice behind the bench stinks. If they focus on needs as opposed to shiny toys this off season then they can take a step forward otherwise we will watch this on rewind for the foreseeable future.

[Sharpshooter]

1 minute ago, jsm7302 said:

I don't think it is happening this time. The third period is a perfect example why; this team is outclassed by the speed and skill of NJ. Just like they would be outclassed by the skill and strength of Boston. This team is a mediocre group with more to talk about in their past than their future. The voice behind the bench stinks. If they focus on needs as opposed to shiny toys this off season then they can take a step forward otherwise we will watch this on rewind for the foreseeable future.

Don't disagree there. The character just isn't here for that group. They certainly can do it. I wouldn't rule it out, but just not seeing it either. Guys like Panarin or whatever getting moved is not happening. Things will certainly be done that are more feasible, such as firing Gallant. Other than that, they're pretty limited on what they can do roster-wise, given the contracts and all.

[siddious]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

Well, one coach made an adjustment after two really bad games from his team. He mixed up the lines, and he deployed a new penalty kill and fore check. 

 

The other guy is Gerard Gallant. He just says things like the guys need to play harder. 

Yea I didn’t hate gallant like some of you but I’m starting to get there after this series. Just absolutely inept at making adjustments. 

[Ranger Lothbrok]

The truly, truly disheartening thing is how apathetic they all are in the locker room after each of these games. "Yeah, I liked our game. Just get the next win."

 

It's like they're going to bow out on Saturday after having a stranglehold on an eminently winnable series and then two weeks from now go, "huh....probably should've done something."

[jsm7302]

Kreids-Tro-Vesey

Goodrow-Zib-Tarasenko

Panarin-Chytil-Kakko

Laf-Motte-Kane

 

^^^Jumble this up. Put some jump on each line. Change it up.

 

PP1- Zib, Tarasenko, Kreider, Panarin and Fox

PP2- Chytil, Kakko, Goodrow, Kane and Mikkola

[RangerDanger]

Can we throw another helmet already?

Call a cab?

Maybe try throwing a cab?

I don't even know wtf they're doing anymore. We were so worried about the defense before entering the playoffs, and had supreme confidence in scoring. Now the defense has stepped up and we can't buy a goal. And the response from the team after each loss is "we played a good game". Are we watching the same thing?? I don't think I've ever been this frustrated during a playoff series before.

[MuddyInTheMiddle]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

Dilly dally with the puck? That pass was a grenade, even Vally said so. It bounced one foot before it got to him and then hit him in the shin pads. I've seen better passes across the blue line from my kids Mite team. 

Youth Mite teams don't pass; you know that!

[phillyb]

9 minutes ago, RangerDanger said:

Can we throw another helmet already?

Call a cab?

Maybe try throwing a cab?

I don't even know wtf they're doing anymore. We were so worried about the defense before entering the playoffs, and had supreme confidence in scoring. Now the defense has stepped up and we can't buy a goal. And the response from the team after each loss is "we played a good game". Are we watching the same thing?? I don't think I've ever been this frustrated during a playoff series before.

 

Great defensive coverage in games 1 and 2. Game 3 not so bad either. Game 4 we’re unravelling. Game 5 was an absolute shit show. 

[RangersIn7]

This shit has become their M.O.

Great for a couple games. Dogshit for a few more. Place themselves in an untenable spot. Have to come from behind.

 

We will see if they wake up and remember that they’re actually good at hockey. 

[RichieNextel305]

I get that it isn’t over. This feels like after Game 4 last year against Pittsburgh. And we know how that turned out.

 

But, I just get afraid of the lack of heart here. Last year, you had kids who hadn’t experienced any of this and Igor who looked afraid of the bright lights. This year there is simply no excuse.

 

And bad enough, to have it happen against your arch rivals? I mean, this is about as bad of scenario as you can draw up.

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

I get ECF 2015 vibes here. Shutout in game 5, probably gonna win game 6 by scoring 7 goals just to get shutout again in game 7.

 

I really hope I'm wrong tho. I would rather just lose game 6 tbh.