Post-Game Talk: Game 4

[TriFF51]

We’ve been waiting for Mika to play well at even strength all season. It ain’t happening.

I would be shocked to see it. But I still think they can win without him. Just need something from someone other than the 2nd line.

 

[lakeshirts37]

Nah, I’ll keep our 120 point player

Whats the point if he does nothing in the playoffs??

 

[ReddestRum]

They have to switch back to Miller-Schneider. Puck needs to get out of the zone with some pace.

I'm in agreement with this.

 

[mrmovies779]

Honestly of all our defensemen, the only 1 I keep is Fox.I would be fine if the other 5 were moved.You need puck moving defense to beat a heavy forecheck like this,which we certainly don't have.Drury has watched these past 2 games,he has a huge job to do filling our most glaring hole

 

[Megustaelhockey]

The demise of our penalty killing is a devlopment I wouldn't have predicted. It's been trash.

 

[LokiDog]

They played scared....the constant pressure has them seeing ghosts. Plus they refuse to skate with the puck even with open ice in front of them. They keep throwing hail mary passes from blueline to blueline that keep getting intercepted & the Cats are back in our zone within 5 seconds. If this doesn't change, they could be teeing it up next week.

Spot on, especially with refusing to take the ice that’s given to you and instead trying the Hail Mary stretch pass over and over again. It doesn’t work. We barely connect on 20 foot passes. That play should be banished. We are always the worse passing team of whichever two teams are on the ice, which is baffling because we still win more often than not. But it is a problem - this team needs to learn to progress the puck up the ice smoothly as a unit, the way most of our opponents demonstrate consistently. If we can have the results we do while lacking that, imagine if we actually managed to add that to our game? Similarly, we always look like we have worse conditioning than the other team. That’s unacceptable. Is it because our passing is so bad that we’re always chasing and reaching for pucks? Is it because they’re a bunch of pampered NY babies who wanna think about their next DJ set? Either way, it’s also a problem. If we managed to look middle of the pack in either of those areas we’d probably already have our SCF ticket punched with the way Igor has been playing. Instead we’re in danger of a 2022 repeat/reliving the Hank years where not a single offensive “star” manages to be a genuine difference maker when it counts.

 

[Breaded Fox]

you want to throw in an undersized defenseman who hasn't played in nearly 2 months into game 5 against a team who has all 5 forecheckers outskating all 5 rangers players on any given shift?

Yes.

 

[Black Aces]

The weak plays to their point men and weakly chipping it to center has been just brutal

 

[Doctyl]

Whats the point if he does nothing in the playoffs??

He’s probably the single biggest reason we have home ice throughout the entire playoffs.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I feel bad for Lavi. His roster is just not good enough, he has to answer questions and probably has to hold his tongue from saying "have you seen our roster?"

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

The playoffs are tough. The rollercoaster is dramatic. In 94 the Rangers lost game 4 & 5 to go down 3-2 in the ECF. I am positive many rangers fans thought that was it, it was all over. This deep in the post season is not for the faint of heart. This team has some magic. They’ll need to pull some out Thursday night.

 

[Machinehead]

We were great in the first and the way it just did a 180 was really discouraging in regard to our ability to sustain anything against this team.

I'm sorry guys. I think they're a good team and I think we can win with this group. I've died on that hill every time.

I just don't think we have the horses, right now, in this series.

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

If the Rangers lose this series it’s because our big guns other than Laf who is a big gun at this point, didn’t show up. You can only ask the Barclay Goodrows to take you so far.

The big guns can’t come through if the coach can’t even recognize who they are. Wheeler took a shift in OT before Lafreniere. Don’t even let laviolette on the plane

 

[Zarao71]

Should’ve pulled the trigger on an Eichel trade and forced Mika outta here. Shouldn’t be hard to get rid of him. He’s got zero balls.

 

[Atax]

this isn’t a coaching problem. This isn’t an officiating problem. It’s the fact we have one good defensemen and a rotten veteran core incapable of playing 5 on 5.

 

[Ruggs225]

We were great in the first and the way it just did a 180 was really discouraging in regard to our ability to sustain anything against this team.

I'm sorry guys. I think they're a good team and I think we can win with this group. I've died on that hill every time.

I just don't think we have the horses, right now, in this series.

We are going to win.

 

[Brutananadilewski]

Im not, but u dont bench your best players in the playoffs in game 5 to prove a point.

Thats gallant level stupid.

U think jonny f***ing brodzinskinia going to do better?

U just hope that zib finds the fire within himself to play better. All u can do.

Your best players as of right now are Goodrow, Laffy, and Tro.

Kreider and Zibs have a combined 0 points in 4 games. They can't sustain any offensive pressure, are prone to giveaways.

f*** Brodzinski. If Chytil is a no-go, I'd still sit Zibs out and at least inject Jones.

 

[LORDE]

Jones is wildly superior (as was our play when Trouba was hurt). So it would be a significant upgrade.

It won't happen but I'd be ok with it

 

[DanielBrassard]

I'm heated, and they looked like shit. Outside of Laf the God, Tro and Shesty being phenomenal.

BUT...it's f***ing 2-2. They're coming back to the Garden. They can still win this series. Just gotta get our top line to pull their heads out of there asses and play hockey. Easier said than done but there's WAY worse scenarios to be in than 2-2 with home ice.

They aren’t winning shit. There’s zero counter to what Florida is doing. The defenseman can’t win a f***ing battle down low and even if they do the most they can muster is a lob to the neutral zone and hope a forward skates into the puck. There’s no transition game to speak of, there’s zero neutral zone defending and thus zero offensive zone time. And even if they do get in the offensive zone they are easily neutralized. What’s going to change? It’s 2022 and 2014 vs the kings all over again.

 

[TriFF51]

Even if they still lost, man it would have been beautiful if that Laf shot went in. An inch away from another highlight reel.

 

[Boris Zubov]

We are going to win.

I think you had your drink in the wrong hand.

 

[will1066]

The demise of our penalty killing is a devlopment I wouldn't have predicted. It's been trash.

I'm not surprised. They own the blue paint even at 5v5. It's difficult to push them off the puck down a guy or prevent them from owning the net front. All their PP goals are the greasy kind compared to our royal road beauties. But esthetics don't count this late in the playoffs.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

What were the turnovers like this game, btw? 100-0? I've never seen this many turnovers.

 

[Black Aces]

Lafreniere needs more ice time. He and trochek are far and away our best forwards

 

[Machinehead]

We are going to win.

Maybe I'm wrong and they look great in game 5.

I don't see it.

As @DanielBrassard alluded to, it's starting to look like 2022. That series could have gone 29 more games and Tampa was winning of them.