Given time, Miller and Hayes may solve the size down the middle problem without any trades being necessary.
i disagree. Kreider has been good. Kreider isnt going all out in preseason and he still has been impressive. Even though he didnt score last night he was a beast in the offensive zone pretty much every shift. I know duclair is the shiny new toy but most of our veterans look goodYeah, but to score around or a little more than 60 pts he needs to be more involved on a regular basis than he has before. That is a big step he needs to take. Early in camp he showed a tendency to move in that direction. Lately he has moved back towards being a bit more dependent on things coming to him than him making his own way...
Can someone explain to me what the point of keeping McIlrath around was if he isn't going to play tonight...
Still struggling to see any rationale behind this.
Can someone explain to me what the point of keeping McIlrath around was if he isn't going to play tonight...
Still struggling to see any rationale behind this.
Where are you seeing tonight's lineup?
Here’s the lineup for that game:
Goalies: Cam Talbot, Henrik Lundqvist
Defensemen: Michael Kostka, Dan Girardi, Kevin Klein, John Malone, Matt Hunwick, Steven Kampfer
Forwards: J.T. Miller, Ryan Malone, Dominic Moore, Ryan Haggerty, Matthew Lombardi, Marek Hrivik, Oscar Lindberg, Kevin Hayes, Carl Hagelin, Anthony Duclair, Chris Mueller, Jesper Fast
Kostka, Girardi, Hunwick, Miller, Malone, Hayes, Duclair and Fast are the players dressing for the back-to-back games.
Lundqvist, who made 19 saves against the Blackhawks and stopped eight of nine shootout attempts (while apparently playing while under the weather) is scheduled to back up Cam Talbot against the Devils.
http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/rangerrants/rangers_3_blackawks_2_so_post-game_analysis/
Gross:
So that he gets practice time with the pro team
Malone looked fine. He brings a physical and big presence that is lacking on this team. Not that it is necessary; but it would be nice to have in more than just Glass.
And you can hate him all you want, but he has scored two big goals, plus gotten the shootout winner. I know Fast has also done well, but I disagree with the party line that the guy has been amazing defensively and deserves a spot because of his 2-way play + deceptive offense. Not seeing him being a stellar defensive presence; he's missed a good amount of assignments and certainly looked like he was running around with his head cut off a few times. Fast has been fine, but he hasn't blown me away. I think he'll be a decent tweener eventually, but I don't know that he beats out Malone this season, and that is fine.
And none of that is to excuse Malone's boneheaded penalty / lack of clear. But the guy has done enough to make it reasonable for him to make the team if the coaching staff believes he should, and that wouldn't be mind-blowing.
Those would be terrible pairings. Seriously? You think Boyle's defensive game is bad, so you pair him with Moore? And then you pair two defensive d-men together in Staal and Klein? Wow. Talk about unbalanced and uncomplimentary pairings.
At best, what you do is swap Boyle and Girardi; but I don't even like that, because it creates the same problem on the 2nd pairing (2 defensive d-men). Staal and Boyle just need time to get used to each other, and Boyle needs to adapt to the new system. They should be fine. I actually thought that pairing looked ok tonight - not great, but ok. And if anyone on that pairing was struggling, it was Staal, not Boyle (not arguing we shouldn't re-sign Staal, btw -- I want him re-signed).
Agree with all of this. Miller deserves to get a look on the big club, but man he has been disappointing in a couple of these preseason games. He plays like a wrecking ball, which is great; but his hands need to catch up with the rest of his body. Time and again I see him beating people to the puck and then blindly throwing area passes to no one or whipping the puck at the net without any thought going into the shot. Not gonna cut it in the NHL if he can't figure it out. There is a reason, when he has been called up, that he hasn't put up the points. Hoping things start to click for him a bit better.
Hayes needs a bit of time in Hartford. See the potential, but not ready yet. But yea - I like him at C.
the zucc line was our best line. Brassard is still rusty but once he gets in the flow that line will be better than last yearsome thoughts on last nights game...
maybe I am in the minority, but I did not like the Kreider-Brass-Zucc line. They looked nice with the puck, and were able to move and keep it in the O-zone... on paper, it sounds like it should work, but Kreider lacks that little tiny offensive instincts that Malone has... O-zone positioning... I think Kreider could grow into that line, and learn where Zucc and Brass like to function and work on finishing plays... so in that sense, the line could be a success, but as of right now I don't see it as a line that sticks after Stepan comes back...
Hunwick is DEFINITELY the 7th Dman... poised with the puck, quick on his skates, recovers well, lefty shot (which is good considering lack of depth in the LD position).
Hayes looks great, IMO... other than that nasty turnover in the slot, he was VERY patient with the puck and very smooth on his skates in the offensive and Defensive zone
Kostka is ****ing awful... luckily he'll be stuffed in Hartford.
I'm not a fan of Malone's overall game, but whether anyone likes it or not he IS an asset to this team this year.
I'm impressed by Glass... He's exactly like Dorsett except bigger, so his hits actually crush the opposition. Reminds me of Kreider when he checks players.
Staal looks fine in the defensive zone. Still a bit meh in the offensive zone, but I think that is due more to him being not yet comfortable with Boyle.
Speaking of which, Boyle is awesome on the PP... but he should never be on the PK.. too slow and ran out of gas 1 minute into a LONG PP... not that the PP should have been that long, but you could tell Boyle became a statue towards the half way mark.
JT Miller on wing tonight. Oscar Lindberg Dom Moore Matt Lombardi and Chris Mueller the centers.
John Malone? Sounds like a horrible name for an action superstar. Maybe I'm thinking John McClain
Lombardi? Didn't he not even make it through practice the other day?
@AGrossRecord:
#NYR announce that Kevin Hayes "tweaked" his shoulder and will not play tonight. Had a tough outing Friday. Unlikely to make club, it seems
tough break
i meant last night no need to get upset. Im a duclair fan but the hype is getting sillywell, that's you. Most people who have watched the preseason would say Duke has been the better of the two. Easily. Not to say that Hayes hasn't been impressive, because he has been.
I saw your post before you changed it to this, so don't play it off
@PLeonardNYDN: