Post-Game Talk: Rangers @ Kraken - 10/31/21

[jay from jersey]

They did this multiple times. One would think they would learn, but apparently not.

I saw each one of them do it - once it was Blais stickhandling at the top of the zone through traffic (rather than sending the puck to the corner), once it was Fil stickhandling thru two defensemen, once it was Laf with the big cross-ice pass in the neutral zone. Each time the puck got picked off & sent the other way for some Seattle zone time.

Rangers have this stuff in their DNA. Very hard to get them to change their ways, apparently.

After watching the game, what really impressed me with the Kracken was the way they supported each other with the puck .
If a guy got in trouble, there was a 1-2 foot pass ready to be received.
Everyone made fun of Francis with his EXP draft picks. I would have chosen differently with some guys as well. But, he certainly identified Fwds and D that play well in his system

 

[DanielBrassard]

I'm seeing Mika try to win pucks along the boards but just getting muscled off the puck easily. Panarin is not a boards guy but he's usually able to come away with the puck more often, and he was never a burner but his first step and top speed is slow so far this year. Doesn't seem like a lack of effort from either guy, maybe our two highest paid super stars just both needs a few weeks to get into peak form, let's hope that's all it is...

That problem with Zibanejad goes back to last season and I bet if you look at the numbers even further back. He's been subpar when it comes to winning puck battles for a long time now. I'm really interested to see how much he scores playing with the linemates he has now, he doesn't really have anyone to get him the puck. Kreider as great as he's been is not a setup man and Goodrow is well, yeah.

 

[DelZottoHitTheNetJK]

For sure tough game for Laf and Kakko. Their weakness on the puck was magnified x100 against the Krakens overly aggressive style.

Nemeth-Tinordi needs to never be a thing again. This team desperately needs another PMD on one of the bottom pairs. Miller has shown flashes of being able to skate the puck out but he just doesn't do it consistently enough. Either Lundkvist needs to start being that guy or Zac Jones deserves a look because if we continue to get hemmed like this we're going to get smoked; Igor won't be able to keep up this play over 82 games

 

[romba]

That problem with Zibanejad goes back to last season and I bet if you look at the numbers even further back. He's been subpar when it comes to winning puck battles for a long time now. I'm really interested to see how much he scores playing with the linemates he has now, he doesn't really have anyone to get him the puck. Kreider as great as he's been is not a setup man and Goodrow is well, yeah.

You're right, he and Panarin have looked there best this year when they played together for half a period, but for away games they'll almost always be matched up against the best defenders, and coaches just love the matchup nightmare of having a line 1a and 1b so they're always so hesitant to keep them together for too long

 

[will1066]

I'm seeing Mika try to win pucks along the boards but just getting muscled off the puck easily. Panarin is not a boards guy but he's usually able to come away with the puck more often, and he was never a burner but his first step and top speed is slow so far this year. Doesn't seem like a lack of effort from either guy, maybe our two highest paid super stars just both needs a few weeks to get into peak form, let's hope that's all it is...

Panarin rarely takes the outlet pass from the dman in stride. He's usually looking to receive the puck, then make the determination whether to make a stretch pass or take it up ice himself. That slows him down even more. It's not effort but rather his style.

 

[will1066]

You're right, he and Panarin have looked there best this year when they played together for half a period, but for away games they'll almost always be matched up against the best defenders, and coaches just love the matchup nightmare of having a line 1a and 1b so they're always so hesitant to keep them together for too long

I've been harping on a Panarin-Zib-Kreider line and a Hunt-Strome-Kakko line. I think putting Panarin and Zib together forces them to go do the work. Kreider's not a huge board battler.

 

[romba]

Panarin rarely takes the outlet pass from the dman in stride. He's usually looking to receive the puck, then make the determination whether to make a stretch pass or take it up ice himself. That slows him down even more. It's not effort but rather his style.

The D presses him in the NZ giving him no time or space. He finally had a little space in the 3rd and Fox hit him in stride deep in the NZ. He skated into the O zone with speed, backed the D up with a fake to go wide, bought Fox some time to skate up the ice and dished it to him for the GWG.

 

[TGWL]

Panarin seemed more engaged and started skating after the play he made to setup Fox for a goal. Like a light when off and he realized he can open space for himself by being shifty on his skates. I just don't like the Panarin - Strome - Kakko line when it comes to carrying the puck through the neutral zone and entering the O-zone. Panarin holds up and waits for 2 slower players to catch up. It ends up being a bad turn-over. I don't think Panarin can play at way and hold up at the line waiting for these 2 players.

I was sure that one was going in the net but somehow Igor got there.

 

[THE BIG WHISTLE]

There's no way I'll rule it out as an open minded individual. But the odds of getting a second Lundkvist/Broduer/Luongo esque steady top 5 goalie in a row seem like too good to be true.

Why? Back when the Rangers had Beezer, some kid named Mike Richter was right behind him. Even Dan Blackburn looked pretty good before his injury, the point is some teams keep rolling out goal scoring forwards and we do it with goalies

 

[THE BIG WHISTLE]

0-2-1 without McKegg in the lineup
6-0-0 with McKegg in the lineup

You had too go there

 

[THE BIG WHISTLE]

Thank goodness we were playing the Amazons this one. They work hard but zero skill. A decent roster would have killed us. Though I guess a better roster probably plays a bit more into our style.

You mean like Toronto’s, I believe Igor would have something to say about that

 

[TGWL]

I love that stat but they should really only do games started. Just for kicks I went back to look at the 2005-2006 roster, especially defense. I'm surprised Hank didn't age 10 years in his rookie season. We went through some bad stretches.

 

[will1066]

The D presses him in the NZ giving him no time or space. He finally had a little space in the 3rd and Fox hit him in stride deep in the NZ. He skated into the O zone with speed, backed the D up with a fake to go wide, bought Fox some time to skate up the ice and dished it to him for the GWG.

Panarin was cherrypicking on that play. He slipped behind Seattle and was kind of waiting at their blue line for the pass from Fox. Mr. Norris Trophy hit him with a 75-foot stretch pass from deep in his own zone, nearly at the Rangers goal line.

 

[The Mouth]

i usually hate to use this word but the Rangers have been "Blessed" with awesome goaltending most of the time since I started watching them in 1975. I mean J.D wasn't all that good but he did have that unconscious Stanley Cup playoff run. Then Beezer came along. As far as this game goes zero adjustments made by Gallant but Shesterkin was stellar. The fact they won a game with Tinordi in the lineup was a miracle in itself. 6-2-1 baby !

 

[mandiblesofdoom]

After watching the game, what really impressed me with the Kracken was the way they supported each other with the puck .
If a guy got in trouble, there was a 1-2 foot pass ready to be received.
Everyone made fun of Francis with his EXP draft picks. I would have chosen differently with some guys as well. But, he certainly identified Fwds and D that play well in his system

Yeah. They play as a team. It's good to know it can be done.

 

[NYRFANMANI]

missed the game, only saw the highlights.

Goodrow still has an ugly face, but damn he's winning me over big time.

Kreider is beasting and we all love it.

Fox is the Allvater.

 

[Machinehead]

I think it's fair to say we haven't played 6-2-1 hockey, exactly. With that said, it's not really the defense. I mean, not to say Igor hasn't been great because he has. You can play great defense AND get great goaltending (hello Tampa Bay in the playoffs). Our expected goals against is pretty respectable.

We look bad because our offense is totally anemic. Expected goals for is currently sitting at 25th in the league. I'm hoping this is just an adjustment to the new coach and our offensive stars will be able to flex their muscle once we get the structure down.

 

[Fitzy]

I think it's fair to say we haven't played 6-2-1 hockey, exactly. With that said, it's not really the defense. I mean, not to say Igor hasn't been great because he has. You can play great defense AND get great goaltending (hello Tampa Bay in the playoffs). Our expected goals against is pretty respectable.

We look bad because our offense is totally anemic. Expected goals for is currently sitting at 25th in the league. I'm hoping this is just an adjustment to the new coach and our offensive stars will be able to flex their muscle once we get the structure down.

I agree, but I think the issue starts in the defensive zone. IMO the reason why the offense is struggling so much is that our defensive group is having difficulty getting the puck up and out of the zone cleanly, especially when under pressure.

The third pairing has obviously been the biggest drag with that, which is one of the reasons why I'd like to see either Jones or Reunanen given a shot with Nemeth soon.

 

[JohnC]

I literally don’t care that the team is winning games on the back of its goaltender. It’s the job of a guy with Shesty’s reputation.

I didn’t expect them to be good this year to begin with, so any win is gravy in my book.

With the coaching staff change and some roster turnover there were always bound to be some growing pains.

 

[duhmetreE]

I think it's fair to say we haven't played 6-2-1 hockey, exactly. With that said, it's not really the defense. I mean, not to say Igor hasn't been great because he has. You can play great defense AND get great goaltending (hello Tampa Bay in the playoffs). Our expected goals against is pretty respectable.

We look bad because our offense is totally anemic. Expected goals for is currently sitting at 25th in the league. I'm hoping this is just an adjustment to the new coach and our offensive stars will be able to flex their muscle once we get the structure down.

we get pinned deep and give up a lot of chances because of piss poor puck management/turnovers at the blue lines and neutral zone.. and our centers have been straight up bad.

our decision making has been really poor. It's either coming too slow or just completely the wrong read.. as you've said, hopefully this cleans up as they get used to it. We've had limited practices with our schedule. not the best circumstances for a new team, new staff and system

 

[Machinehead]

I agree, but I think the issue starts in the defensive zone. IMO the reason why the offense is struggling so much is that our defensive group is having difficulty getting the puck up and out of the zone cleanly, especially when under pressure.

The third pairing has obviously been the biggest drag with that, which is one of the reasons why I'd like to see either Jones or Reunanen given a shot with Nemeth soon.

This is a good point.

We spent the last few years cheating a bit in Quinn's system and having that stretch pass always be an option. Everything is shorter now and it's an adjustment. Sometimes the passing is off and sometimes the receiving is off [looks at Zibanejad].

 

[mas0764]

I think it's fair to say we haven't played 6-2-1 hockey, exactly. With that said, it's not really the defense. I mean, not to say Igor hasn't been great because he has. You can play great defense AND get great goaltending (hello Tampa Bay in the playoffs). Our expected goals against is pretty respectable.

We look bad because our offense is totally anemic. Expected goals for is currently sitting at 25th in the league. I'm hoping this is just an adjustment to the new coach and our offensive stars will be able to flex their muscle once we get the structure down.

I'm really, really tired of the kids not producing enough.

 

[mas0764]

I literally don’t care that the team is winning games on the back of its goaltender. It’s the job of a guy with Shesty’s reputation.

I didn’t expect them to be good this year to begin with, so any win is gravy in my book.

With the coaching staff change and some roster turnover there were always bound to be some growing pains.

If we are bad and can't win the Cup, I want to be bad and get a great draft pick.

If we are winning, I want to be a Contender.

I don't really get the sense that we are a contender, but we also are too good to suck. It's like no mans land.

Like others I don't get the impression that the way this team has played the first 10% of the season is going to result in anything more than a quick elimination in the first round of the playoffs.

 

[mas0764]

we get pinned deep and give up a lot of chances because of piss poor puck management/turnovers at the blue lines and neutral zone.. and our centers have been straight up bad.

our decision making has been really poor. It's either coming too slow or just completely the wrong read.. as you've said, hopefully this cleans up as they get used to it. We've had limited practices with our schedule. not the best circumstances for a new team, new staff and system

So

1) upgrade centers
2) upgrade system understanding

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Anyone else concerned Gallant just said "we played the best 20" regarding Tinordi? Or is it just coach speak?