The Rangers need to look back to the last game they played against the Lightning in the regular season and won 6-3 if I'm not mistaken. They played with skill and grit in a hard-fought game with the Lightning. That was a performance that gave me hope the team could do some damage in the playoffs.
Games 1 and 2 were good but the Devils were also not at their best. With the exception of Igor, I have yet to see the Rangers show that they really want the cup. They can't continue to play this tentative, slow-paced style unless they're able to execute with max precision. There's just very little margin for error against a fast team like the Devils who can (and have) taken advantage of bad passes and poor shot selection (or non-selection).
Kane is not the problem. He's a complementary piece along with Vlad. This team will ultimately go as far as Panarin, Mika, Krider, Fox and Igor go. Igor has showed up. Fox and Krider showed up during the first two games while Mika was able to contribute on defense. However, there comes a point where getting the puck in the back of the net trumps everything else. Panarin seriously needs to get on the same page as the rest of the team in terms of passing. Nobody seems to know where to be when someone else has the puck and unfortunately Mika/Panarin are not able to put the team on their backs and will them to victory.
This Rangers team feels like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. The passing is atrocious and too much puck watching instead of anticipating where the puck needs to be. Credit the Devils for playing tight defense because the Rangers don't know how to properly crash the net or make decisions quick enough to get through.
Also have to add that the Kid Line and KAM are not adding any meaningful element of change of pace/X-Factor. Maybe a little from Kakko but Laf looks nothing like the way he played last year when he was checking hard everything that moved.
The offense trying to move the puck up the ice is painful to watch. Would it kill them to try and work together?
Games 1 and 2 were good but the Devils were also not at their best. With the exception of Igor, I have yet to see the Rangers show that they really want the cup. They can't continue to play this tentative, slow-paced style unless they're able to execute with max precision. There's just very little margin for error against a fast team like the Devils who can (and have) taken advantage of bad passes and poor shot selection (or non-selection).
Kane is not the problem. He's a complementary piece along with Vlad. This team will ultimately go as far as Panarin, Mika, Krider, Fox and Igor go. Igor has showed up. Fox and Krider showed up during the first two games while Mika was able to contribute on defense. However, there comes a point where getting the puck in the back of the net trumps everything else. Panarin seriously needs to get on the same page as the rest of the team in terms of passing. Nobody seems to know where to be when someone else has the puck and unfortunately Mika/Panarin are not able to put the team on their backs and will them to victory.
This Rangers team feels like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. The passing is atrocious and too much puck watching instead of anticipating where the puck needs to be. Credit the Devils for playing tight defense because the Rangers don't know how to properly crash the net or make decisions quick enough to get through.
Also have to add that the Kid Line and KAM are not adding any meaningful element of change of pace/X-Factor. Maybe a little from Kakko but Laf looks nothing like the way he played last year when he was checking hard everything that moved.
The offense trying to move the puck up the ice is painful to watch. Would it kill them to try and work together?
