2023-24 Reports From the Rink

[siddious]

3 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

Whatever doesnt kill us, makes us stronger  

Or tired and injured 

[BrooksBurner]

Saying it now I don’t even care what happens vs Carolina on Tuesday, 3rd in 4 days and 2nd of a back to back with travel in between. What the absolute fuck. Fully expect a complete waxing there.

 

Rangers need to handle NJ tomorrow or they will probably lose the division lead by Tuesday if Carolina wins today.

Edited March 10 by BrooksBurner

[RichieNextel305]

21 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

Saying it now I don’t even care what happens vs Carolina on Tuesday, 3rd in 4 days and 2nd of a back to back with travel in between. What the absolute fuck. Fully expect a complete waxing there.

 

Rangers need to handle NJ tomorrow or they will probably lose the division lead by Tuesday if Carolina wins today.

That will be Carolinas 3rd game in 4 days too. So no, I don’t think you can expect a waxing. 

[Br4d]

The Rangers look like they're skating well on all 4 lines.  I don't think Carolina is likely to wallop us.

 

Close loss is possible because these teams play a lot of close games.

[RichieNextel305]

21 minutes ago, Br4d said:

The Rangers look like they're skating well on all 4 lines.  I don't think Carolina is likely to wallop us.

 

Close loss is possible because these teams play a lot of close games.

Or…..

 

A win.

[Pete]

23 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said:

Or…..

 

A win.

 

I still can't get over this preconceived notion everybody has that this team sucks and that the Rangers should be scared of everybody else.

 

Everybody else is just as worried about playing the Rangers. 

[Br4d]

6 minutes ago, Pete said:

 

I still can't get over this preconceived notion everybody has that this team sucks and that the Rangers should be scared of everybody else.

 

Everybody else is just as worried about playing the Rangers. 

 

The issue is that the metrics don't match the performance.  This suggests that another element is at work and that element BTW is not coaching.  Coaching is one of the factors that create better metrics which is generally what you get when you have the kind of record the Rangers have right now.

 

I'm with BB in thinking that the Rangers are very much like last year and the year before.  Lots of talent and not enough cohesion.  That's not a coaching thing.  That's a player thing.

 

As an example:  Mika Zibanejad has apparently decided that he has two jobs in the OZ.  Job one is to setup Chris Kreider and the other is to take one-timers from one of two spots he prefers.  The problem is that he is giving up good opportunities to shoot and allow Kreider to deflect - which is basically the only kind of feed he should be making to Kreider 90% of the time.

 

The other problem is that he has become a fumble-stick on passes to his one timer spots and frequently mishandles the setup, leading to problems at the blue line.  His accuracy on the one-timer has declined precipitously also and he generally misses the net entirely on those attempts, maybe because his timing is off.   The only takeaway I can make from the two issues is that his offensive skills are generally in decline, which we can observe on a game by game basis and his response to this is to lose confidence in his shooting ability and instead try the endless setups for Kreider.

Edited March 10 by Br4d

[Pete]

20 minutes ago, Br4d said:

 

The issue is that the metrics don't match the performance.  This suggests that another element is at work and that element BTW is not coaching.  Coaching is one of the factors that create better metrics which is generally what you get when you have the kind of record the Rangers have right now.

 

I'm with BB in thinking that the Rangers are very much like last year and the year before.  Lots of talent and not enough cohesion.  That's not a coaching thing.  That's a player thing.

 

As an example:  Mika Zibanejad has apparently decided that he has two jobs in the OZ.  Job one is to setup Chris Kreider and the other is to take one-timers from one of two spots he prefers.  The problem is that he is giving up good opportunities to shoot and allow Kreider to deflect - which is basically the only kind of feed he should be making to Kreider 90% of the time.

 

The other problem is that he has become a fumble-stick on passes to his one timer spots and frequently mishandles the setup, leading to problems at the blue line.  His accuracy on the one-timer has declined precipitously also and he generally misses the net entirely on those attempts, maybe because his timing is off.   The only takeaway I can make from the two issues is that his offensive skills are generally in decline, which we can observe on a game by game basis and his response to this is to lose confidence in his shooting ability and instead try the endless setups for Kreider.

I prefer to look at it as the issue being the team has been in first place in the Metro all season, been a top team in the league all season, and they win games many different ways. It's not just five players on the power play.

 

So if you want to dwell in all the spreadsheets that don't look good, then you can go and do that. But I'll stick to the results on the ice. 

[Br4d]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

I prefer to look at it as the issue being the team has been in first place in the Metro all season, been a top team in the league all season, and they win games many different ways. It's not just five players on the power play.

 

So if you want to dwell in all the spreadsheets that don't look good, then you can go and do that. But I'll stick to the results on the ice. 

 

I understand your argument and it has merit.

 

I also watched the NYR-NJD series last year and I know that the playoffs shine a light on a team's flaws that the regular season often obscure.

[Pete]

8 minutes ago, Br4d said:

 

I understand your argument and it has merit.

 

I also watched the NYR-NJD series last year and I know that the playoffs shine a light on a team's flaws that the regular season often obscure.

I watched the same series that you did and realized They had a coach who did very little to adjust to what was happening night after night. You don't see that this season. This team lost to Toronto and then came back and spank them a few nights later. This team lost the Columbus and then came back and spank them a few nights later.

 

I just don't see the point of going into it all with the assumption that you're going to lose, unless that makes losing easier for you to bear. I go into it assuming that they will win, but when they lose I think about how it's just entertainment and I'm not the one playing, and I'll go on and live my life when the season's over and then get excited again in September. 

[Br4d]

Adjusting or lack thereof didn't have to make Adam Fox skate game 7 like it was a funeral.

 

This team, for whatever reason, lacks mental fortitude when the opponent won't quit.  That was true under GG and it's still true under Laviolette.  Hopefully something will be different this time in April but at the moment I don't see what the difference will be.

 

This is not a "did Drury blow the TDL?" argument.  He made the right moves in 21-22 and the Rangers still lost to the Lightning after going up 2-0.  He made the right move last year for Tarasenko and the Rangers still lost to the Devils after going up 2-0.  The moves he made this year are absolutely as good as Panarin and Zibanejad and Fox (primarily) will make them.

 

Hopefully they're all on a positive jag going into April, however right now all 3 of them are slumping and we need to figure that out.

[Pete]

20 minutes ago, Br4d said:

Adjusting or lack thereof didn't have to make Adam Fox skate game 7 like it was a funeral.

 

This is neither here nor there.

 

Quote

This team, for whatever reason, lacks mental fortitude when the opponent won't quit.  That was true under GG and it's still true under Laviolette.  Hopefully something will be different this time in April but at the moment I don't see what the difference will be.

I completely disagree. This team is never out of a game. They have come back many times. They have won many one goal games, which for some reason you think is a negative. The only player who loses their shit when they go down by a couple of goals is Shesty.

 

Quote

This is not a "did Drury blow the TDL?" argument.  He made the right moves in 21-22 and the Rangers still lost to the Lightning after going up 2-0.  He made the right move last year for Tarasenko and the Rangers still lost to the Devils after going up 2-0.  The moves he made this year are absolutely as good as Panarin and Zibanejad and Fox (primarily) will make them.

Agree. The core needs to win. You can't expect trade deadline acquisitions to win you a cup, that's what Carolina is doing. 

 

Quote

Hopefully they're all on a positive jag going into April, however right now all 3 of them are slumping and we need to figure that out.

Panarin has 9 points in his last 5.

Fox has 5 in his last 5.

 

They are hardly slumping. 

 

I think the first line will be better with Roslovic. 

[RichieNextel305]

If you take out a bad month in which they went 5-7-2, this team is 36-11-2. That is a clip at which they’ve earned at least a point in 78% of the games they’ve played, winning 74% of them.

 

I don’t care what metrics say really. Proof is in the pudding. At some point, you are what your record says you are. And the record says the Rangers are elite. Even with that bad month, we haven’t wavered.

[Pete]

12 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

If you take out a bad month in which they went 5-7-2, this team is 36-11-2. That is a clip at which they’ve earned at least a point in 78% of the games they’ve played, winning 74% of them.

 

I don’t care what metrics say really. Proof is in the pudding. At some point, you are what your record says you are. And the record says the Rangers are elite. Even with that bad month, we haven’t wavered.

Agree with the sentiment, but I can see why "you are what your record says you are" doesn't convince people. It certainly didn't convince me during GGs tenure. But there's a reason why, and a reason why I have a little more faith in this team.

 

GGs teams were built on a power play and stellar goaltending, and literally nothing else beyond that. That was the formula. If they didn't get a power play goal, and they didn't get  .925 goaltending from Igor, they lost. 

 

This team has won despite Igor hovering between average and bad for very long stretches, they have won without their power play clicking for stretches, and while they have one line who feels head and shoulders above the others, They have a "second" line with 2 nearly P/G players who haven't even popped off yet, and they get contributions from up and down the lineup. They win in different ways. They're a bit more well-rounded.

 

The analytics are what they are, but like box cars, they don't tell the whole story. If you're relying solely on the fancy stats to create your opinion on a player or a team, you're just doing it wrong. 

 

Would it be nice to get a little more 5v5 scoring? Sure. They're winning without it though. Are there games where team defense could be better? Sure. But every team goes through those games.

 

Do they need Igor to be at the top of his game? Of course they do. What team can win without their best players or their goalie at the top of their game?

 

They'll be fine. This is the team that's going into the playoffs and they need to do some fine tuning over the last 20 or so games of the season. I think they have yet to play their best hockey and that's going to come in the playoffs. 

 

Edited March 11 by Pete

[Vodka Drunkenski]

15 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

That will be Carolinas 3rd game in 4 days too. So no, I don’t think you can expect a waxing. 

while you’re right, both teams have 3 in 4 nights.  Carolina has the day off before playing the Rangers game.  The Rangers play the Devils the night before, then have to travel to Carolina.  With that said, let’s fucking gooooooo, smoke those bitches

[Valriera]

My take on the stats is the only one that matters for this team is chances given up from the slot. When we win games, that stat is low. When we lose games, that stat is high. It’s been that way all year. 
 

I don’t care about any other stats since the team has proven versatile on the winning end, but when they lose it’s typically one way, and that is by giving up too many chances from the middle of the ice

[Ozzy]

I'm actually glad they're playing all these games.  There hasn't been dick on TV to watch, other than some PGA events that I like.

 

I look forward to this part of the season, where we have all the pieces we're going to war with!  This is our "dress rehearsal" for the big show,

 

...oh and I get to see more REMPE!!! 

Edited March 11 by Ozzy

[RodrigueGabriel]

19 hours ago, Br4d said:

This team, for whatever reason, lacks mental fortitude when the opponent won't quit.  That was true under GG and it's still true under Laviolette.  Hopefully something will be different this time in April but at the moment I don't see what the difference will be.

 

As of the Met-Life game, the Rangers were tied for the NHL lead with 18 comeback victories. I don't think they've had any since then and I would assert that it would be better if they didn't get behind in the first place. But that demonstrated ability to turn it on when the chips are down argues against them having a lack of "mental fortitude when the opponent won't quit."

 

I don't think this is like last year, which was in my view, "we'll win RS season games on skill and whatever and worry about the Playoffs when we get there because we're just so good we made the ECF last year." Then when they got there, they didn't know how to find their game when the going got rough - as it invariably does in a long run.

 

Lav said during camp that his goal was to imbue them with a Playoff mentality from Day 1. While he may or may not have made as much progress as he wants, I think both the comeback wins and the tight-checking, low scoring victories (and arguably some losses) we have seen against very good teams indicates a much higher level of preparedness for the postseason than last year. 

Edited March 11 by RodrigueGabriel

[BreakawayMachine]

No Disrespect to Blake Wheeler because he seems like a good dude, but this team is so much better without him being forced into the lineup.

[Sharpshooter]

Just now, BreakawayMachine said:

No Disrespect to Blake Wheeler because he seems like a good dude, but this team is so much better without him being forced into the lineup.

It's amazing how much better (and quicker) they look without Wheeler, Bonino and Pitlick in the lineup.

[Pete]

12 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

It's amazing how much better (and quicker) they look without Wheeler, Bonino and Pitlick in the lineup.

And Trouba.

[Sharpshooter]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

And Trouba.

lol Yep. Miller looks so much better with Schneider too. That pairing has been fantastic.

[Ozzy]

Just now, Sharpshooter said:

lol Yep. Miller looks so much better with Schneider too. That pairing has been fantastic.

 

1 goal in 3 games, and very few flubs!

 

Am I seeing this correctly?  Maybe Trouba was K's liability back there??  Hmmmmmmmm

 

I hope we stick with K and Schneids

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Sharpshooter said:

lol Yep. Miller looks so much better with Schneider too. That pairing has been fantastic.

Agree. I just don't think the pairing works, both players are better away from each other. Drop Trouba down with Gus.

[Sharpshooter]

Just now, Ozzy said:

 

1 goal in 3 games, and very few flubs!

 

Am I seeing this correctly?  Maybe Trouba was K's liability back there??  Hmmmmmmmm

 

I hope we stick with K and Schneids

From a defensive standpoint, this may be Miller's best stretch of his career. It's only been a handful of games, but it's been evident. He even seemed a bit more physical playing without Trouba, even though that's never really his game.