I would have called this thread "Merde"
Takeaways:
-PLEASE SPLIT UP PANARIN AND TROCHECK. Zero chemistry. Please put Chytil with Panarin - NOW.
-The D was awful tonight. Schneider had the best game out of any of the D tonight, and it was just a "decent" game. Brutal shift by Miller on the GWG. Trouba overzealous on the PK led to the first goal. Lindgren was an offenive zone turnover machine and had numeous failed zone clears all night - looking like a left-handed Dan Girardi out there. Harpur was hi usual weak self. In general, the zone clears were horrid. Soft plays everywhere.
-If I'm the Rangers coaching staff, I'm telling Harpur tomorrow that if he takes a wrist shot from the blueline again, Libor Hajek is going to play the rest of the season. This guy kills more offensive zone shifts with stupid 0% wrist shots than anyone else in the league.
-Zibanejad generally was better on faceoffs again. Hopefully he can keep the momentum going.
-Trocheck was absolutely terrible today. Everything Panarin did with bad passes against Dallas, he did with terrible stickhandling tonight. On a 2-on-2 with a winger, he needs to use the other winger every once in a while instead of always trying to beat both D by himself.
-Montreal was clutching and grabbing all night, with 3 players back at the blue line. They were begging to be pinned in their zone all night, but somehow the Rangers didn't make their D turn and play the puck, and didn't draw penalties the way they could/should have.
-Watching Sammy Blais play is like watching Stu Grimson play hockey in a league with no fighting. It's f***ing embarrasing at this point, and I would rather see anyone else on the roster at this point. Why the coach continues to roll 4 lines when the 4th line shows nothing is beyond me. After giving up the goal, 4th line....seriously?
-The powerplay is still way too stagnant. The pass around the perimeter until you open the one timer from the circle clearly is not working. They need to move the puck down low and try to create centering passes in the slot. That's how you force defenses to collapse to open the perimeter up. When they keep the puck up high to the degree they have been in recent games, smart PK's (and even mediocre PK's) send the forwards up to pressure, and then the Rangers just turn the puck over constantly. Which is basically what we saw.
-Puck skills. This team takes forever to move the puck. You need to utilize quick touches against teams that stay back in numbers and apply pressure in designated areas. This team has shown that they will fail against that system time and time again. Montreal employed the strategy and it gave the Rangers fits. Sometimes I really wonder if this team even practices set breakouts at all the way they move through the neutral zone. It's like they only have one or two transitions plays to choose from - throw a low percentage lead pass far side and hope it works, or the carry in through the middle of the ice. It's tired.
-The first period was their best period, and that's saying a lot given the number of scoring chances they gave up.
-The line changes by GG mid game, again made zero sense. The team played worse after those.
