Post-Game Talk: NYR @ WSH Game I: An Implosion Of Modest Proportions

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I didn't think Ovechkin was even good last night, so I have no idea why everyone is complaining about that. Girardi/McD, for the most part, did an excellent job shutting him down. That lapse on the Johansson goal was ******, but I doubt that happens again.
 
solid game, couldn't score... that's all that went wrong.

PP still sucks as usual, too much passing, but for the first half, and last 10 mins of the game, I thought we had the caps number, pressuring them and forchecking very well.

The refs calling 4 penalties in a row against the road team, playing the team with the best PP in the NHL... there is no excuse... 2 of those 4 calls should have been penalties, and when you take (or in this case, are given) 6 penalty minutes in a single period (nearly back to back as well), what do you expect?
 
It can't just be about both goalies when there are 36 other guys lacing up. We scored one goal and didn't execute. Sorry, but Holtby wasn't challenged all that much and did not need to be anything close to spectacular. At the end of the day, our execution as a team was not there and I personally thought the Caps had better scoring chances. Lundqvist wasn't stellar, but Holtby wasn't particularly challenged and he truly isn't anything special.

How are our other 18 guys not also accountable for that? Aside from beating up on teams who were out of the race at the end of the season, where's the offensive support for Hank? A goalie cannot be counted on to be flawless every playoff game. I mean the only way we win yesterday is if Lundqvist shuts them out and we win 1-0.

It's much easier for some to blame Hank than admit the rest of the team is flawed and/or struggling. Last night's loss was a teamwide failure in almost every facet of the game - offense, goaltending, defense, special teams, etc.

In addition to the offense failing to execute, the defense was far from where it needs to be if they want to win this series. It's one thing for Girardi and McDonagh to struggle against Ovechkin, but their lack of awareness on Johansson's goal absolutely cannot happen.
 
I can't even bring myself to complain about the refs. They gave us our fair share of stinkers too. Damn shame that we looked best on our PK than even strength (aside from the PP goal against)

Still trying to fathom the Callahan roughing call tho
 
sh** happens. One horrific call by the officials happenned to lead to a PP goal after the three legitamate calls on our idiot team were perfectly PK'd.
One breakway and one that Henrik should've stopped. Could have won 1-0 very easily. That said yet again the offense even if it generate chances does not come through. Offensive breakway, Moore's...?goal? Can't say it was surprising. At least they looked good while failing miserably to score. So there's hope they can find the back of the net and play well but we all knew that they COULD. But it's simple now either they do or they don't.
 
By the way, one other thing about last night about the NBCSN coverage that I found hilarious, in Rangers HFBoards context, was the lead up to the Ovi goal. Guys on here complain all the time about the Rangers dumping the puck in on the powerplay. Well, after Washington REALLY struggled with the Rangers PK setup in the neutral zone, Doc asked Eddie what he would do to fix it. Eddie said that, if your opponent isn't giving you any time to skate the puck in, you gotta start dumping it. 30 seconds later, Capitals got another PP. First time up the ice, Ovechkin dumps the puck in from the red line. Caps score a goal on that possession.

Made Eddie look like a genius and a lot of people on here look pretty stupid from my point of view.
 
Rick Nash will have to be much better. If we are going to win, outside of Lundqvist, Nash will have to be our best player. We aren't going to win this series if Hagelin is our best player. Nash is going to need to step it up. Same applies to Stepan (who has a lot to prove in the post season after last year), and Richards

Based on performance this year one of these things is not like the other. One of these things is not the same.
 
Was that directed at me? It was a shove. There was no arm wrapping.

And the Rangers did plenty of that last night without calls.

I had to watch it again because I didn't get a good replay last night, but either way I think if you're calling McDonagh for doing that on the boards on Ovechkin you could make a call against Perrault there. I'm not one to ***** about reffing generally, and that isn't what lost us the game but it hasn't been very good this season.
 
Based on performance this year one of these things is not like the other. One of these things is not the same.
If you're talking about Stepan (not sure if you mean him or Richie lolz), he had a very good regular season. His playoff performance last year wasn't great. He needs to step it up this playoff run. Regular season's over now, this is where it really matters
 
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The frustrating part is that this game was there for the taking and yet again this team showed no killer instinct.

Exactly, they need to bury those chances. When a team is up 1-0 and they keep missing chances, you know the other team is not only going to tie it, but probably win due to momentum.
 
In this thread:
* Fans forgetting that Rangers scored a boatload of goals the last few matches. So obviously they can score
* Fans who hate the team because they lost to another team
* Fans who forget that the opponent has good hockey players as well
* Fans who honestly expect Slowe and Boyle to be the messiah this team needs, even if they get flamed pretty much every game they participate in.
* Fans who hate Torts and the PP
* 4-5 people who actually like the team and have something positive to say.

I feel that sums this thread up

This is news. Never had someone come in and pretend to be a better fan than others because of their opinions before. :rolleyes:
 
Will be huge if at least 3 of the 4 injured players return tomorrow. Even better if all 4 are in.
 
I thought Holtby had trouble with the short side due to his aggressive play. Moore "scored" short side, Holtby left the short side open on a shot by Richards midway or late in the 2nd, but Richards missed. I think you can exploit this. When on the rush, the defender on the side of the rush pinches in, while the forward on the other side drops back, creating an odd man situation on one side of the goal, while not letting our guard down defensively. Basically the same play as on the "goal" by Moore. Should be helpful.

Also need traffic in front, I think shots from behind the net could pay off as well. Send our more mobile players out against Erskine, Hillen and Oleksy - I don't think it's much of a mystery Hagelin looked great yesterday. Alzner and Carlson were occupied with the Nash line, while Hags was having a field day speed-wise. Get Zucc and Cally and possibly Kreider some of those matchups too. Molest Green, hit him hard on the forecheck.

Defensively, stop giving up odd man rushes. You kinda expect Hank to stop Johansson, but ultimately, the play was McDonagh's fault. Give Moore some more minutes to get some weight of McD's and Girardi's shoulders. Hope for Staal to get healthy, we could really use his strength, I recognized our lack thereof, especially when their bottom lines hemmed us in our own zone repeatedly.
Not having an overly physical group of defensemen makes quick decision-making necessary, and I'm not excited about DZ or Eminger having to do that. Try Pyatt on the ice for those occasions, I think his size can be of use in that department. Aggressiveness on the PK was just right. Stop collapsing on the 5 v 5, Green and Carlson have good, heavy shots and way too much time to let them go (that point is a pipe dream of mine though, I know).

Goaltending wise, hope for Hank to go back to being Hank, otherwise we're screwed anyways. I hope he's pissed, because he uses to come out sharp the next game if that's the case.
 
Based on performance this year one of these things is not like the other. One of these things is not the same.

I assume you mean Richards, who had a bad year, one good month and finished on a 60 point pace.

Richards had a bad year, but that doesn't take away from the fact he has more playoff experience and big time potential than Rick Nash has displayed in the post season. Richards was our best forward last season in getting us to the Conference Finals, and he'll have to be that good again for the Rangers to win.

I don't see how people don't see Richards, given his playoff resume, even with this team, isn't a huge X factor in the series.
 
I assume you mean Richards, who had a bad year, one good month and finished on a 60 point pace.

Richards had a bad year, but that doesn't take away from the fact he has more playoff experience and big time potential than Rick Nash has displayed in the post season. Richards was our best forward last season in getting us to the Conference Finals, and he'll have to be that good again for the Rangers to win.

I don't see how people don't see Richards, given his playoff resume, even with this team, isn't a huge X factor in the series.

Obviously....i don't think people don't know that. i think after this season, they just don't expect him to be.

He was pretty invisible last night. Stepan and Nash (and obviously lundqvist) will have to be our best players.

We need guys like Hagelin and Cally to be big as well.
 
I didn't think Ovechkin was even good last night, so I have no idea why everyone is complaining about that. Girardi/McD, for the most part, did an excellent job shutting him down. That lapse on the Johansson goal was ******, but I doubt that happens again.

Why wouldn't it happen again?
 
The Girardi McDonagh coverage on the 2nd goal was quite possibly worse than Girardi's coverage on that Vanek breakaway
 

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