Series Talk: New York Rangers vs New Jersey Devils (Rangers 1-0)
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I mean I want the rangers to play a hard physical game. and if any of the devils skate with their heads down, then yes I want trouba to skate through them.
Also the devils have a significantly weaker defense. they rely heavily on their forwards speed to overcome that, the problem is those forwards are also smaller.
Devils are favorites even if it's slight. For all we have, and I know it might be shocking or "beta" to admit it, but the Devils are a better team. Better teams lose all the time in the playoffs though. Might be the tightest series in round 1. Tampa, Toronto is close as well.
Vegas has the Devils with a slight advantage.
I said this earlier, the Rangers need to play BETTER than they did in the regular season, not just the way they play NJ in the regular season, but against ANY fast team, to win the (any) series. The Devils don't have to be "better", they can just do their thing. If the Rangers don't adjust, we need to hope Igor stands on his head, and/or that the Devils get nerves and shit the bed.
If the Rangers win that would mean they went into a different gear. I hope they do!
Kords
Registered User
- Jun 19, 2019
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Trocheck and Goodrow will be the main pricks but yeah, no where near Avery’s level.
Why? We don't need any of that, we're coming in with more playoff experience, we're going to hit them harder from top to bottom, Every single guy on our roster has at least 12 games of playoff experience. The devils are the ones who need to take us out of our flow, and they're the smaller team thats going to be hard to do in the playoffs.
HockeyBasedNYC
Feeling it
YOU NEED TO HIT THEM!!
Yeah, but Its not just about hitting them because they are smaller and skilled.
Its the way you guide a team physcially. If theres opportunities to finish checks up the ice on their breakouts and in the neutral zone you need to do it.
This isnt to inflict pain or wear them down over a long series (thats a byproduct), its about disrupting their flow so a forward cant get in to be the 2nd or 3rd man in on a forecheck or a Dman falling behind the play and being late to keep a puck in at the line. It helps make puck battles easier to win.
Its all of the little things you would need to do against any team in the playoffs, but its especially important against a team like the Devils with such a dynamic forward group. Its also a habit the Rangers have difficulty falling in line with for 60 minutes - the roster, specifically the forwards arent instinctual in this regard.
But again, a guy like Kane or Panarin arent hitters, but this isnt about laying people out. Its just about becoming a bumper at the right times, to get the opposition off track, consistently enough to change the flow of their comfort on the rush offense...
Yeah, but Its not just about hitting them because they are smaller and skilled.
Its the way you guide a team physcially. If theres opportunities to finish checks up the ice on their breakouts and in the neutral zone you need to do it.
This isnt to inflict pain or wear them down over a long series (thats a byproduct), its about disrupting their flow so a forward cant get in to be the 2nd or 3rd man in on a forecheck or a Dman falling behind the play and being late to keep a puck in at the line. It helps make puck battles easier to win.
Its all of the little things you would need to do against any team in the playoffs, but its especially important against a team like the Devils with such a dynamic forward group. Its also a habit the Rangers have difficulty falling in line with for 60 minutes - the roster, specifically the forwards arent instinctual in this regard.
But again, a guy like Kane or Panarin arent hitters, but this isnt about laying people out. Its just about becoming a bumper at the right times, to get the opposition off track, consistently enough to change the flow of their comfort on the rush offense...
Kords
Registered User
- Jun 19, 2019
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To add to this, gotta make Vanecek work. These dudes need to focus on hitting the net and fighting for rebounds. Play the long game and wear him out because Blackwood is not an NHL caliber goaltender.
Hated how the Bolts got away with all the intentional after whistle whacks at Igor last year. They get praised for “tough playoff hockey” but I’d wager the Rangers don’t get that leeway if they played a similar game. Not that anyone on the team would, but I wouldn’t hate making Vanecek life as miserable as possible.
PuckLuck3043
Stairway To Heaven
This series is 50/50. Even if the Devils are slight favorites right now the Rangers winning the series would not be an upset. That was my original point.
I mean vanececk isn’t a playoff goalie either. If I’m the devils I’m praying my team smothers every single shot, because a career .909 goalie isn’t who I want starting game 1.
The Rangers A games beats the Devils A game, all day, every day.
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
I'll disagree. Partially.
The Rangers do have to play a different way - but so does every other team in the playoffs. They'll have to crowd the nuetral zone, clear the zone correctly, and play a more North/South game than East/West. They know this. They've been waiting all year to be right here.
The Devils ALSO have play a different game. The free flowing fast game won't work as well as it did during the regular season and the ice will be significantly smaller. They are going to be hit A LOT more than accustomed to.
I'm curious which way the "experts" will lean when picking this series.
From a non biased fan perspective I still think I'd favor the Rangers based on roster and playoff experience and, in particular, goaltending.
Fitzy
Very Stable Genius
- Jan 29, 2009
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If our A game includes proper defensive support from the forwards then sure.
Player big P
no more striptease no more flashes
IronBloodedLion
Registered User
Cheapshot
Registered User
- May 23, 2012
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Come out hard in game 1 and kill their aspirations. Remind them what the playoffs are like. We need to win these early rounds in less games this year.
Agreed on that, but only if the Rangers make their adjustments. Last year against Tampa, Gallant couldn't coach the team out of that crap, but he will have to do it against the Devils. The Devils free flowing fast game works if we think we can just go out there and skate with them. My point: Rangers need to be BETTER to counter the Devils strengths. It's not a given that happens.
What I find interesting is that the Rangers didn't to do much differently against Carolina to beat them in 7, and I think we would have beaten them in less if we matched up against them round 1.
If the 1st two lines do their jobs and cancel out the Devils top two, then we have a big advantage with our 3rd and 4th lines. If it comes down to that, we should win. Will be tough as hell either way.
- Jan 18, 2012
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Can't let them counter off of lazy turnovers in the neutral zone. It's rudimentary. Pucks need to get deep and you need to finish checks on the forecheck.
You want to skate the puck in? fine. Do not try cute stuff at the blue lines.
It's 7 games. You can break them. I am more confident against Jersey than Carolina tbh. If we play how we're suppose to play, we win. We dictate how the series goes IMO. If we get lazy with the east/west in the neutral zone and play wide open, it's a failure of game-planning/execution.
You want to skate the puck in? fine. Do not try cute stuff at the blue lines.
It's 7 games. You can break them. I am more confident against Jersey than Carolina tbh. If we play how we're suppose to play, we win. We dictate how the series goes IMO. If we get lazy with the east/west in the neutral zone and play wide open, it's a failure of game-planning/execution.
haveandare
Registered User
Not the easiest matchup but the doom and gloom here isn’t totally justified imo.
A lot of these Jersey players have little to no playoff experience, and those who do don’t have much playoff success. Meanwhile the rangers all have last years run and many of them have a lot more than that. Key guys like Mika and Fox were ppg players and guys like Trouba and Laf kicked up their physicality significantly and made outsized impacts.
Panarin in the biggest question mark but he’s starting the playoffs on an absolute heater and we’re not playing a tight, smothering defensive team to start. Oh, plus there’s Tarasenko and Kane who are proven playoff beasts.
Also Igor is in good form and their situation in goal is not great by playoff standards.
A lot of these Jersey players have little to no playoff experience, and those who do don’t have much playoff success. Meanwhile the rangers all have last years run and many of them have a lot more than that. Key guys like Mika and Fox were ppg players and guys like Trouba and Laf kicked up their physicality significantly and made outsized impacts.
Panarin in the biggest question mark but he’s starting the playoffs on an absolute heater and we’re not playing a tight, smothering defensive team to start. Oh, plus there’s Tarasenko and Kane who are proven playoff beasts.
Also Igor is in good form and their situation in goal is not great by playoff standards.
gravey9
Registered User
- Dec 29, 2008
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Now, we will see if the Rangers can truly manage the puck well for 60 minutes a night, consistently. Hitting matters of course. But so much of these series may come down to how well we can maintain a defensive structure and have 3 to 5 guys back as the Devils possess up the ice. If we manage the puck poorly and force passes into the middle. If our breakout consists of just getting it to the Devils blue line and giving it back. Then, they will thrive and we will have lots of trouble containing their offense. We will do far better if we're able to clog the middle and counterattack. Our breakout has been very inconsistent all year -- it's effectiveness changes so drastically from one period to the next. But I think we need to make them slog through the middle of the ice and make them go 200 ft every time. If we do that, then perhaps we can catch their forwards cheating up the ice and isolate their D and their goalie.
As far as matchups go, in some ways, we're the best matchup the Devils could hope for. We're not as bruising and annoying as teams like Carolina and the Islanders. Similar to the Devils, even when we play well and show in stretches how dominant we can be, we make just enough gaffs within a given game it's gives the top echelon teams a decent chance to beat us. Even when we are dominant. All season long we've showed both the promise of a special team and the frustration of a team that doesn't dot the I's and cross the T's. With the type of squad we have, we are going to need to get the details right and play our most consistent hockey of the season. The big edge that teams like the Devils and the Bruins have on us? They were just more consistent than us during the regular season. If you can play the right way and prove you can do it, that builds a confidence for when the chips are down. I know we have the playoff experience from last season that can give us an edge in a very tight series, but we have to match or exceed the execution of teams that have generally had better overall execution.
Can we bring our game to the next level for long stretches, yup? Can we button it up for the next 2 months? We haven't shown that consistency within many individual games let alone through 16-28 games in a row. This execution theme only becomes more pronounced the deeper the run. If we get past the Devils and it takes 7, then does it slow us down a bit going into the winner of CAR/NYI? Does another long series against a bruising team slow us down against Boston or Toronto or Tampa?
In any case, I am hopeful and a bit skeptical.
As far as matchups go, in some ways, we're the best matchup the Devils could hope for. We're not as bruising and annoying as teams like Carolina and the Islanders. Similar to the Devils, even when we play well and show in stretches how dominant we can be, we make just enough gaffs within a given game it's gives the top echelon teams a decent chance to beat us. Even when we are dominant. All season long we've showed both the promise of a special team and the frustration of a team that doesn't dot the I's and cross the T's. With the type of squad we have, we are going to need to get the details right and play our most consistent hockey of the season. The big edge that teams like the Devils and the Bruins have on us? They were just more consistent than us during the regular season. If you can play the right way and prove you can do it, that builds a confidence for when the chips are down. I know we have the playoff experience from last season that can give us an edge in a very tight series, but we have to match or exceed the execution of teams that have generally had better overall execution.
Can we bring our game to the next level for long stretches, yup? Can we button it up for the next 2 months? We haven't shown that consistency within many individual games let alone through 16-28 games in a row. This execution theme only becomes more pronounced the deeper the run. If we get past the Devils and it takes 7, then does it slow us down a bit going into the winner of CAR/NYI? Does another long series against a bruising team slow us down against Boston or Toronto or Tampa?
In any case, I am hopeful and a bit skeptical.
The rangers came in last season with no playoff experience except for maybe Kreider and Panarin and made it all the way to game 6 of the conference finals. I think too many here put too much stock in playoff experience.
Sure but aside from Panarin we had no small players in our entire top 9.
The devils have 4?
haohmaru
boomshakalaka
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