GDT: PS #1 - 09/18/19 | devils @ RANGERS | 7:00 - MSG

[HatTrick Swayze]

Wait, did Kakko get dinged up? Thought it looked like he was just gassed.

Fox was extremely impressive. Also pleased with Hajek.

That PP1 is what I have dreamed of watching all these years.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Fox was the best player on the ice. Man is he good. DeAngelo is a complete moron. Enjoy the third pair after finally beating out pionk this is like taking on a real challenge.

Kakko was the second best player on the ice. Of course he got hurt as did panarin welcome to the Rangers boys. It’s never easy.

Georgiev woof. The goaltending was the difference tonight. I don’t worry about him though he’ll be fine. Shesterkin is getting better good sign. Not great but getting better lately.

Love Trouba. Love the big shot and the simple approach to playing the top of the key. Skjei was not great but hardly as bad as he’s being made out to be here. The contract he got was not good. He’s not a top pairing dman. Just isn’t. He’s a second pair guy at best.

Mika was flying

Kreider is a freak athlete. Anyone who thinks he’s slowing down anytime soon is nuts. He’s getting faster and stronger. He could probably be a tight end for the patriots right now and win a super bowl. I’d keep him

Kravtsov looks like he could use a couple months in the A. Gorton needs to find a buyer for namestnikov in the mean time.

Lias as I said has noticeably improved his skating. I still don’t see the offensive upside but he banged home a goal in front where he’s fearless and has that poise I’ve talked about. That should be his bread and butter. We’ll see how he progresses here now that he at least has turned himself into a pro athlete.

Hajek was awesome

Sorry, Kovie, Skjei was every bit as bad as he’s being described here. Between the turnovers and just generally being out of position (including a fine Dan Girardi imitation, and not in a good way), he was painful to watch. The defense is why this team is likely not making the playoffs this year.

 

[Edge]

I knew last year would be tough. I think there will be a lot more to enjoy this season, but, this is nowhere near a complete picture. There were quite a few things that pleased me - seeing Andersson being more assertive, watching Kakko’s ability to dominate, watching Kravtsov get better as the game moved along, seeing Zibanejad and Kreider provide a veteran presence, seeing the Hajek-Fox pairing fit like a glove.

But, Brady Skjei cannot be giving Marc Staal and Brendan Smith competition for most incompetent LD. Skjei was going to be fine sliding in behind McDonagh as the 2nd LD. But he has been brutally exposed. And, given the depth at LD in the organization, with two prize jewels in Miller and Robertson on the way, I remain convinced he’s not long for this franchise.

I think the 8-10 range is still the likely outcome for this team. There are going to be a lot more growing pains to come.

I totally agree.

The holes are significant, and the rookies, even under the most optimistic of expectations, will have growing pains.

The latter is especially important to remember as hope springs eternal from September through November and the usual suspects rush to see how far ahead of the horses they can position the cart.

Having said that, when you see this much young talent, LEGIT young talent, it keeps things interesting. It’s a lot easier to live through the growing pains of Kakko, Kravtsov, Chytil, Anderson, Howden, Fox, Hajek and company than it is to grow frustrated with Zucc sulking, to endlessly debate Hayes value and Pionk’s true upside, or to have to sit through a season of Cody McLeod.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Wait, did Kakko get dinged up? Thought it looked like he was just gassed.

Fox was extremely impressive. Also pleased with Hajek.

That PP1 is what I have dreamed of watching all these years.

I couldn’t tell. I kept flip flopping between thinking he was injured and just exhausted. He’s definitely going to be fine, even if he was dinged up.

 

[mrmovies779]

I see you have been a fan for 3 years. Thank you for the confirmation and the intelligent debate!

You dont know me,dont act like you do.Go bug someone else.I dont care to debate about Staal.Dont like my comments,feel free to ignore.It certainly wont ruin my night.

 

[NernieBichols]

I'm concerned a bit as I mentioned in a few posts. But from what I saw and from what some of the guys have said, these don't appear to be anything to worry about. Not sure if your being factious or kidding around but I don't have ANY fear whatsover that these Kakko and Panarin injuries are anything but a couple of "boo boo's" and that they will be fine.

Relax brother...Rangers are NOT the Knicks or the Jets thank god

I'm concerned a bit as I mentioned in a few posts. But from what I saw and from what some of the guys have said, these don't appear to be anything to worry about. Not sure if your being factious or kidding around but I don't have ANY fear whatsover that these Kakko and Panarin injuries are anything but a couple of "boo boo's" and that they will be fine.

Relax brother...Rangers are NOT the Knicks or the Jets thank god

It’s great they are fine. Truly. But yeah when I heard panarin headed to the locker room, that was my 1st thought, and watching kakko labor and flex his knee and seeing the replay and only him going down behind on a non contact to the knee play, and how he wasn’t pressing off that leg much for the next shift. Yeah the game ended with me wanting to see as much of him to try to get a read if he was injured as possible.

But really I’m just saying. We’re all big fans and kinda emotionally invested: at least to the extent we enjoy good games and winning, and we hate when the team doesn’t match what we want to see and envision. And you can bank on nothing, cuz we’ve been waiting how long for a panarin or a kakko, and they could go down. (Knock on wood) but we’re helpless as fans.

 

[Edge]

Keep in mind, the Rangers are going to be EXTREMELY conservative in their handling of certain guys right now.

As a result, players will be rested and held out for a multitude of issues that would be considered part of the normal wear and tear of playing pro hockey if this were the regular season.

 

[Fitzy]

So Kakko stepped in for Buchnevich tonight, which means that were we to speculate on PP2 you'd have a PP1 of

Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Panarin-Trouba

Kravtsov-Chytil-Kakko
Fox-DeAngelo

For me, that's not enough veteran experience on PP2. Three rookies and two sophomores, basically.

 

[NernieBichols]

Man I’ll tell you what. Seeing these young kids and the Mika/skjei/trouba vet presence, no knocks, it just made Kreider stand out. Kinda wish the cap was making its jump this upcoming summer. If he could just be a 30g25a guy who spreads it out across the season instead of batches, he’s worth 7+. He’s such a better player than when he first brought in. Really learned how to play his position and role to the T.

 

[Edge]

See, this is the hyperbole BS that just pisses me off. Staal was never going to be Erik Karlsson, but when he was younger and before his injuries, he really could break out with the puck. He was a damn good defenseman before all these injuries took their toll.

We really do forget how important of a player he was, and it’s a real shame.

It’s unfortunate that his career was so seriously mangled by injury and that, at this point, the post-injury years have tended to eclipse the pre-injury ones.

 

[Fitzy]

Man I’ll tell you what. Seeing these young kids and the Mika/skjei/trouba vet presence, no knocks, it just made Kreider stand out. Kinda wish the cap was making its jump this upcoming summer. If he could just be a 30g25a guy who spreads it out across the season instead of batches, he’s worth 7+. He’s such a better player than when he first brought in. Really learned how to play his position and role to the T.

The Silver lining is that if he has a big year and we can't re-sign him we'll get a big haul at the deadline.

 

[NernieBichols]

Keep in mind, the Rangers are going to be EXTREMELY conservative in their handling of certain guys right now.

As a result, players will be rested and held out for a multitude of issues that would be considered part of the normal wear and tear of playing pro hockey if this were the regular season.

With panarin that was my feeling.
I didn’t see kaapo take a crosscheck.
I saw the MSG replay that showed him going down and twisting over and his leg getting caught alittle bit. And then him flexing and not pushing off it much on the last shift

Panarin doughboy precautions
Kaapo i Hope was smarting from xcheck and not a knee

 

[Anzi]

Vince says he's fine

 

[Maximus]

It’s great they are fine. Truly. But yeah when I heard panarin headed to the locker room, that was my 1st thought, and watching kakko labor and flex his knee and seeing the replay and only him going down behind on a non contact to the knee play, and how he wasn’t pressing off that leg much for the next shift. Yeah the game ended with me wanting to see as much of him to try to get a read if he was injured as possible.

But really I’m just saying. We’re all big fans and kinda emotionally invested: at least to the extent we enjoy good games and winning, and we hate when the team doesn’t match what we want to see and envision. And you can bank on nothing, cuz we’ve been waiting how long for a panarin or a kakko, and they could go down. (Knock on wood) but we’re helpless as fans.

I hear ya but we are good. Panarin over the years has shown himself to be very durable and from what some of the fellas have said as I didn't see the exact play, it was a slight groin thing. It's only preseason and you gotta think Quinn and the coaching staff aren't going to take chances at this juncture. Kakko apparently got cross checked...no biggie despite his laboring at the end of the game.

Now maybe if this was a crucial game in March, Panarin would have stayed in. Anyways, bottom line, we just have to hope and have faith our guys stay relatively healthy in a very taxing and at time violent sport.

 

[Fugazy]

Post-Game Talk: - PS #1 - 09/18/19 | devils @ RANGERS | 7:00 - MSG