GDT [RS] (#40) Rangers at St. Louis Blues — Big Ouchies

[BrooksBurner]

In each of their last three games, the Rangers have significantly out chanced the opponent in high danger chances at 5v5, with an even greater advantage at all strengths. They have 3 losses to show for it. I would say it suggests bad luck or getting goalied, and maybe there's a bit of that, but they are also 26th in high danger shooting percentage this year. It suggests more that they just suck at finishing high quality chances.

[BrooksBurner]

58 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Are they worse 5v5 in their own end vs last year? Fancy Stat guys?

 

 

No. They are marginally better, but still below average (obviously -  only need the eye test for that).

[RJWantsTheCup]

5 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

In each of their last three games, the Rangers have significantly out chanced the opponent in high danger chances at 5v5, with an even greater advantage at all strengths. They have 3 losses to show for it. I would say it suggests bad luck or getting goalied, and maybe there's a bit of that, but they are also 26th in high danger shooting percentage this year. It suggests more that they just suck at finishing high quality chances.

This team seriously needs to go to finishing school.  Panarin and maybe Zibanejad are the only above average finishers on this team.  Other good teams seem to have more players that know how to bury high danger chances

[Dunny]

14 minutes ago, Pete said:

The short story is when they are good in their own end at five on five They struggle to score goals, when they open it up to score more goals, they also give up more goals. 

 

That's definitely how it feels.

[Pete]

Just now, Dunny said:

 

That's definitely how it feels.

And It's fixable. First thing is to get healthy. Second thing is to get a center, we can't keep trotting Bonino out there. He's been personally responsible for at least one goal in each of the last three losses. A center who is here for his defensive game simply cannot be -7. 

[Dunny]

High danger chances are cool, but they're not all created equal. So many high danger chances the Rangers get feel like I would make the save as they are telegraphed.

 

What opposition is doing seems different. They have guys popping in and out of nowhere, causing chaos and leading to a number of basically unstoppable chances.

 

(Shersterkin also needs to stop the run of the mill grade A chances, which he isn't doing)

[Dunny]

Just now, Pete said:

And It's fixable. First thing is to get healthy. Second thing is to get a center, we can't keep trotting Bonino out there. He's been personally responsible for at least one goal in each of the last three losses. A center who is here for his defensive game simply cannot be -7. 

 

It is important to keep their injury issues in mind when grading the team performance, but that's on the FO to a degree. 

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Dunny said:

High danger chances are cool, but they're not all created equal. So many high danger chances the Rangers get feel like I would make the save as they are telegraphed.

 

What opposition is doing seems different. They have guys popping in and out of nowhere, causing chaos and leading to a number of basically unstoppable chances.

 

(Shersterkin also needs to stop the run of the mill grade A chances, which he isn't doing)

To add to that, I think we're putting too much stock into high danger chances. 

 

Valley was talking about how Thatcher Demko's save percentage on mid-range shots was terrible, but his safe percentage on shots close in was by far leading the league. They really should have been taking long shots on him, which would not be counted as a high dangerous scoring chance. I'm sure that rings true of a lot of other goalies in the league. 

 

They should hire that guy to be a fucking assistant coach.

Edited January 12 by Pete

[Pete]

1 minute ago, Dunny said:

 

It is important to keep their injury issues in mind when grading the team performance, but that's on the FO to a degree. 

Agree. Been saying that you can't judge this team against last year's team because last year's team was healthy throughout, this year's team isn't.

 

If they're making the same mistakes as last year with 25% of the line up coming from the AHL for rookies, then It's not apples to apples. 

[RangersIn7]

25 minutes ago, Pete said:

And It's fixable. First thing is to get healthy. Second thing is to get a center, we can't keep trotting Bonino out there. He's been personally responsible for at least one goal in each of the last three losses. A center who is here for his defensive game simply cannot be -7. 

I thought he was fine playing on the 4th line. 
If they’re shifting him down there again, I think that works

 

But IDK at this point. We will see

[Pete]

1 hour ago, RangersIn7 said:

I thought he was fine playing on the 4th line. 
If they’re shifting him down there again, I think that works

 

But IDK at this point. We will see

Right, getting a center cuts down on his ice time. 

[fletch]

When the Rangers win a Cup this post-season or have a deep playoff run we can all laugh at this regular season angst.  That's the hope.  Team has enough points to be tracking toward a good playoff seed, and has got about 40 games to continue developing.  Who knows what this team will look like after the trade deadline and at the end of the season?  Who knows whether Chytil can make it back or not?  First meaningful post-mortem comes at the end of the playoffs. 

[Valriera]

2 hours ago, BrooksBurner said:

In each of their last three games, the Rangers have significantly out chanced the opponent in high danger chances at 5v5, with an even greater advantage at all strengths. They have 3 losses to show for it. I would say it suggests bad luck or getting goalied, and maybe there's a bit of that, but they are also 26th in high danger shooting percentage this year. It suggests more that they just suck at finishing high quality chances.

this is very much an element of the current slump. Their offensive zone play is good. They are not finishing their chances, and simultaneously playing garbage hockey in the defensive zone 

[RangersIn7]

16 minutes ago, Valriera said:

this is very much an element of the current slump. Their offensive zone play is good. They are not finishing their chances, and simultaneously playing garbage hockey in the defensive zone 

And they’ve faced some goalies that have made a ton of saves, while their own goaltending has been poor.

[The Dude]

4 hours ago, Dunny said:

High danger chances are cool, but they're not all created equal. So many high danger chances the Rangers get feel like I would make the save as they are telegraphed.

 

What opposition is doing seems different. They have guys popping in and out of nowhere, causing chaos and leading to a number of basically unstoppable chances.

 

(Shersterkin also needs to stop the run of the mill grade A chances, which he isn't doing)

This. If a high danger scoring chance is deemed so because it's from the slot, but it's an oddball backhander that is rushed or just poorly timed, is it really high danger? Or if its the 15th attempt of the Zibanejad one timer, that teams know are coming,  is it really high danger? 

 

I feel this team has extremely skilled players that fail miserably at scoring skill goals. Nobody takes the puck to the net. There's no homerun passes to send any of these guys on breaks. The D men join on rushes or take a puck deep/to the net maybe once a week and it's typically only Schneider or Trouba doing it.  This was supposed to be something that was big in Laviolettes system. The skilled D men are supposed to have a huge presence and that has gone away. 

 

 

[Pete]

14 minutes ago, The Dude said:

The D men join on rushes or take a puck deep/to the net maybe once a week and it's typically only Schneider or Trouba doing it.  This was supposed to be something that was big in Laviolettes system. The skilled D men are supposed to have a huge presence and that has gone away. 

I agree with this, I hadn't thought about it before, but it is sorely missing from their game. 

[JHS]

9 hours ago, Br4d said:

 

How often do top 5 teams lose 3 in a row looking as bad as the Rangers have the last couple of games?

 

I would argue that the Rangers as currently constituted with the injuries and the AHL call-ups and the lack of discipline on defense are more like a 16-17 middle of the pack team.  This is what they have most closely resembled over the last 16 games or so.

Both Hank and Vally have spoken about this team needing to overcome some adversity during the regular season to really establish itself as a cup contender.  I’d say they are having adversity right now with the injuries, sub or goaltending and a string of poor efforts.  Let’s see how they rebound this weekend.