Series Talk: ECF: New York Rangers vs Florida Panthers *Game 1 Wednesday 5/22 @ 8pm ET*

[jay from jersey]

I meant historically. We have quite a history making average goalies look formidable in the playoffs.

Bob is 902 but dumb.
At least once a game, probably twice he’ll do something stupid.
Either space out on a long shot, I’ll advised poke check, poor rebound control, etc
Rangers have to bury those moments….
Then it’s like quicksand for him, the bad moments are more frequent

 

[McRanger92]

I honestly didn’t see enough from Wheels this season to want to consider putting him in the lineup now, especially post-injury and not having played since Feb.

It was a while ago but Mika & Kreider were at their most productive with Wheeler. And if Ros struggles against the size of Florida it’s nice to have the option to put a guy in the lineup who is 6’5 and can pass the puck. Laviolette can adjust to a lot of scenarios with thus depth

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Was checking my Venmo and a friend of mine paid a Vincent Mercogliano for burgers and fries. So I click on the name and all his Venmo transactions are eggs, food, burgers etc. I didn't know our beat writer was also a chef.

Italians are really good at eating

 

[Machinehead]

Our entire bottom six is a non-factor. I see plenty of places to get Wheeler a look.

 

[Kovalev27]

100%. He’s had his clutch moments but we need the sustained, relentless attack we saw all season. His linemates are outperforming him so far.

You guys see the other skill guys in the playoffs right? Matthews Pettersson marner mackinnon even pasta etc. the other teams game plan for them. They say we’re not going to let you beat us. So of course Panarin is not going to be able to dance like he does in the regular season and put up 3 pts a game. He’s got a target on his back every night.

That’s why depth in the playoffs is so important. That’s why chytil is so important in this series. That’s why having two top lines is going to be key. What Kreider did along with the Trocheck line was so big. Carolina didn’t have two lines.

Panarin has come up big. Big goals big plays but he’s not going to have much room the rest of the way

 

[irishlaxburger2]

Not this year. Realize that past stats are only predictive to a point.

We were a Chris Kreider explosion away from going 6 straight periods with ~roughly 3 high danger chances across that time period. Unfortunately, we showed in game 5 and early game 6 that we're still capable of going silent for stretches if we don't get consistent 5v5 play.

I hope it doesn't happen again throughout the rest of the playoffs, but until proven otherwise, I think the potential is there.

We need to be better 5v5. Full stop.

 

[Kovalev27]

I am not judging this team for game 5 or 6 at all at this point considering what we now know about this flu bug that ran thru the team. They looked completely different than they did thru the first 4 games than they did in game 5 and most of game 6. And it clearly hit some guys hard.

Game 4 we should have won. We were the better team thru almost all of it

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

Our entire bottom six is a non-factor. I see plenty of places to get Wheeler a look.

Who are you taking out? Line 3 has the highest expected goal percentage in the playoffs. Even though they barely score, they don't let the other team score that much either. You need that too. Vesey and Goodrow are stapled to the lineup. There is ONE place to get Wheeler a look. That would be in place of Chytil, who seems ready to go. That means there are NO places to get Wheeler a look. I'd be fine taking out Vesey for Wheeler to see how it goes, but I don't see Lavy doing that.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

The more i look at this series the more difficult it becomes.

Florida has some serious scoring depth. They are heavy, they are battle tested. I think it would've been a little easier had they not had that run last year and gained all of that experience. They know what it takes.

Rangers had trouble against them in the regular season, we all know they are a bear of a matchup. It just doesnt get easier.

For the Rangers to win this they are going to have play really well, Mika will have to match Sasha, Fox will need to bounce back, get some bounces, dominate on special teams again and have Igor outplay Bob. Thats the recipe.

But if you held a gun to my head i'd have to go with Florida in 6 or 7.

We all know in the playoffs its a game by game, period by period grind and anything can happen. The 4 teams left in this can all win the Cup. So we play the games. The Rangers have it going on. There could be some magic there. On paper its not a great matchup, but it doesnt mean we cant believe this team can get through this opponent. Its not like it will take a miracle. They arent that far apart at this stage. Who wants it more?

 

[Machinehead]

Who are you taking out? Line 3 has the highest expected goal percentage in the playoffs. Even though they barely score, they don't let the other team score that much either. You need that too. Vesey and Goodrow are stapled to the lineup. There is ONE place to get Wheeler a look. That would be in place of Chytil, who seems ready to go. That means there are NO places to get Wheeler a look. I'd be fine taking out Vesey for Wheeler to see how it goes, but I don't see Lavy doing that.

I would take Kakko and Wennberg off life support to charge my phone.

I don't care what their expected numbers are. Kakko underperforms his expected numbers over a five-season sample. We can't have two lines incapable of scoring.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

The more i look at this series the more difficult it becomes.

Florida has some serious scoring depth. They are heavy, they are battle tested. I think it would've been a little easier had they not had that run last year and gained all of that experience. They know what it takes.

Rangers had trouble against them in the regular season, we all know they are a bear of a matchup. It just doesnt get easier.

For the Rangers to win this they are going to have play really well, Mika will have to match Sasha, Fox will need to bounce back, get some bounces, dominate on special teams again and have Igor outplay Bob. Thats the recipe.

But if you held a gun to my head i'd have to go with Florida in 6 or 7.

I don't disagree with anything but the bolded.

Rangers were clearly the better team in 2 of the 3 games they played (including the one down in sunrise where they just got puck luck'd to death and Quick wasn't very good) and the 3rd was pretty much a toss up.

I don't believe in the carry over RS to PS FWIW.

One thing I will point out is that I think that there have been several members of the media who have keyed Trouba as someone who is likely to struggle in this series for a variety of reasons. I think they're Ignoring that Ekblad is just as likely to do the same. He's been horrid.

 

[Machinehead]

Saying Trouba and Ekblad will struggle in this series is like saying Rempe will be tall in this series lol

Trouba and Ekblad struggle in the NHL

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

I would take Kakko and Wennberg off life support to charge my phone.

I don't care what their expected numbers are. Kakko underperforms his expected numbers over a five-season sample. We can't have two lines incapable of scoring.

Good thing you don't make decisions and instead spend your time complaining about a team in the final four.

 

[Machinehead]

Good thing you don't make decisions and instead spend your time complaining about a team in the final four.

I don't complain about a team in the final four. I complain about Kaapo Kakko being a worthless boil on my ass.

That's who Wheeler is going in for if I had the choice.

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

I don't complain about a team in the final four. I complain about Kaapo Kakko being a worthless boil on my ass.

That's who Wheeler is going in for if I had the choice.

Ok Gallant.

 

[Ruggs225]

I don't complain about a team in the final four. I complain about Kaapo Kakko being a worthless boil on my ass.

That's who Wheeler is going in for if I had the choice.

Hell no. Got to disagree.

Kakko, while not putting up points, controls the puck for that line and is the sole reason why they are always in the ozone. Would love to see them score more, but they arent bleeding goals against which is also good.


The only person i would consider removing to fit i. Wheeler would be vesey. Wheeler is cooked so i wouldn’t want him at all truthfully.

 

[Machinehead]

Better yet, get Kakko on the 4th line where he can play defense and "get chances" to his heart's content.

Get Chytil and Wheeler together, or put Wheeler back where he was and get Chytil and Roslovic together. I can deal with one line that has no prayer of scoring. We're going to have a really hard time getting through two more series with two of them.

Whatever, just don't tell me the lineup is too tight. I would healthy scratch Wennberg to put Henrik Lundqvist at forward to get him a ring. He's a somehow more worthless Kakko.

 

[Ruggs225]

My lineup would be assuming all healthy

Krei-zib-ros
Pan-tro-laf
Cuyl-chytil-kakko
Good-wen-wheel/remp

Remp plays home games
Wheel plays away games
Vesey maybe subs for them

Defense is what it is.

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

Hell no. Got to disagree.

Kakko, while not putting up points, controls the puck for that line and is the sole reason why they are always in the ozone. Would love to see them score more, but they arent bleeding goals against which is also good.


The only person i would consider removing to fit i. Wheeler would be vesey. Wheeler is cooked so i wouldn’t want him at all truthfully.

Logic.

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

Better yet, get Kakko on the 4th line where he can play defense and "get chances" to his heart's content.

Get Chytil and Wheeler together, or put Wheeler back where he was and get Chytil and Roslovic together. I can deal with one line that has no prayer of scoring. We're going to have a really hard time getting through two more series with two of them.

Whatever, just don't tell me the lineup is too tight. I would healthy scratch Wennberg to put Henrik Lundqvist at forward to get him a ring. He's a somehow more worthless Kakko.

The first line which had 2 5v5 goals in our comeback in which Ros played a big part. You want to switch that up. So in your scenario, you are changing potentially 75% of our lines. The lines we have been rolling for over 2 months, including a stretch were we didn't lose a game for a month. Just put them all in a blender. BEFORE game 1.

It's tough to stand out for a take on hf boards. Congratulations to you. This is impressive.

 

[Ruggs225]

The first line which had 2 5v5 goals in our comeback in which Ros played a big part. You want to switch that up. So in your scenario, you are changing potentially 75% of our lines. The lines we have been rolling for over 2 months, including a stretch were we didn't lose a game for a month. Just put them all in a blender. BEFORE game 1.

It's tough to stand out for a take on hf boards. Congratulations to you. This is impressive.

Kreider and zibs havent looked better since Ros went on that line. Wheeler is slow as shit and dragged down the line. No way i break up that trio now.

They need the speed Ros brings.

 

[TheWrongWay]

But if you held a gun to my head i'd have to go with Florida in 6 or 7.

A friend wants to bet one of these two winning the Cup and asked me, "If your wife's life depended on you picking the winner, who would you pick?"

I said, "Current wife or ex-wife?"

He said, "Current," and I answered Florida also.

Truthfully, I chose Florida by a razor-thin margin and have this as a coin toss.

 

[Machinehead]

The first line which had 2 5v5 goals in our comeback in which Ros played a big part. You want to switch that up. So in your scenario, you are changing potentially 75% of our lines. The lines we have been rolling for over 2 months, including a stretch were we didn't lose a game for a month. Just put them all in a blender. BEFORE game 1.

It's tough to stand out for a take on hf boards. Congratulations to you. This is impressive.

Fine. Then leave that line alone if you so prefer.

Put Chytil in for Rempe or Vesey (don't care) and put Wheeler in for Wennberg. Run Cuylle-Chytil-Wheeler. I think we'll actually have a better chance of scoring with that line on the ice than we do shorthanded, which can't be said of the current third line.

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

Kreider and zibs havent looked better since Ros went on that line. Wheeler is slow as shit and dragged down the line. No way i break up that trio now.

They need the speed Ros brings.

Ros isn't a perfect player, but there are no perfect options. He is the best line 1 option on this team by a mile.

 

[Ruggs225]

Fine. Then leave that line alone if you so prefer.

Put Chytil in for Rempe or Vesey (don't care) and put Wheeler in for Wennberg. Run Cuylle-Chytil-Wheeler. I think we'll actually have a better chance of scoring with that line on the ice than we do shorthanded, which can't be said of the current third line.

Wheeler sucked most of the year and is coming off a major jnjury. Why on earth do u want to force him in the lineup. His slow ass will actually hurt chytil who uses his speed.

Hell even Kakko is a burner compared to wheeler. Dude is cooked.