Post-Game Talk: Rangers @ Blackhawks

[HatTrick Swayze]

Sometimes you could see the benefit of a more man to man defense in this game...a lot of times the Rangers didn't give the Hawks much time to make plays with the pucks, and in general they didn't get mixed up and out of position that often. It didn't always pan out but maybe it's a baby step in the right direction.

They made less mistakes with it I agree. There were still real moments that highlighted its flaws. At least as far as I could see. There was a sequence where Pierre (I believe) called out Girardi tracking his man Hossa up to the point and blocked a shot. Girardi was normally where a winger would be. And said that is his role in the system. Which I don't understand...why would you want Girardi covering the point and a winger covering the net? Aside from the obvious defensive issues, if they win the puck - then what? The winger is going to break the puck out to a dman to lead the rush? Or Girardi is supposed to hold steady, eventually dropping back as the winger skates it out? Makes no sense to me..very inefficient.

To Ola's point and HockeyBasedNYC's point, if this team tightens up they could actually make noise, flawed as they are. Get back to shut down d with the revamped PP is a formula for success. Now if that is in their long term best interest or not is another story.

 

[Ola]

I feel like Richards has lost a step and is standing around a lot not moving his feet, but unlike last season his saavyness with the puck is opening up lanes for himself and his teammates.

I think this is a result of Richards leaving over the reins to Zucc to be honest.

BR is good at getting the puck into the right areas. Good shot and great timing. The problem with him in the game today though is that he is giving up the puck a lot too, and we aren't finding ways to win it back.

With every moment teams are collapsing deeper and deeper with their D's, the more time you get on the outside. BR isn't really a player who thrives on the outside. I've seen parts of shifts in the NHL lately where the tempo has been unbelivebly slow, players with great poise like Bäckström or MSL and guys like thave have been able to just stand still with the puck 5 on 5 like its 5 on 3...´

On the PP and when they have played together, Zucc has been the one running the show. It just pays off so much more than when BR is having the puck.

 

[LieutenantLackluster]

I feel Hank was leaning pass, considering it was a 3 on 2 and go caught. Normally if he gets caught leaning pass in this situation, he still makes the save because 99 times out of a 100 the shot isn't as good as it was. I'm not excusing the goal, I still think he should've stopped it, I'm just providing some reasoning as to why he didn't stop it.

I dont claim to be an expert in hockey but I would think any good goalie would respect the shot and leave the pass up to the D. Hank cant get caught cheating like that.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Now another huge homestand coming up with 10 out of the next 13 and 13 out of the next 18 at home. 2 of the "road " games are at a neutral site in Yankee Stadium and the Rangers dont leave the Eastern time zone until March 13!

Thats extremely limited travel for basically 2 whole months. That just doesnt happen in this league. It should be used to their advantage with extra practice time and rest.

For the 7 players going to Olympics, this is a godsend. I dont think you could ask for a better situation having 10 home games and only having to get on a plane once or twice from now to the Olympic break.

 

[Tawnos]

I dont claim to be an expert in hockey but I would think any good goalie would respect the shot and leave the pass up to the D. Hank cant get caught cheating like that.

Most of the time, I think Lundqvist would. The problem is that the D has had some problems covering those passes a lot this season, so he's a little edgy about it. Hopefully, that will change over time.

 

[Levitate]

They made less mistakes with it I agree. There were still real moments that highlighted its flaws. At least as far as I could see. There was a sequence where Pierre (I believe) called out Girardi tracking his man Hossa up to the point and blocked a shot. Girardi was normally where a winger would be. And said that is his role in the system. Which I don't understand...why would you want Girardi covering the point and a winger covering the net? Aside from the obvious defensive issues, if they win the puck - then what? The winger is going to break the puck out to a dman to lead the rush? Or Girardi is supposed to hold steady, eventually dropping back as the winger skates it out? Makes no sense to me..very inefficient.

I suspect Pierre was wrong about that being Girardi's coverage and that a switch that was supposed to happen didn't occur, possibly because someone wasn't in position to pick it up. I don't remember the exact play though, but you definitely see the Rangers switching coverage at times so Pierre is wrong about it being a strict man to man never leave the guy you're on system.

Not catching the switches properly is what I think the main problem is with this defense, as it's not the easiest thing to do and players have to be on the same page

 

[Ola]

To Ola's point and HockeyBasedNYC's point, if this team tightens up they could actually make noise, flawed as they are. Get back to shut down d with the revamped PP is a formula for success. Now if that is in their long term best interest or not is another story.

Yeah, I think its just stabbing any confidence we are trying to build up in the back when we collapse defensively and give up 3-5 on a regular basis.

That is anything is probably the root to our problems at home. Lack of confidence.

Don't want to touch the transition game though. We aren't hurt as much by it any more. A goal here and there maybe, but not much. But its those players that we constantly loose infront of our own net that we must get a hold of.

 

[ArPanet]

Am I the only one who thinks Girardi is not exactly 'special' in front of his net?

 

[Bardof425*]

Best win of all season. May prove to be the most important as well. Very few defensive mess ups. Hank was solid when we needed him the most. PP looked great. We are lucky Crawford did as poorly as he did. Keep it rolling.

We were not lucky at all. We had the better chances in this game. The save he made on the Nash breakaway and the saves he made in the first five minutes of the third were ridiculous.

I'd like to talk about media coverage. You would think this game was Hank vs. Duncan Keith the way that Doc, Edso and the between period idiots spoke. Hank had a good game; still gave a softy at a really bad time. They made it all about him.

Duncan Keith (or should I say the Canadian Jesus) is so overrated it's ridiculous. He is a seive in his own zone and then when he gets the puck he almost always tries the high risk breakout (a la MDZ). He has great offensive skills so often times it works, but I will take McD over this guy every day of the week and four times on Sunday. He piles up points because of these skills and because he is playing with the most talented group of forwards on the planet. Brent Seabrook is twice the defender that he is and covers his ass constantly.

I gotta say I'm so tired of hearing how friggin' great Duncan Keith is and then when I watch him he gets beat on a SH situation by Cally, loses board battle after board battle and throws pucks into dangerous areas in his own zone trying to make the great play (and as I said it often works; but sometimes...). I know I am in the vast minority on this but I had to put this out there.

 

[Bardof425*]

I thought Marc Staal was the Rangers best skater today. Assist on the GWG and seemed to make good defensive play after good defensive play.

And he hit the post early in the third; he had a great game. Hope he can keep it up. If he does we are a different team. I also thought MDZ was solid as was Stralman.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

You have to be a real hard liner fringe lunatic to attack Lundqvist last night, when he outplayed Crawford and got the win.

 

[Wolfy*]

Hank is back on track, so happy for him. I expected a loss, but last night they showed up to play, then the Rangers can beat any team

 

[Bardof425*]

Lady luck had a lot to do with this game. Rangers had a ton of chance as well did the hawks. however, the hawks clearly carried the play and the rangers could have lost this game very easily. If the rangers want to know how to play hard game in and game out, look long and hard at the Chicago black hawks. My god was their puck possession and passing brilliant. i dont think i've seen a team pull a goalie and control the play for as long as the hawks did tonight in my entire hockey viewing life.

Good win for confidence.....

however, it wasnt a quality win against a great team.......it was a squeak out win......and get the hell out of town kind of win.

You watched a different game; whoever you are. The Hawks carried the play for several minutes in the second and down the stretch; otherwise no. The Rangers had the better chances to score and Crawford had to make the tougher saves.

 

[OverTheCap]

You have to be a real hard liner fringe lunatic to attack Lundqvist last night, when he outplayed Crawford and got the win.

I think some people may have been genuinely upset at how well Hank was playing towards the end of the game, which is absurd. There were a few posts trying to discredit some of his stellar saves throughout the game.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

You watched a different game; whoever you are. The Hawks carried the play for several minutes in the second and down the stretch; otherwise no. The Rangers had the better chances to score and Crawford had to make the tougher saves.

I guess the goal posts change on the argument. Its usually the "soft goal counter," and in last night's game, Crawford gave up 2 and Lundqvist 1.

 

[Levitate]

Duncan Keith (or should I say the Canadian Jesus) is so overrated it's ridiculous. He is a seive in his own zone and then when he gets the puck he almost always tries the high risk breakout (a la MDZ). He has great offensive skills so often times it works, but I will take McD over this guy every day of the week and four times on Sunday. He piles up points because of these skills and because he is playing with the most talented group of forwards on the planet. Brent Seabrook is twice the defender that he is and covers his ass constantly.

I gotta say I'm so tired of hearing how friggin' great Duncan Keith is and then when I watch him he gets beat on a SH situation by Cally, loses board battle after board battle and throws pucks into dangerous areas in his own zone trying to make the great play (and as I said it often works; but sometimes...). I know I am in the vast minority on this but I had to put this out there.

I'm not gonna be as harsh on his offensive game cuz I wasn't playing as close attention to that part but yeah I agree Keith was not very good at all defensively. He makes some good plays, but a lot of bad plays as well, like I said before. Very soft defensively.

 

[Bardof425*]

I thought it was a hard shot that found the hole. Seeing eye puck. That puck hits Hank 999 out of 1000 times.

Watching it live (forget the still photo posted) it appeared that Hank cheated to his left when the shot was released (it was a 3 on 2) and created a short side opportunity. It looks like he squared up but was convinced Bollig wasn't going to shoot and moved slightly to the middle of the net and then we know what happened. That makes it a soft goal.

 

[E-Train]

If Staal can keep up his play from last night, it'll make a world of difference. Major drawback is having Slats go all in as a buyer and end up losing the UFAs for nothing. Btw, on same flight back from Chicago as McGuire and Zipay.

 

[Bardof425*]

I guess the goal posts change on the argument. Its usually the "soft goal counter," and in last night's game, Crawford gave up 2 and Lundqvist 1.

I'm not counting Richards goal as soft because Richie had an open stick (Cally's) on the doorstep so Crawford had to respect that pass. On Bollig's goal Hank cheated and got beat.

 

[Inferno]

From my point of view, you can't look too much on individual goals.

Lets just realize it, a goalie face around 30 shots night in and night out, some will go in. Sometimes the 2 on 1 with a post to post pass is much easier to save than that soft but bouncing puck.

However, if you over 30 games let in 3+ goals night after night you are not playing well. Hank is probably the first to admit that himself.

Last night he let in 2 goals, that was nice to see. Its still however long between games where he shuts the door and saves 40+ shots for a SO. You should be able to expect those type of games too on more or less a regular basis from one of the best.

He still has some distance to go before he is back at the top of his game.

this is a very fair and level headed assessment.

i'd expect nothing less from you.

great post.

 

[Levitate]

If Staal can keep up his play from last night, it'll make a world of difference. Major drawback is having Slats go all in as a buyer and end up losing the UFAs for nothing. Btw, on same flight back from Chicago as McGuire and Zipay.

Is McGuire as pear shaped in real life as he appears on TV?

Watching it live (forget the still photo posted) it appeared that Hank cheated to his left when the shot was released (it was a 3 on 2) and created a short side opportunity. It looks like he squared up but was convinced Bollig wasn't going to shoot and moved slightly to the middle of the net and then we know what happened. That makes it a soft goal.

According to Hawks fans, Bollig has a real good wrist shot and the Rangers dont' play the Hawks much so Lundqvist may have been cheating a bit and not familiar with the shooter he was facing

 

[Inferno]

Maybe it's just one bad game, but I'm thinking back to the McDonagh thread where people were pimping Keith as the best defenseman in the league and holy good god he didn't look anything close to that last night.

Amazing skater, very good with the puck, but soft as hell on defense and several times out of position in the neutral zone, let players blow by him to the outside multiple times, etc. IN fact for as good of skater as he is I was surprised that he got beat easily to the outside with speed a few times.

Good stick defensively and uses his skating real well once he's setup in the defensive zone but McDonagh vastly outplayed him on the defensive end last night.

even though the rangers are kind of an average team speed wise, We've got some blazing speed on the wings...our D and centers make us look real slow.

Hagelin, Kreider, Callahan, and Zucc have to be as fast or faster than any other top 6 wingers in the game (on 1 team)..add in Pouliot and Nash who can really skate for big guys, and its pretty scary.

if only our centers could keep up.

 

[Bleed Ranger Blue]

I'm not counting Richards goal as soft because Richie had an open stick (Cally's) on the doorstep so Crawford had to respect that pass. On Bollig's goal Hank cheated and got beat.

Rule #1 as a goaltender is to play the shooter. You could've driven a truck through Crawford's legs. Bad goal. Zuccarello goal was far worse.

 

[Levitate]

even though the rangers are kind of an average team speed wise, We've got some blazing speed on the wings...our D and centers make us look real slow.

Hagelin, Kreider, Callahan, and Zucc have to be as fast or faster than any other top 4 wingers in the game (on 1 team)

which is fair but McDonagh also faces off against very fast skaters on other teams and doesn't get beaten repeatedly like Keith did last night.

I sure as hell am not saying I wouldn't take Keith on this team or even that McDonagh is overall better than him! Just that I was really surprised at how Keith was playing defense last night

 

[Inferno]

which is fair but McDonagh also faces off against very fast skaters on other teams and doesn't get beaten repeatedly like Keith did last night.

I sure as hell am not saying I wouldn't take Keith on this team or even that McDonagh is overall better than him! Just that I was really surprised at how Keith was playing defense last night

absolutely.

I think McDonagh is more agile than Keith.

Honestly, there arent many defenseman like McDonagh out there...he doesnt have the freakish reach of Chara, or the overall scariness of Weber...doesnt have Karlsson offensive talent, etc.

but overall, he does pretty much everything you can ask for at a VERY high level. theres pretty much nothing that hes lacking in his game.