Post-Game Talk: Rangers @ Sabres: A PGT worth 59.5 million dollars

[OverTheCap]

It's not a surprise that the defense other than McDonagh is struggling. This group is not exactly known for their breakout passes or decision-making with puck, their strengths lie in shutting down the opposition.

Unfortunately, we can't just totally dismantle the defense and get rid of 4 or 5 defensemen because they aren't contributing enough offensively. I think 1 or 2 of them may be gone by the summer, but then we have McIlrath waiting in the wings and he is definitely more of a physical shutdown type as opposed to a smooth skating defenseman that this system demands. It will be interesting to see if our defenseman can ever adapt to this system or if AV makes an adjustment.

 

[RangersHank*]

It's not a surprise that the defense other than McDonagh is struggling. This group is not exactly known for their breakout passes or decision-making with puck, their strengths lie in shutting down the opposition.

Unfortunately, we can't just totally dismantle the defense and get rid of 4 or 5 defensemen because they aren't contributing enough offensively. I think 1 or 2 of them may be gone by the summer, but then we have McIlrath waiting in the wings and he is definitely more of a physical shutdown type as opposed to a smooth skating defenseman that this system demands. It will be interesting to see if our defenseman can ever adapt to this system or if AV makes an adjustment.

After all the time spent developing these dmen, i think AV will have to adjust here.

 

[LORDE]

I think that the team as a whole didn't play great, BUT... This is the type of win they need to have more of. Play OK, find a way to win anyway.

If this team is going to go anywhere (debatable) they're gonna have to win when they play great, AND win ugly at times as well.

 

[broadwayblue]

Great 3rd period for the King, should have had the shutout, one Sabre knocked the puck to Inness with a high stick

I did initially think the play should have been blown dead...but on the replay I wasn't so sure.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Was Dorsett a healthy scratch or injured?

 

[Idlerlee]

Was Dorsett a healthy scratch or injured?

Said wrist still troubling him, so injured.

 

[BlueshirtBlitz]

The first two pages of this thread are unbearable. I can't be assed to read the rest.

3-1 Win where Hank looked great and we're THIS negative? Jeez.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

The first two pages of this thread are unbearable. I can't be assed to read the rest.

3-1 Win where Hank looked great and we're THIS negative? Jeez.

The entire Post Game thread after one of our best wins of the season was about how Boyle can't fight and sucks. Rangers fans revel in negativity.

 

[RangerBoy]

AV shouldn't have to make adjustments. Management needs to make the adjustments to the roster. They brought in AV to change how the team plays. Sather made that point on the day Tortorella was fired. Some of the personnel isn't suited for the new style. You can't expect AV to keep all of the current players. Girardi will be 30 and a group III. Staal is entering the last season of his contract. DZ has hit the wall in NY and a change of scenery is needed by the player and team.

 

[Megustaelhockey]

The first two pages of this thread are unbearable. I can't be assed to read the rest.

3-1 Win where Hank looked great and we're THIS negative? Jeez.

Are you British?

People just saw lots of questionable decisions being made that a team better than the Sabres could have easily capitalized on. It was the kind of game that folks around here expect to win by a large margin... not unlike the last time the Rangers were in Buffalo.

 

[broadwayblue]

AV shouldn't have to make adjustments. Management needs to make the adjustments to the roster. They brought in AV to change how the team plays. Sather made that point on the day Tortorella was fired. Some of the personnel isn't suited for the new style. You can't expect AV to keep all of the current players. Girardi will be 30 and a group III. Staal is entering the last season of his contract. DZ has hit the wall in NY and a change of scenery is needed by the player and team.

Sure, AV should coach the team using his system, but if the pieces aren't all there to maximize it he should be savvy enough to understand that and make some adjustments on the fly. Longer term Sather should be working to swap out the pieces that don't fit.

 

[Vickers8]

I did initially think the play should have been blown dead...but on the replay I wasn't so sure.

It was close but I thought it was a little high

 

[kovazub94]

Posters who are done on Cally and Hags need to remember that both are coming of shoulder surgeries that typically impact offensive contribution for as much as a full season. I expect both to be contributing more toward February / March.

Still, while Hagelin is not a top 6 player per se, I think his speed is wasted when he's on the third line where his line mates don't know how to capitalize on it. I don't think putting Hags back with Stepan and Nash is going to significantly impact this line's effectiveness, however moving Kreider to second line with Richards (or Brassard) and Zuke could make second line more effective offensively as well as letting Cally be ES energy guy (plus PK / PP).

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Hey did any of you guys think that Nash's goal was similar to the highlight goal against the Bruins where I think it was DZ with the pass, Stepan with the touch pass, and Nash and Stepan on the 2 on 1. Is that a common play? Or do you all think that the players recommended it to AV?

 

[Vickers8]

Pat Leonard‏@PLeonardNYDN51s
Looks like Rangers also have called up J.T. Miller, per the AHL transactions list

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Oops Nash and Gaborik on a 2 on 1. Last year against Boston early in the season.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

And it was Richards with the touch pass.

 

[Jabroni]

And it was Richards with the touch pass.

The play was similar, except it wasn't a backdoor roof shot.

 

[offdacrossbar]

thoughts from the 8th row section 109 at last nights game. right behind hank twice.

lots of drinks before the game. had a nice comfortable buzz on by 7

buffalo is a bad team.

hank is very calm an cool. hes not a large goalie. he clearly makes people miss via shear frustration. he has this ability to get very large in net. he does flinch to his knees alot tho but still, theres not much to shoot at. he was not happy they scored late.

i thought del zotto played a solid game. smart passes and carried the puck with authority. actually, the entire defense was pretty active and solid all night. some breakdowns but buf is so bad, i didnt cost us.

buffalo is a bad team.

zuc is a nifty little player. hes very smart and dangerous. hes a keeper no doubt but damn is that man small. i mean lives under a bridge small.

mcdonagh is a very good hockey player. hes always communicating and seems like a future capt to me.

taylor pyatt would be neck and neck on a dead run with a tree sloth. id still take the sloth.

dom moore does alot of good little things on every shift. hes a pro.

ryan miller deserves better.

buffalo is a bad team.

im pretty sure brian boyles legs are longer than zucs entire body.

carl hagelin has to stop taking stupid pills. they are working too well.

rick nash looked like the best player on the ice last night. he needs to believe that himself and start to take over games. hes that good.

i believe chris kreider has all the tools to seriously be one of the top players in the league one day. he is a very rare specimen.

we dont have any nasty on our team. were too nice. we need someone with a grouchy personality to hurt people.

about 40/60 nyr vs sabres jerseys last night. decent crowd but not sold out. great building. cold beer. some but not enuf pretty girls....

after that 3rd goal, the sabres fans pretty much all left. they all look dazed and not sure where they were but if i had to watch that team in person all year, i would prolly just drool and make funny shapes with my hands.

oh and buffalo is a bad team.

 

[The Gloaming]

Ryan Miller still trying to figure out how to get his jockstrap off the rafters after that Nash goal.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

The play was similar, except it wasn't a backdoor roof shot.

Right, but the setup was the same. One was a breakaway and one was a two on one.

 

[broadwayblue]

taylor pyatt would be neck and neck on a dead run with a tree sloth. id still take the sloth.

what odds are you laying?

 

[Kwayry]

I don't agree.

AV said exactly what I said would be our big struggle when adopting to him. To the dot.

We had no transition game under Torts. Our D's were banned from passing the puck. All good teams in this league right now have for years worked on having Ds making those passes up ice. They try to keep the puck within the team and fights to win the momentum battle and they are prepared to take risks for it.

This is plays someone like Staal hasn't been making for 3.5 years. Its lanes our forwards haven't skated in for 3.5 years. Its not all the Ds fault.

But its definitely what we are struggling with. Our problem is not that we can't defend, its that we give pucks away in the wrong situations, nothing makes you more vunerable than that. We are unsecure in that situation where the skaters are looking to attack but end up playing defense instead. AV said it himself, Staal is playing alot of defense because the offensive plays aren't made when he is on the ice. Girardi is definitely having the same problems. Boy do he throw pucks all over the place.

Then we agree.
Listen, I completely understand your point and I don't disagree with it, you are actually agreeing with my bottom line.
This D needs to unlearn some habits they learned under Torts, got that, but why call them out after 25 games? There are other ways to accomplish the same thing, look at how he is handling the offense.
The offense is struggling worse than the Defense, and I don't see them calling them out in such pointed manner.

 

[Kwayry]

AV shouldn't have to make adjustments. Management needs to make the adjustments to the roster. They brought in AV to change how the team plays. Sather made that point on the day Tortorella was fired. Some of the personnel isn't suited for the new style. You can't expect AV to keep all of the current players. Girardi will be 30 and a group III. Staal is entering the last season of his contract. DZ has hit the wall in NY and a change of scenery is needed by the player and team.

Coaches adjust to their roster all the time, the best coaches are the ones making the quickest adjustments.
And AV's public statements and haphazard scratching are not helping, if he wants better assets to replace them, he shouldn't be driving their value to the ground.
Maybe medium to long term, that's the plan, but to turnover more than half your defensive corp in 1 season just to please the coach is a loser idea imo.

 

[Pizza]

thoughts from the 8th row section 109 at last nights game. right behind hank twice.

lots of drinks before the game. had a nice comfortable buzz on by 7

buffalo is a bad team.

hank is very calm an cool. hes not a large goalie. he clearly makes people miss via shear frustration. he has this ability to get very large in net. he does flinch to his knees alot tho but still, theres not much to shoot at. he was not happy they scored late.

i thought del zotto played a solid game. smart passes and carried the puck with authority. actually, the entire defense was pretty active and solid all night. some breakdowns but buf is so bad, i didnt cost us.

buffalo is a bad team.

zuc is a nifty little player. hes very smart and dangerous. hes a keeper no doubt but damn is that man small. i mean lives under a bridge small.

mcdonagh is a very good hockey player. hes always communicating and seems like a future capt to me.

taylor pyatt would be neck and neck on a dead run with a tree sloth. id still take the sloth.

dom moore does alot of good little things on every shift. hes a pro.

ryan miller deserves better.

buffalo is a bad team.

im pretty sure brian boyles legs are longer than zucs entire body.

carl hagelin has to stop taking stupid pills. they are working too well.

rick nash looked like the best player on the ice last night. he needs to believe that himself and start to take over games. hes that good.

i believe chris kreider has all the tools to seriously be one of the top players in the league one day. he is a very rare specimen.

we dont have any nasty on our team. were too nice. we need someone with a grouchy personality to hurt people.

about 40/60 nyr vs sabres jerseys last night. decent crowd but not sold out. great building. cold beer. some but not enuf pretty girls....

after that 3rd goal, the sabres fans pretty much all left. they all look dazed and not sure where they were but if i had to watch that team in person all year, i would prolly just drool and make funny shapes with my hands.

oh and buffalo is a bad team.

Nice assessment offda.

Zucc has really impressed me. He just keeps getting better. A bright spot aquisition for the Rangers for sure. I'm thinking 50 - 60 pts this year.

Agree completely on McD and Nash.

Also on Hags. Just what the heck is up with him in your opinion?