Post-Game Talk: New York Rangers at New York Islanders - February 15

[culex]

Hm, this game was really interesting for me. Up until this point, I've been okay with going in to a rebuild because I figured we wouldn't make the Playoffs so it'd be better to sell high on our UFAs. While this still holds true, I think tonight really showed just how much and why we need to focus on multiple, good drafts. It wasn't just today, but for many games it's clear we have issues with our offense. I mean, even in our wins/few game streaks this season, a lot of our scoring came from the power play than even strength.

But the point is, I guess we're really seeing the effects from losing out on a lot of those first round picks. Even though we've recuperated in some sense by picking up a lot of college FAs and drafting well in the middle rounds, we really don't have that offensive drive from anyone (made worse by all the injuries). It's not that we don't have guys who can't (Zib was great in the Playoffs, Buch has an incredible ceiling, and we really miss Kreider) but it's not always consistent, as well I think a lot of the guys we have now are better as depth pieces. If this is all we're playing with, it doesn't surprise me we can get all these plays going/SOG without scoring; there really isn't anyone who can finish or really drive a high end play right now.

And note -- I still put a lot of blame on AV's system and whatever Ruff is doing. I'm not excusing the coaching but I do think personnel is part of the issue as well.

For those who don't know, on Marek and Friedman's podcast (31 Thoughts) it was mentioned that Rangers and Oilers had a potential deal back in 2016, where we were going for their fourth round pick. Things were in place but Puljujarvi fell into their laps and the Oilers were pretty much like "loljk". Apparently the player of EXTREME interest was Clayton Keller. Here, you had the Rangers going for a incredibly offensively dynamic centre. I think this just further emphasizes what we need. I think from losing out on Stepan they couldn't afford to gamble on a high ceiling player if they only had one pick, hence the Andersson pick. But we all know how that draft fell into place and we eventually picked Chytil as well.

Any ways, I know a lot of people have talked about the team's woes and needing an elite offensive player of sorts for the past many years, but for whatever reason, I think the reality of the situation finally hit me tonight. And then to make matters even more apparent (or worse), we saw exactly what this team needs right across the ice -- Barzal! Despite the Isles doing poorly this season, you certainly can't deny the type of impact he has had (and will have) for them.

Overall, I do think the rebuild is the right move and this game kinda made me more confident in that. I think my biggest concern is management f***ing it up, though. The rest of this season and into this off-season will be very interesting.

 

[darko]

No wonder we have issues with our offense. Our bottom 6 is all rookies or AHL players. Get Buch and Kreider back and insert Lias and Chytil and all of a sudden that's a good lineup.

Ziba/Buch/Kreider/Hayes/Miller/Lias/Chytil - and that's with Nash and Grabner traded.

 

[Jayan]

 

[Ori]

They will do exactly that end of this season @darko , but they won`t use them until our last 10 games with Lias, and 9 games with Chytil to get them valuable NHL experience until next training camp in October. And both should be well rested after a busy draft year and a season. But they are both young so they recover fast.

 

[Kaapo Kakko]

I hope this cheers everyone up a little!

 

[SML2]

He won't have that cap hit in 3-4 years.

Hank is here for as long as he wants to be.

With that defense in front of him I don't think he will last. That was an incredibly active game for a mid thirties goalie. If he's doing that every night I just can't see it going well for that long.

 

[SnowFort]

If we are going to suck next year, can we please suck so much that we land Jack Hughes?

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

If we are going to suck next year, can we please suck so much that we land Jack Hughes?

No we’ll do the same thing because this is Rongos town and we do not tank right

 

[mandiblesofdoom]

Not like I can be too mad at a line of Cody McLeod, Peter Holland and Vinni Lettieri and they've actually been fine in other games but they straight up got their **** kicked in on every shift lmao

Only watched the first period. Seemed like every time McLeod had a chance to play the puck he failed, and the Islanders wound up on offense getting chances. I was yelling "stop passing to him!" But they paid no attention.

 

[NCRanger]

From a distance the team is blue and red,
And the road jerseys white.
From a distance the D makes the pass,
And the forwards take to flight.

From a distance, there is harmony,
And it echoes through to Hank.
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of sense,
It's AV's voice to every man.

From a distance the team has enough,
And no stud D we need.
And there are no Staals, no Zuccs, and no McDs,
No bad Shatty's knee.

From a distance we are four lines strong
Marching in a common band.
Playing on offense, playing on defense.
They're the zones of every man.
Hockey Gods are watching us. Hockey gods are watching us.
Hockey Gods are watching us from a distance.

No, a million times no!

I love writing song parodies, and actual songs as much as the next person, but Bette Midler on a hockey board? God, NO!

Too bad George Costanza didn't kill her playing softball.

 

[will1066]

Only watched the first period. Seemed like every time McLeod had a chance to play the puck he failed, and the Islanders wound up on offense getting chances. I was yelling "stop passing to him!" But they paid no attention.

They can't hear you

 

[will1066]

No, a million times no!

I love writing song parodies, and actual songs as much as the next person, but Bette Midler on a hockey board? God, NO!

Too bad George Costanza didn't kill her playing softball.

LOL

 

[will1066]

I hope this cheers everyone up a little!

I watched Messier manhandle Jason Blake. That always makes me feel better

 

[True Blue]

I'd disagree with them playing a good game...felt like we had a lot of quantity but very little quality.

Agreed. Saying they played a good game feels just like trying to make oneself feel better about the sad shape of this team.

 

[RangerLifer]

I hope this cheers everyone up a little!

 

[KOVALEV022473]

No, the plan is to build a new core through the draft and supplement them with smart trades and the right free agents. Would you prefer to continue kicking the can with this core when they have proven that they can't get the job done?

What the hell does this even mean?? How many players on this team are part of this “core” you speak of, Five? They’ve been trading away or not resigning the “core” constantly.

 

[leetch99]

If Skjei is the next captain nothing will change.

Give me a loud leader. I’m tired of the lead by example thing. Let’s get a barker

Sooner have a biter than a barker...just saying ...if you are wishing !

 

[leetch99]

Not like I can be too mad at a line of Cody McLeod, Peter Holland and Vinni Lettieri and they've actually been fine in other games but they straight up got their **** kicked in on every shift lmao

Over matched and Isles with last change simply took advantage of that situation .

 

[klingsor]

Please sell wisely.

 

[dstoffa]

But here is the difference. The Rangers, unlike all of those teams, will always be an attractive option for UFA's.

The rebuild may not work, but what they're doing right now IS NOT working.

I'd rather go for the option that gives you a 40% chance at success than the one that gives you 0. The 4 point thing is a mirage, they've played like crap for most of the season, that gape will be at least 5 by tomorrow night and thats before getting to the schedule next month. This team is going to get KILLED in March.

Four out of Five dentists at playoffstatus.com say the Rangers will NOT make the Playoffs after the loss to the Isles.

 

[dstoffa]

The one thing I'm worried about is if they plan on building around Lundqvist again. Building around ANY goaltender, whomever it may be, I don't care if the best goalie in history is on your team you don't build around that. You need a team strong up the middle and a balanced defense.

If they build around Hank again they need their heads examined.

Assuming you can trade Hank, who is going to take on a 8.5 million cap hit? He isn't going anywhere..

 

[eco's bones]

No, they gave up 50 shots.

This is one of those that AV would say 'I thought we played well. We had lots of good looks'.

I don't know. About half way through the second period I had this intuiton that we were going to get shut out. Now Desharnais did kick one in but that feeling never left me. I think Halak played well but IMO he was far from outstanding. I don't think the shots he faced were for the most part all that difficult. He got lucky on a shot off the post by Skjei in first. He had a couple that almost slithered between his legs. A lot of the Rangers shots seemed to be coming off the boards.

It just wasn't a good game to me apart from the fact that we kept some of the numbskull mistakes down.

 

[will1066]

It was what it was. The effort was there. We don't have the horses. We have a bunch of ponies. Things might be better when Buch and Kreider are back. But after the TDL, who knows what the team will look like. We need to grade these individual games going forward on a curve. The team is in sad shape. But you can still be objective and say they played well for their skill level. The fourth line is terrible, the third line was probably the best line all night, and the Hayes line wasn't good, but the kids are getting much needed experience and getting their feet wet.

I'm not even going to comment about Barzal and the way we are mesmerized by him. He's going to be the biggest Ranger killer for years to come.

 

[leetch99]

This is one of those that AV would say 'I thought we played well. We had lots of good looks'.

I don't know. About half way through the second period I had this intuiton that we were going to get shut out. Now Desharnais did kick one in but that feeling never left me. I think Halak played well but IMO he was far from outstanding. I don't think the shots he faced were for the most part all that difficult. He got lucky on a shot off the post by Skjei in first. He had a couple that almost slithered between his legs. A lot of the Rangers shots seemed to be coming off the boards.

It just wasn't a good game to me apart from the fact that we kept some of the numbskull mistakes down.

Haha...they always brag up the amount of shots...Halak had maybe a couple of tough saves . Our guys as a rule never battle very hard in the crease for the greasy goals . We have a lot of lurkers around the crease...almost like a murder of crows eyeing up a morsel on a cold morning....we need to find guys that go that extra foot with no fear and poke for the rebounds...Hayes for one is the fastest Ranger in history when the whistle blows skating away from the scrum/crease....I bet if he was on a stop watch it would be almost Olympic record breaking quality .

 

[Bones45]

I'm not even going to comment about Barzal and the way we are mesmerized by him. He's going to be the biggest Ranger killer for years to come.

As a hockey fan -- and being subjected to the typical grinding/boring type of game the NHL has turned int0 --- everyone is mesmerized by him. Weve been watching him all year -- and even we are absolutely brutal -- which is most games -- when he gets on the ice its really something to watch.