Post-Game Talk: Rangers @ Lightning: Live from the Lair of Manbearpig

[Kakko]

Another beastly game from McDonagh

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

Well with Kennedy in San Jose, someone has to be manbearpig in the East. Gudas is good though.

Zuc was a beast.

Allen played VERY well. Wasn't shy. Hope he sticks.

Poulliot is suddenly Tim Kerr.

Lundqvist did very well.

MDZ....facepalm.

John Moore.....needs work.

 

[eco's bones]

Henrik came up big in the third. TB's second goal by Palat--maybe he could have had that but the other two he had no chance. Very good game overall for Henrik.

Richards makes these selfish plays. Looking for the empty net goal he could have really ****ed us over. He's not playing all that well.

Zuccarello a big game. He's now the Rangers points leader. To me it's between him and Henrik for 1st star of the game.

Pouliot's been playing well. Brassard's soft but he's been putting up points lately. Kreider--a great goal--liked how he stuck up for DZ.

Allen looked pretty good. DZ and Girardi do not make a good pairing. McDonagh his usual solid self.

 

[BB58]

Well with Kennedy in San Jose, someone has to be manbearpig in the East. Gudas is good though.

Zuc was a beast.

Allen played VERY well. Wasn't shy. Hope he sticks.

Poulliot is suddenly Tim Kerr.

Lundqvist did very well.

MDZ....facepalm.

John Moore.....needs work.

Girardi *facepalm* x2

 

[bmoak]

The Rangers are back to .500 (although technically two games under)! Huzzah! How many games will this last?

 

[Glennsoe]

I like Allen's play this game..

Calm, collected and fast..

Steps, zuke and Henke were the standouts..

 

[OverTheCap]

Lundqvist was awesome tonight. As usual, once this team senses Lundqvist is on, they just rely on him to bail them out as they did in the 3rd period. They really cannot do that and could have easily blown the game as a result.

Conor Allen did a fine job in his first NHL game. The rest of the D, not so much. Del Zotto is a dead man walking, he knows he's being shopped and is going through the motions. Not sure what's so great about J. Moore other than his skating ability - his defense is suspect and his offense is non-existent.

The PP was great and seems to be one of the few bright spots this year, but it's almost as if the organization sold their soul to the devil for that happen. In exchange for a workable PP, the goaltending, defense, and 5v5 play has regressed.

 

[Fataldogg]

Hariken, take notes. At least Snowblind tries to be objective, he gives him props when he deserves it (like tonight).

Your hatred for Lundqvist is off the charts. How someone can get on him for his performance tonight is beyond me.

 

[Ex Officer Friendly]

I wanted to vote for JT just for the nickname haha

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Rangers are now 5th in the NHL in PPG (31) and 5th in PP% (22.5%)

 

[TGWL]

We needed this to catch up with the other 40 point teams.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Rangers are now 16-2-1 when they score first (.842 winning pct -- 6th in the NHL).

They're 3-17-1 when they give up the first goal (.143 -- 28th in the NHL)

I wonder if a certain poster will say we won today because we scored first, despite the Lightning quickly scoring 2 unanswered to take the lead.

Edit: I meant consecutive!

 

[AlternateSideParking]

It's an easy formula.

Open the game by using speed and pressure on the forecheck while pinching D's to create chances.

Creating chances create power plays and takes the opponent star players out of the game.

Use the power play to take an early lead, and build off it by continuing the forecheck.

It's 10-15 minutes of initial work. Very simple if they are determined and the goaltenders keep the other team off the scoreboard when they get their chances.

With Lundqvist, that should never be an issue. he was very good tonight but another shakey 1st period. His 1st period numbers are terrible.

He needs to build off this. Win the next one and you have a streak.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

This may be controversial. But on nights like this I really can't stand watching the pond hockey that is the current NHL.

 

[Thirty One]

I wonder if a certain poster will say we won today because we scored first, despite the Lightning quickly scoring 2 unanswered to take the lead.

I have to wonder if you know what unanswered means.

 

[Fataldogg]

Another beastly game from McDonagh

As expected.

Unfortunately, with Stralman out, he's the only one meeting expectations.

Moore, Del Zotto, and Falk all continue to perform poorly defensively. And Girardi hasn't been himself for a year and a half now.

When 3-4 of your defense men are playing poorly defensively, you're in big trouble.

Rangers need their defensive squad to be more reliable.

 

[danny hoy]

gave it to zuc... those two assist are the kind of plays i have been waiting for sense he came... great to see him take it in to hes own hands and play with alitle bit of risk... not just quick and forced passes... this will be a good one newyears!! have a good fellas!!!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Rangers are now 5th in the NHL in PPG (31) and 5th in PP% (22.5%)

This says we're 8th:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAAll&sort=powerPlayPercentage&viewName=summary

Where'd you get that stat from?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I have to wonder if you know what unanswered means.

You're right, haha. I made a mistake there. I meant consecutive. Oops!

 

[mike14]

Good game, I thought we set the tempo early and for the most part maintained it throughout the game. MZA was awesome, McD was good and Hank had a good game while being stellar in the 3rd. Great to see the PP both look effective and convert their chances.

Allen played well for a first gamer, hope he can continue

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

I was smiles with Allen's play.

 

[Hariken]

As expected.

Moore, Del Zotto, and Falk all continue to perform poorly defensively. And Girardi hasn't been himself for a year and a half now.

When 3-4 of your defense men are playing poorly defensively, you're in big trouble.

Rangers need their defensive squad to be more reliable.

I agree. This just isn't sustainable. Girardi is getting older and slower unfortunately. Del Zotto and Moore's hockey IQ just isn't good enough either. Bottom pairing players gotta be smart with the ice time they get.

 

[Ghost of jas]

I have to wonder if you know what unanswered means.

One of the most misused terms in sports.

 

[TheDirtyH]

Anyone else happy about Stepan's game tonight. He seemed to pick off passes left and right. There were a couple 2 on 1s that I wished he had at least kind of made the defender question whether he wanted to pass but otherwise I thought he looked more like last year's Stepan. Overall Nash, Stepan, and Lundqvist stepped up and if they can build off this we might actually have cause for excitement!

Also how about that Kreider goal? Maybe nicest as a Ranger? Excited to see the player he becomes!

 

[Machinehead]

Seriously though, I hate that ****ing arena, and until tonight it felt like we hadn't won there since the year of the flood.