I rewatched the game this morning...
Some things that stood out to me:
- We didn't play nearly as well as I thought we did at first glance. Some of it is to be expected, but there are some not so great things that will carry over for the rest of the year.
- Vesey was the only forward who looked really good. He was right in the middle of almost every single great scoring chance we had. He really drove that line and had he been typical Vesey, I think the mood in here would be much different.
-Hank was a wall. This game could have easily been over 10 minutes in.
- Howden was easily the best of the rookies. Losing the draw that led to the 2nd goal should be the prime example for why face off prowess is horse ****, he was dominant in the dot yesterday and one of the few he lost ended up in the back of the net. If Vesey was the best forward, I'd probably put Howden #2.
- Not a good game at all for Pionk. He really struggled for the first 2 periods but like NYR2K said, most of what he struggled with are things that are coachable. It didn't help that his partner left him out to dry on about a half dozen occasions.
- Shatty looked so slow. Not just slow, but Staal slow. Not time to press the panic button yet but definitely a red flag.
- On a positive note, Skjei was even better than I thought he was. Monster 3rd period too. If thats the guy we get, his contract is a steal.
- After the lone PP in the 3rd Quinn sent Howden out there with Fast and Zuccarello and they got all sorts of things done (including almost tying the game.) Maybe this is something he should consider as a line moving forward?
- Marc Staal.... Oh what to say about Marc Staal... There will be games where he won't look as bad as he did last night but woof.
This wasn't a typical Staal stinker where he turns a billion pucks over in his own end (though this did happen a few times), but once he got outside of his own blue line he looked like someone who had never played the game before. On one hand, I'll take aggressive mistakes over the typical Staal blunders every time, but there is aggressive and smart (Skjei stepped up on the play that eventually led to Nashville's first goal, but thats fine because he had support, Pionk kind of played this one into a goal) and then there is aggressive and dumb, which is what pretty much all of Staal's mistakes were yesterday.
I understand the respect factor and that hes more than paid his dues, but he should not be playing. The 2 scratches are both better than he is and there are at least 4 guys down in the minors who I'd wager would do a better job.
- Not Ranger related, but Nashville is really good. They had a sloppy game as well, but it seemed like when ever the Rangers had the puck, there was automatically a Predator right on them. Great support all around the ice, excellent in the NZ and moving the puck out of their own end. Thats the kind of team that I hope this one becomes in a few seasons.
All in all, there were a few positives mixed in with all of the bad stuff, most of which I expected. I think the biggest positive is that the guys looked like they gave a **** again. They may end up worse than they were last year, but I'll take that over the bull **** we became accustomed to under AV where they were pushed around and unprepared for what seemed like every single game.
But along with the defensive problems, this team is really going to struggle to put pucks in the net 5v5. Perhaps it was the opponent, but the Rangers looked really slow. Short of Hank Heroics, I don't see any way they challenge for a playoff spot, the depth up front isn't there and the defense is not good.
