GDT: Game 82: New York Rangers vs Ottawa Senators, 7:30pm, MSG

[Reijo29]

senators would loooove to play spoiler tonight. Hope the boys come out flying.

How about us loving winning something for a change. I’m sick of the other team having a reason.

 

[Ail]

1 point doesn’t do it, why are some fans so asleep. They need 2, why is that so difficult for some to understand.

Lmao people politely corrected him 5 pages ago but GO OFF KING!

 

[TominNC]

How is Carolina still this close? Do they ever f***ing lose?

Yet we're ahead of them. And apparently we suck according to our fans.

 

[Fitzy]

Yet we're ahead of them. And apparently we suck according to our fans.

Everyone still has a negative hangover from last season.

Which suits me fine. Between 2013, 2015 and 2023, the few times we go into the playoffs with high expectations it hasn't panned out well.

 

[TominNC]

Kind of tangential, but if we win a cup within the next few years the Rangers' success since 2006 is going to be completely recontextualized by everyone. All of a sudden you will be hearing people talk about our "winning culture" and how successful the rebuild was in getting a quick turnaround.

No, people will never do that. It'll me 2 cup in 85 year or whatever. Then in 5 years some kid bitching that they never won in his lifetime.

 

[OriginalLimbo]

Right, so "killer instinct" just means you won the Cup, which is a reactive measure, not a predictive one.

Colorado lost a game 7 at home last year in a feckless performance. Tampa Bay got run off the ice by Toronto. These are teams that, by your measure, have killer instinct, except when they don't, which is most of the time.

Before winning the Cup, Vegas lost a semi-final to like a 20-win Montreal team, blew a 4-1 lead a game 7, and missed the playoffs the year prior.

It's not real.

Yeesh. This dents my ego…and I didn’t even make the point or agree with it.

 

[TominNC]

I don't want the Islanders. Not because I think they're good--I actually think they suck--but because I've been a fan of this team long enough to know that's a script written with a heartbreak ending for us.

We did kick their ass in the Cup year. And the time before that. Nothing is 100%

 

[DialUp]

Yet we're ahead of them. And apparently we suck according to our fans.

Did you see the Canes outshoot Chicago by 18? TRUE CUP CONTENDAH! GEYNTZUL!

 

[Profet]

We did kick their ass in the Cup year. And the time before that. Nothing is 100%

We can talk about vague things like "killer instinct"... but to me the issue with playing the Islanders is the predisposition to perimeter hockey.

This Rangers team is the epitome of a perimeter team. No one skates the puck between the dots unless there is a breakaway. The Islanders are more than happy to give up those perimeter shots all day and just block the royal road. This team has issues with teams that play that style (ie a playoff style).

This Rangers team is happy to score and put up great numbers against teams that are terrible at defending the royal road pass. And they will continue to struggle against all teams that just let them shoot from the half boards or blue line while defending the cross ice pass.

 

[DialUp]

We can talk about vague things like "killer instinct"... but to me the issue with playing the Islanders is the predisposition to perimeter hockey.

This Rangers team is the epitome of a perimeter team. No one skates the puck between the dots unless there is a breakaway. The Islanders are more than happy to give up those perimeter shots all day and just block the royal road. This team has issues with teams that play that style (ie a playoff style).

This Rangers team is happy to score and put up great numbers against teams that are terrible at defending the royal road pass. And they will continue to struggle against all teams that just let them shoot from the half boards or blue line while defending the cross ice pass.

Suppose the question then is if they are even CAPABLE of skating between the dots.

 

[will1066]

 

[Levitate]

~

We can talk about vague things like "killer instinct"... but to me the issue with playing the Islanders is the predisposition to perimeter hockey.

This Rangers team is the epitome of a perimeter team. No one skates the puck between the dots unless there is a breakaway. The Islanders are more than happy to give up those perimeter shots all day and just block the royal road. This team has issues with teams that play that style (ie a playoff style).

This Rangers team is happy to score and put up great numbers against teams that are terrible at defending the royal road pass. And they will continue to struggle against all teams that just let them shoot from the half boards or blue line while defending the cross ice pass.

it's really hard to skate the puck "between the dots" when another team is packing the middle of the ice. You just get it knocked away etc. "going to the net" isn't "one weird trick" that makes everything better. CLogging the middle of the ice is an extremely effective way to make it really hard for teams to get shots through or to attack the middle of the ice. Usually it takes some perimeter play and movement to try to open something up, otherwise again, you're trying to skate into the slot with 5 guys already in there ready to check you

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Like us during the Henrik years, Boston over-relies on goaltending. The one year they won it, Thomas went absolutely ape shit.

I feel like Thomas’ reputation for that run was incredibly overrated.

He faced a ton of volume because Boston played 3 7 game series with a f*** load of OT games but he faced so many shots from the outside. His gsaa was in the green but nothing too crazy given how its a cumulative stat and they played 25 games (9.1, for reference Igor was at 8.8 through 7 games in a series they lost last year.) Claude Julien hockey was very much being okay with giving up shots from the outside but making sure that you got the puck out of harms way before the opponent had a chance to follow up on rebounds. Thats pretty much what that Bruins run consisted of.

For reference, Quick and Vasilevsky both exceeded that number in both years where they won. A bunch of goalies have posted higher numbers in years where they didn't win either - Hank several times, Igor in 2022, Price twice, Holtby a few times (not the year he won though) I even saw a Mike Smith appearance in there.

I think the more accurate statement would have been that the 2011 Bruins get swept if Vancouver was healthy. Thomas was more than good enough during that run, but he wasn't exactly carrying the Bruins on his back.

 

[Profet]

~

it's really hard to skate the puck "between the dots" when another team is packing the middle of the ice. You just get it knocked away etc. "going to the net" isn't "one weird trick" that makes everything better. CLogging the middle of the ice is an extremely effective way to make it really hard for teams to get shots through or to attack the middle of the ice. Usually it takes some perimeter play and movement to try to open something up, otherwise again, you're trying to skate into the slot with 5 guys already in there ready to check you

100%

But when teams clog the middle of the ice... the Rangers go to is to pass to Lindgren for a logo snipe.
Or pass to Trouba for the hard shot high and wide.

 

[Levitate]

100%

But when teams clog the middle of the ice... the Rangers go to is to pass to Lindgren for a logo snipe.
Or pass to Trouba for the hard shot high and wide.

Yeah I do think there are players who just kinda get tired of passing it around trying to open it up and think "well i'll just shoot" and then it gets blocked

but yeah it's really hard when teams setup a disciplined slot blocking scheme. just blindly attacking the middle won't get you anywhere on that, but on the other hand you do gotta try to do something to get the puck towards the net eventually

 

[LeetchisGod]

I meant more leading up to 2014 we finally got through those haunting ass teams on our way to the finals.

I just feel like this team beating Tampa and especially the Isles, that’s the kind of mental wins for a core which can really have them playing as confident as possible.

That's fair.

 

[DialUp]

100%

But when teams clog the middle of the ice... the Rangers go to is to pass to Lindgren for a logo snipe.
Or pass to Trouba for the hard shot high and wide.

And that is why a lot of goals in the playoffs are those greasy goals; teams that make it far know how to clog and to not to try to force THROUGH it when they get clogged.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Don't give two shits about the President's Trophy. Avoiding Tampa, and locking up home ice for as long as we're alive, is a pretty big carrot though. Sign me up!

 

[jerseyjinx94]

Every game in a playoff series like it's game 7 I'll buy, with the asterisk that if you're up 5-1 in the 3rd I don't need you running around.

But every regular season game like it's game 7 is a recipe for disaster.

I mean, sure. Don't disagree.

I don't think this is always possible or realistic and it also treats sports/hockey like a video game where it's just like "this teams total rank is higher than that teams so they shoudl win!" and discounts how players have bad games, bad luck, are injured, or are just worn out and not playing to their top form.

The team that flopped against the Devils is largely the same team that scratched and clawed its way to the ECF the year before. Was one team just putting in more effort than the other?

Hockey isn't completely random or something, of course better teams are usually the ones that win the cup, but parity in the league now is such that when you throw a bunch of the best teams in the league against each other in the playoffs the outcome often isn't decided by what the best team on paper is but by which teams happens to "get hot" (lucky, more or less) and so forth.

You can have all the killer instinct in the world and the puck just doesn't go in for you a couple of games and that's it, you're done.

First bold: No it wasn't. The team was much different. Trocheck instead of Strome, Kane, Tarasenko. There were some big changes.

Second bold: Nothing I said disputed that.

Third bold: I guess. A 7 game series kind of eliminates that. This isn't football

Is it a fair question?

The same core of players has a 3-1 comeback in which they trailed in every game and a game 7 win on the road.

Yes, it is. Panarin, Fox, Igor, Kreider, Zibanejad all have to show up and perform, not just play hard. They need to put the puck in the net (and prevent it) and actually perform. And arguing that "hockey is random" as a reason they don't is not a really good counterargument. This is a results-based business. If those guys are giving 100% effort in the playoffs, the Rangers should not lose. They could lose, I get it, but they shouldn't.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

We can talk about vague things like "killer instinct"... but to me the issue with playing the Islanders is the predisposition to perimeter hockey.

This Rangers team is the epitome of a perimeter team. No one skates the puck between the dots unless there is a breakaway. The Islanders are more than happy to give up those perimeter shots all day and just block the royal road. This team has issues with teams that play that style (ie a playoff style).

This Rangers team is happy to score and put up great numbers against teams that are terrible at defending the royal road pass. And they will continue to struggle against all teams that just let them shoot from the half boards or blue line while defending the cross ice pass.

This is true. A commitment to playoff style hockey, and adjusting to the other team's game plan is important. Guys like Zibanejad, Panarin, Trocheck, Kreider need to lead the way in this regard.

 

[McRanger92]

Score early and let Ottawa take penalties. Panarin should be shooting all game. Sens called up a goon because they want to make it scrappy to a fault. We win but Tkachuk scores a goal.

 

[Reijo29]

Lmao people politely corrected him 5 pages ago but GO OFF KING!

I love when someone comments like this pretending they know something.

Score early and let Ottawa take penalties. Panarin should be shooting all game. Sens called up a goon because they want to make it scrappy to a fault. We win but Tkachuk scores a goal.

Ottawa could be missing three centers

 

[Machinehead]

I mean, sure. Don't disagree.

First bold: No it wasn't. The team was much different. Trocheck instead of Strome, Kane, Tarasenko. There were some big changes.

Second bold: Nothing I said disputed that.

Third bold: I guess. A 7 game series kind of eliminates that. This isn't football

Yes, it is. Panarin, Fox, Igor, Kreider, Zibanejad all have to show up and perform, not just play hard. They need to put the puck in the net (and prevent it) and actually perform. And arguing that "hockey is random" as a reason they don't is not a really good counterargument. This is a results-based business. If those guys are giving 100% effort in the playoffs, the Rangers should not lose. They could lose, I get it, but they shouldn't.

See this is where I disagree.

Some mid team like the Islanders or Wings, sure. That would be disappointing and might cause me to make a hard assessment of what we have.

We could play our asses off and lose to Carolina, Florida, or Boston. We're not so much better than them if at all.

Anything beyond round 1 is a dice roll.

 

[RangerLifer]

WOW!! Seven pages already!! Damn, we're hard core.

Get ready for torture tonight. We all know they never make ANYTHING easy.

 

[DialUp]

See this is where I disagree.

Some mid team like the Islanders or Wings, sure. That would be disappointing and might cause me to make a hard assessment of what we have.

We could play our asses off and lose to Carolina, Florida, or Boston. We're not so much better than them if at all.

Anything beyond round 1 is a dice roll.

I do think every round is a dice roll. Just depends on how weighted your dice are. Getting somehow goalied in round one by Lindgren or whatever is just real bad luck.