Post-Game Talk: Avs @ Rangers: The Legend of Ryan O'Reilly

[Raspewtin]

He was quiet on the scoreboard but he was manhandling the Aves in the corners, took Erik Johnson off his feet on one play. Kid is a beast.

I don't understand the people saying Kreider hasn't been playing well lately, he's been great. Just not showing up on the scoresheet.

 

[ArPanet]

Kreider should enjoy resting a bit during the Olympics. Has to be the most he's ever played.

 

[LORENZO]

Just watched the highlights that i missed, some great play.

LGR!

 

[Blue Blooded]

3rd D pair, John Moore 16 minutes, Kevin Klein 18 minutes, spelling the top 4 nicely

Moore-Klein had an excellent game after being dominated for 4 straight. It's just one game, but it is still a good indicator.

Unfortunately there seems to always be one Rangers pairing that gets abused territorially - tonight it was McD-Girardi, which was strange since Staal-Strålman got by far the most defensive zone starts.

 

[chosen]

He was quiet on the scoreboard but he was manhandling the Aves in the corners, took Erik Johnson off his feet on one play. Kid is a beast.

And yet, he almost never throws a check. When he is playing well, he hits and scores. He is doing neither, now. It is not an issue because the rest of the team is humming along.

 

[Levitate]

And yet, he almost never throws a check. When he is playing well, he hits and scores. He is doing neither, now. It is not an issue because the rest of the team is humming along.

This Rangers team has been good about getting scoring from other lines when the hot line at the moment drops off. Nash's line was hot for a good stretch and has gone cold recently, but Zucc's and Richards' line has picked up the slack, and the 4th line continues to chip in as well.

Getting production from all your lines is a damn good thing rather than relying on one line to always carry you

 

[Bluenote13]

And yet, he almost never throws a check. When he is playing well, he hits and scores. He is doing neither, now. It is not an issue because the rest of the team is humming along.

Yeah I don't think he's played poorly. Lost his rhythm during the stadium series(Mass. kid not comfortable in yanks stadium ;o)

 

[Ghost of jas]

He was quiet on the scoreboard but he was manhandling the Aves in the corners, took Erik Johnson off his feet on one play. Kid is a beast.

He also had that nice backhand sweep to spring Nash on a breakaway.

 

[Bardof425*]

Moore-Klein had an excellent game after being dominated for 4 straight. It's just one game, but it is still a good indicator.

Unfortunately there seems to always be one Rangers pairing that gets abused territorially - tonight it was McD-Girardi, which was strange since Staal-Strålman got by far the most defensive zone starts.

There is no way in hell they were "dominated" for the last 4 games. And the idea that McD and Girardi were abused in any way, shape or form last night is friggin hilarious. You need to take whatever metric you are using as the basis for your ridiculous "Stralman Advocacy" posts and stick them somewhere under a fjord, cause they have no basis in reality.

 

[darko]

Kreider hasnt been too bad lately. He was always going to hit the wall. Fatigue.

 

[darko]

I think the Rangers will have trouble with big, physical teams, and especially teams with big mobile defensemen. Of course, most teams have trouble against those kind of teams, and there aren't that many who have all of those things and are good.

But that is why Boston will always be tough...their D is good enough that it becomes harder for the Rangers to get their cycle going and maintain possession like they do against teams like the Avs who have weak defensemen who don't move the puck well. The Rangers smaller forwards can't always win all the battles against the big mobile defensemen like they can against small mobile defensemen, or big slow defensemen.

Then big forwards who forecheck hard and are tough to take the puck away from make it hard to go back on offense...which isn't unusual but again it's tough when a team has both of the things I mentioned and the Rangers don't necessarily have a clear cut counter to all that other than just playing a perfect game and capitalizing on their chances.

Pittsburgh, you just gotta try to keep them from running wild with Malkin and Crosby and all that, I'd bet if you can manage to possess the puck more against them and put pressure on them in the defensive zone, Fleury will look mortal real quick.

Columbus actually scares me, I think they're a well constructed team now that plays a relentless game. Their D isn't amazing or anything but Bobrovsky can hold things down when the defense gets crazy. They can roll 4 lines and play physical and hold onto the puck well, they're a good team. If the Rangers can hold onto the 2nd spot, I'll bet you that Columbus ends up in 3rd. Would be a tough first round matchup

Never understood why some people were hoping we get Bruins in playoffs last season. I want no part of Boston. They are a pain in the ass to play with.

Would love to see Caps finish 3rd. Yeah I know people are bored playing Caps again but I don't care. IMO they are reasonably easy put away.

 

[Infinitum Vitae*]

Never understood why some people were hoping we get Bruins in playoffs last season. I want no part of Boston. They are a pain in the ass to play with.

Would love to see Caps finish 3rd. Yeah I know people are bored playing Caps again but I don't care. IMO they are reasonably easy put away.

We haven't beaten Boston since the game 5 OT win....yea I don't want to play them...we have better chances of beating pitt in the playoffs over the Bruins

 

[OverTheCap]

We used to match up well against the Bruins when we could beat them at their own game with stifling defense, a strong forecheck, etc. Our games were always close but we usually managed to come out on top, with a 9-3 record against them from 2009 to 2012.

Now that we are more of a finesse team, I don't think we match up as well as we used to. And of course, facing the Bruins in a 7-game series is different than in the regular season. They outmuscled us and were stronger on the puck and along the boards. That's one area that the Rangers haven't addressed since last year and I could see it coming back to haunt us if we were to play them again in the postseason.

 

[Levitate]

There is no way in hell they were "dominated" for the last 4 games. And the idea that McD and Girardi were abused in any way, shape or form last night is friggin hilarious. You need to take whatever metric you are using as the basis for your ridiculous "Stralman Advocacy" posts and stick them somewhere under a fjord, cause they have no basis in reality.

Possession stats...more shots against than shots for while on the ice. Girardi and McDonagh usually play against much higher quality of competition than Staal and Stralman though.

Not really convinced myself that they struggled last night though

 

[Blue Blooded]

In a game where the Rangers carried the play significantly, McD-Girardi conceded more chances than they created. As simple as that.

But it is only one game, after a shaky start to the season they have picked up their possession play significantly and this was merely a blip. I'm not criticising them at all, I've gone from wanting Girardi gone to feeling that extending him may be the best course of action after all. He has really turned it around after his brutal start.

I just said it is a pity that we always seem to have one pairing struggle territorially. Moore-Klein has been the struggling pairing despite sheltered minutes and zone starts in the previous 4 games - they picked it up last night but then McD-G were the ones conceding chances.

I'm just saying if all three pairings were clicking at the same time we'd be virtually unstoppable, unfortunately that eludes us - yet.

 

[LORENZO]

Not sure where to ask this but as it stands would we play Blue Jackets in the playoffs?

 

[Levitate]

In a game where the Rangers carried the play significantly, McD-Girardi conceded more chances than they created. As simple as that.

But it is only one game, after a shaky start to the season they have picked up their possession play significantly and this was merely a blip. I'm not criticising them at all, I've gone from wanting Girardi gone to feeling that extending him may be the best course of action after all. He has really turned it around after his brutal start.

I think Girardi really has had to rethink how he plays the game with the puck in the defensive zone, as Tortorella never wanted his defensemen to do anything except make the "safe play" with the puck. At the slightest hint of pressure he wanted them to bang it off the boards or glass, he just absolutely did not want them accidentally turning it over with a pass. For years Girardi's MO was to get the puck and just try to slam it out.

Once AV came in and is asking more of his defensemen in terms of breakouts and making plays with the puck, Girardi has had to adjust and it was bad at first. He still makes some terrible decisions and passes at times but generally has gotten a lot better at moving the puck in the defensive zone when he gets it. He's not as talented as McDonagh or even Stralman in that regard but he has improved and probably had to work more at it than the other defensemen on the team

At least that's my take

 

[Ola]

I don't understand the people saying Kreider hasn't been playing well lately, he's been great. Just not showing up on the scoresheet.

Great? Has Kreider been great the last games?

 

[Levitate]

Great? Has Kreider been great the last games?

He's been playing "good". He's making plays and retrieving pucks and stuff, but I really would like to see him shooting the puck more often

 

[JohnC]

Great? Has Kreider been great the last games?

His post literally says "he's been great"

#ReadingComp

 

[Ola]

Not sure where to ask this but as it stands would we play Blue Jackets in the playoffs?

Yes!

2-3 in a division play each other.

 

[FLNYR]

I definitely want us to play the Bruins. We are far from the team we were last year as well as first half of this year. We need to get that monkey off our back. If we get in Raask's head hes prone to lose his temper, and we are scoring more goals and puck possession has gone up tremendously. My concern is how do we carry this momentum through the Olympic break, and we need to stay healthy as well.

 

[ArPanet]

In a game where the Rangers carried the play significantly, McD-Girardi conceded more chances than they created. As simple as that.

But it is only one game, after a shaky start to the season they have picked up their possession play significantly and this was merely a blip. I'm not criticising them at all, I've gone from wanting Girardi gone to feeling that extending him may be the best course of action after all. He has really turned it around after his brutal start.

I just said it is a pity that we always seem to have one pairing struggle territorially. Moore-Klein has been the struggling pairing despite sheltered minutes and zone starts in the previous 4 games - they picked it up last night but then McD-G were the ones conceding chances.

I'm just saying if all three pairings were clicking at the same time we'd be virtually unstoppable, unfortunately that eludes us - yet.

Very interesting. Does it matter which of our fwd lines a pairing is out there with?

 

[Bardof425*]

In a game where the Rangers carried the play significantly, McD-Girardi conceded more chances than they created. As simple as that.

But it is only one game, after a shaky start to the season they have picked up their possession play significantly and this was merely a blip. I'm not criticising them at all, I've gone from wanting Girardi gone to feeling that extending him may be the best course of action after all. He has really turned it around after his brutal start.

I just said it is a pity that we always seem to have one pairing struggle territorially. Moore-Klein has been the struggling pairing despite sheltered minutes and zone starts in the previous 4 games - they picked it up last night but then McD-G were the ones conceding chances.

I'm just saying if all three pairings were clicking at the same time we'd be virtually unstoppable, unfortunately that eludes us - yet.

Shots do not equal chances. It's a simple as that. Are these even strength stats only?

 

[Blue Blooded]

Very interesting. Does it matter which of our fwd lines a pairing is out there with?

It is usually pretty mixed, as are the matchups. But McD-Girardi usually gets slightly more time with the scoring lines than the other pairings. But it is actually virtually the same for all pairings, the difference usually only lies in TOI and zone deployment and somewhat in the matchups. Linemates is likely the smallest contextual factor.

The only exceptions are games against Washington with last change where McD always is out against Ovechkin.