Post-Game Talk: #1 - 10/04/18 | predators @ RANGERS | 7:30 - MSG, NBCSN

[PlamsUnlimited]

I was at the Sabres opener

I mean it looks like we didn't drop the ball completely.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

**** that.. This team could've been rebuilt while remaining competitive.
I truly believe that..

Competitive like losing 3-2 to the best regular season team in the NHL? This bitching over spilled milk is getting old. Are we going to get this every game now? Literally, if we don't have the worst refs in history we get at least one point. We even outshot them. How is this not competitive?

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

He has to, he's the only goalie who played.

Yeah, true that's what I assumed. Just weird to think you lose the game when you gave up 2 goals and your team scored 2 goals.

 

[Glen Sathers Cigar]

I re-watched that play over and over......I swear I feel like it wasn't that bad of a screen of Hank. He really should have seen/saved it. Hank has a tendency to do that to his d.....u know.

Nah, that was a bad screen. Shattenkirk knew it, he tried to move but it was at the last second. The problem was that he was directly in the line of sight from the release point of the shot and when it's a guy like Subban shooting that hard, if you don't see it release off the stick you're not gonna be able to react.

On replays in slow mo, or even real time but from the camera perspective, it looks okay, but for a goalie it's all about seeing the puck come off the stick. Unfortunately Shatty was directly blocking him from seeing the release. It happens, just hate to see someone like Shatty doing it, especially when nobody else is around. If you're gonna be that much of a screen, you better block it or hope to god the guy misses the net. He knows better than that.

 

[Ola]

The Good-Hayes line were monsters all game,just couldnt bury anything.Hank was vintage Hank.Howden really played well.Fast was Fast,hes always great.The Bad-Shattenkirk was horrendous tonight.Slow and fumbling the puck all over the ice.Got burned 1 on 1 quite a few times.KZB line were playing too cute/overpassing,not getting pucks to the net.That late goal doesnt change the fact all 3 must be better.

Still liked that goal from a confidence POV.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Getting to watch the replay before bed time-first thing is I'm upset that MSG wasn't sold out. Support this team. God damnit.

Second- these games are what we want to see. It is not at all a surprise we are gonna be less than what we've seen. But if these guys play like this, isn't that what we want? I'm not basing it off of one RS game, but if DQ helps these guys along and they play like this, I'd feel a lot better about this year. Bottom line is we need as many chances at top talent as possible. But it's nice to see these guys play hockey and battle.

 

[Calad]

Sat in 211 tonight and had a great time. Thank god hockey is back.

The Good:
-The Amirante montage was a beautiful moment, I was in tears. We miss you Johnny
-Hank was as sharp as ever
-Filip Forsberg is real good
-They really competed and it was entertaining, which is all we could really hope for at this point
-Some Finnish guy who was in town on a layover for a few days sat next to me. He was wearing a Rinne jersey and was real passionate about his countrymen, he lamented about the lack of Fins on the Rangers. He was a riot, whenever a swede would do something good he'd yell something in finnish and when I asked what that meant he just shook his head and said "the swedish players know" and explained it was in reference to the 95 WCs. He thinks Laine is the player Finland has needed since Teemu retired (agreed, guy is incredible)
-Ran into Boo Nieves and Tony DeAngelo signing autographs for and taking pictures with some kids, they seem like really nice guys.

The Bad:
-Refs were awful. The missed high stick on McQuaid, the embellishment call on Lettieri (lol), the hit from behind on Buch, a number of trips missed.
-The team started mad slow tonight. They picked it up in the second for sure though, hopefully this isn't a trend.
-The ice was awful. Everyone was losing their edge and wiping out all over the place. It created a lot of chances.

The Ugly:
-Too many men with the goalie pulled. How does that even happen? The moment the ref threw his hand up Zucc went flying on the ice, but a 6th went on for the goalie like 15 seconds beforehand!! Woof.

 

[nyrage]

An Islanders friend of mine once again says "you must be really pissed". Um, not really. They played pretty well all things considered including the opponent. Of course that last penalty was shameful. Still, I have no delusions of them going anywhere this season. Play hard and develop the kids. Keep adding assets whenever possible.

Fans of other teams that haven't done anything can't wait to bust your chops when you're team is finally down after a good run. I have no problem with our rebuild. If we were going to half-ass it for another season with no chance of winning it all, then it would be a problem.

 

[JT Kreider]

I thought it was bc one high end talent died, a solid top 4 D had his career ended, Staal had an eye busted up, the refs ducked up a game

Right. So the Rangers are cursed is what you are pretty much saying.

 

[darko]

It’s probably worth noting that Nashville finished with the best record in the NHL last year.

And they'll be right up there again.

 

[2014nyr]

i don't know where i stand versus the mob but i have to say i really liked what i saw. that team competed for the puck in the small areas, created offense - especially chances in the physical areas and didn't back down (with a roster mostly full of guys who had been all too willing to avoid any contact whatsoever). i couldn't care less about this particular result, i'm carrying with me the work ethic and eagerness to engage we haven't seen in a long time. did anyone else notice the times a battle was lost or a puck was picked up by support for nash and the ranger in the area, instead of loafing back in the general direction of our net instead took 1-3 hard strides at the puck carrier, often sealing a lane or forcing a regroup pass? i can't describe how refreshing that was. if we could also get guys to do some message sending when liberties are being taken (looking at the buch hit tonight, & recalling the staal/vesey hits of last year), we may just be onto something.

 

[Maximus]

This year is not about Wins and Losses. This year is solely about potty training our "puppies" and teaching them not to shit and piss on the rug and hardwood floors to borrow an analogy...it's as simple as that. If any of y'all are going to bitch and moan about whether or not we win or not, well then you are not seeing the reality of situation here and you are going to be pretty damn miserable this year.

This year is going to be unlike any of us have seen in over a decade...so get used to games like this where we play hard, stay competitive but end up losing when all is said and done. I'm OK with that. I for one was pretty damn happy how our "puppies" played tonight. I loved how Chytil came alive after a slow start. Howden, Liettieri and Pionk also impressed me for the most part.

I have utmost confidence that we have the right peeps running the show here and before we all know it, we will be back to being perennial Cup contenders. In the meantime tho and for the foreseeable future more than likely for another year and change, be prepared my brothers for alot more shitting on the rugs going forward.

In the long run tho, it's going to pay off....

 

[LionsHeart]

I'm not gonna get crazy after 1 game. There were some things I saw that I liked, and some things I didn't like. Some of those things are fixable, other's aren't right now.

I'm stating the obvious, but I think it's clear that there's a real lack of top end talent. Chytil certainly shows flashes of being that, but I don't expect him to step in and put up a PPG (Though he's on pace ).

This game is what I think we'll probably see this season. They'll play hard, have some growing pains (both with the players and the coach), and you'll see the kids continue to develop. Just don't expect a lot of wins.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

I really liked the way they played. There were a lot of positives. I understand people are disappointed, but in reality, this team is not built to compete evenly with teams of Nashville's caliber. Outside of some structural issues, the two teams did not look too far apart. Now, it's game 1 and I will chalk up some of that to rust on Nashville's part, but still. Also, if we compare Rangers opening months under AV to this, the defense is night and day.

In addition, I honestly feel like 50% of the negatives from last night's game could be fixed just by replacing Staal with Claesson. I realize he has done a lot for this team and is highly paid, but he is not an NHL caliber player anymore. There is absolutely no way Claesson can be worse than him.

Also, like the poster above me, I think finishing will be a real issue with this squad.

 

[chosen]

Competitive like losing 3-2 to the best regular season team in the NHL? This *****ing over spilled milk is getting old. Are we going to get this every game now? Literally, if we don't have the worst refs in history we get at least one point. We even outshot them. How is this not competitive?

Nothing is older than constant moaning about refs. Every team has fans that think the refs are rougher on their team. They are without logic.

They are wrong, but if such a fan were right, they would be a fool for even watching a "rigged" sporting event.

 

[IamNotADancer]

Call me over-enthusiastic considering this was only one game, but the kids look great. Yes they make mistakes but they are absolutely talented and this looks like a completely different hockey team (yes, well it is) compared to the dumpster fire we saw under Vignault towards the end.
There is always a disclaimer in sports, that disclaimer is called consistency and IF the can find a way to a)consistently keep up their high level of play and b)can improve on a consistent trajectory going upwards then this will be a very strong team in the not too distant future.

I'm expecting absolutely nothing out of this season except a team that will find chemistry, a team that fuses into one cohesive unit. Hank look great and I'm thankful for his years of service and the couple of years he will continue to give to us, but I also hope that Shesty will drop right into this team and continue Hanks greatness in our net.

Lots of hot air, but I'm excited for the future and I get very involved and upset when I watch this team (especially last year) lay egg after egg, but I'll try to tone my expectations down to the minimum for this season and I certainly hope the boo birds won't come out this season for our boys. Yes, boo when it's warranted but these little ones deserve time to grow and you wouldn't yell at your kid if he misspelled a single word in an essay either so think of this Rangers team as your little baby and give it some time to grow.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I was pleasantly surprised with the team’s effort and structure against one of the best teams in the league last night. That said, hope everyone is prepared for more of this. This squad lacks talent, big time, and that’s difficult to overcome. There’s not a top 50 positional player in the league in site on this roster - you could arguably say there’s not a top 100 player. I am still a little perplexed at what the end game is because while this team will struggle to compete for the playoffs, I don’t think they’re bad enough to completely bottom out - and the longtime search for top end talent continues for this organization

 

[SA16]

Nothing is older than constant moaning about refs. Every team has fans that think the refs are rougher on their team. They are without logic.

They are wrong, but if such a fan were right, they would be a fool for even watching a "rigged" sporting event.

There is nothing wrong about thinking that the refs had a bad game which ended up favoring one of the teams. That is not at all saying they are biased and are intentionally helping one team. The refs are not infallible. They were poor yesterday and it hurt the Rangers. It could easily be exactly the opposite tomorrow.

 

[JHS]

Considering KZB did nothing for 59:30, I can't be upset with that performance as a team. Salty we lost when we should have been on the PP, and that TMM was something else. But, all things considered, this team looks pretty okay.

It’s a terrible sign when the new “core leadership” line comes out and does nothing in the home opener. I’m not surprised though— these guys have never shown any tendency to be leaders, with the exception of Zucc, so how the Rangers possibly expected anything but this again is shocking. The fact that the Rangers went with 5 alternate captains( a total joke) tells me everything I need to know about this group.

McQuiad looked really good. I’m impressed with him. Pionk looked slow and out of place and held on to the puck way too long. Vesey has tremendous chances but can’t score. Chytil looked fantastic.

Overall basically exactly what I expected. The team can’t score, can’t keep up, and can’t generate anything positive against a really good opponent.

 

[mrmovies779]

The refs were bad last night..but if Vesey and Zuc buried some of their grade A chances last night,the refs and missed calls wouldnt even be talked about.

 

[JHS]

You're saying this like everyone denies it but almost the entire board knows this and has accepted it. Most of us are fine with it in the context of the way the last 8 or so seasons played out

The last 8 seasons provided competitive hockey with a core group of players that took us to the playoffs and the cup finals. How exactly is that a bad run and why does that somehow justify one of the worst constructed, entirely pointless, disgustingly objectiveless rosters ever put on the ice by this franchise?!?

This roster has so many absurd choices on it it’s shocking. Cody McLeod is on the roster, Matt Belelskey, Fredrick Claesson... why? Why are these guys even in consideration to get any minutes? Neither of our first round draft picks from the previous season are on the roster, nor is Anderson??? I don’t have any idea what the plan here is and therefore, I’m having a hard time getting behind this team in anyway.

 

[pld459666]

One more thing to ponder......does anyone here feel like Nashville played their "A" game.......I don't.

Maybe not, but I attribute that to the way the Rangers played and not because the Preds were flat.

 

[The S5]

Not a bad performance against a top team. Everyone knows that we are going to struggle a bit this season, so I don't know where all the hemming and hawing is coming from.

A couple of things that will probably become recurring themes are that Staal is officially done and the inability to finish. I see that there are some ragging on Pionk. Not sure which game they watched, but the kid played really well, especially considering he covered for Staals blunders all night. He won board battles and can skate out of trouble with ease. The 2 on 1's were played as well as they could have been. The backside pass was eliminated and on at least one of them, it occurred on a major positional mistake by Staal near the blue line. There was very little time for Pionk to move the puck carrier off to a bad angle.
Zucc...shoot the puck. Vesey played really well. Hopefully, its the new coach and a new level of confidence. Now work on finishing.
Kreider is becoming the most over rated player in the NHL. What a waste of physical talent.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

I thought they played well enough to win, so even though I'm still pretty hot about that missed high stick that would have put us on the PP instead of PK Subban scoring, I am not disappointed with how the team played.

It is going to take some time to get everything about Quinn's system down, but even now it is night and day from the AV days. Players were actually pressuring puck carriers in the neutral zone. That goal by Fast was the result of a hard nosed grinding/cycling shift where we wore out the D and took advantage. I don't think I remember a goal like that at all last year. Fast and Chytil together are awesome. come to think of it, Fast plays well with anyone.

Also that pass by Chytil was fire. He is going to stick. With regard to his passing, I think he has a really good eye, but needs to get used to the speed of the NHL game. There were a few times where he tried to make cross ice passes that may have been open for a brief second but were swallowed up immediately. Teaching moment. That will come with experience.

Okay, who was that guy, and what has he done with Jimmy Vesey? As one of his more vocal critics, I have to give credit where its due and admit that he played a great game. He probably should have potted one with all his A+ chances, but he was also making some great passes.

Hank was vintage Hank tonight. Didn't like the stare down he gave Shatty after the Subban goal though.

KZB was invisible. Give them time.

as for the D

Staal was just atrocious

I thought Pionk was bad as well. He can't be straddled next to a guy like Staal and be expected to grow. I still don't see any reason why he should be in the lineup over DeAngelo.

everyone else was okay.

If this game is a sign of things to come, then I'm here for it. Very entertaining.

 

[EpicDing]

After sleeping on it, I'm convinced 26 in blue was actually St. Louis back for one more game.