Post-Game Talk: Rangers vs. Islanders: It's Miller Time

[Maaxse]

I thought he seemed quicker in a short area, but that might have just been him being more decisive. He does seem mentally like he is starting to grasp the system much better.

and being paired with Callahan seemed to haven given him confidence.

I mean, being paired with Callahan would give everyone confidence.

 

[JimmyG89]

Gilroy played nearly 12 minutes. When Girardi comes back, isn't that EXACTLY what we are looking for from a 6th? Stralman continues to prove he is at least a 5 and can play top 4 NHL minutes. Very underrated. I would almost readjust some of the D pairings now.

McDonagh-Stralman
Del Zotto-Girardi
Staal-Gilroy

You can move Staal around in the 3rd when Gilroy will get less icetime. Eminger is the extra. Bickel can go **** off somewhere.

Hats off to JT Miller. Fantastic game. Kreider looked good at times. He's just getting back from his ankle, so not worried. Cally came back strong. Pyatt, Halpern, Powe (sans dumb hold), and Gabby had strong performances. Hagelin continues to work hard all over the ice. Nash was off tonight. Richards was better than he has been, but still not what he should be. Stepan has a strong defensive game, not much on the other end.

Hank was the Hank we expect. Strong and poised. No breakdowns, no bad rebounds.

Good team win and bounce back vs the Fishies. Tampa lost to the same score to NJ tonight. Think they are frauds getting exposed now that they are playing tougher defensive teams. Can get another W on Sunday with a similar effort. Boston and the Fishies again after. 2 out of 3 is necessary.

 

[Blueshirt Believer]

Richards is averaging a PPG, isn't he?

Yeah, but he isn't really complimenting anybody. He has been dreadful on the PP and kinda coasting 5 vs 5.

He did the same for stretches last season, so he may get significantly better as the season wears on.

But if he keeps it up, he could be getting bought out over the summer.

 

[Blueshirt Believer]

Gilroy played nearly 12 minutes. When Girardi comes back, isn't that EXACTLY what we are looking for from a 6th? Stralman continues to prove he is at least a 5 and can play top 4 NHL minutes. Very underrated. I would almost readjust some of the D pairings now.

McDonagh-Stralman
Del Zotto-Girardi
Staal-Gilroy

You can move Staal around in the 3rd when Gilroy will get less icetime. Eminger is the extra. Bickel can go **** off somewhere.

Hats off to JT Miller. Fantastic game. Kreider looked good at times. He's just getting back from his ankle, so not worried. Cally came back strong. Pyatt, Halpern, Powe (sans dumb hold), and Gabby had strong performances. Hagelin continues to work hard all over the ice. Nash was off tonight. Richards was better than he has been, but still not what he should be. Stepan has a strong defensive game, not much on the other end.

Hank was the Hank we expect. Strong and poised. No breakdowns, no bad rebounds.

Good team win and bounce back vs the Fishies. Tampa lost to the same score to NJ tonight. Think they are frauds getting exposed now that they are playing tougher defensive teams. Can get another W on Sunday with a similar effort. Boston and the Fishies again after. 2 out of 3 is necessary.

I don't know, I don't really want to break up Del Zotto and Staal. When that pair is on, they are our best Dmen.

 

[Machinehead]

Richards is averaging a PPG, isn't he?

Not quite. 8 in 10 games. That's about 64 in 82. But it's a small sample. A 3 point night takes him to PPG just like that. A long drought sets that pace way back.

 

[LittleKev6D9]

Pyatt is officially on my good list. Great effort, uses his body well, tough in front and tough to knock off the puck. My stamp of approval for now.

Same goes for Stralman. He's stepped up in absence of Girardi.

Powe and Halpern have proven to be competent 4th liners. I think Rangers can upgrade over Asham.

Good win. But would like to see Nash start to produce at the level of a star like he is.

 

[BlueshirtBlitz]

Great game from a bunch of guys against a not so bad Isles squad. Rick Nash needs to start earning his contract.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

Gilroy played nearly 12 minutes. When Girardi comes back, isn't that EXACTLY what we are looking for from a 6th? Stralman continues to prove he is at least a 5 and can play top 4 NHL minutes. Very underrated. I would almost readjust some of the D pairings now.

McDonagh-Stralman
Del Zotto-Girardi
Staal-Gilroy

You can move Staal around in the 3rd when Gilroy will get less icetime. Eminger is the extra. Bickel can go **** off somewhere.

Hats off to JT Miller. Fantastic game. Kreider looked good at times. He's just getting back from his ankle, so not worried. Cally came back strong. Pyatt, Halpern, Powe (sans dumb hold), and Gabby had strong performances. Hagelin continues to work hard all over the ice. Nash was off tonight. Richards was better than he has been, but still not what he should be. Stepan has a strong defensive game, not much on the other end.

Hank was the Hank we expect. Strong and poised. No breakdowns, no bad rebounds.

Good team win and bounce back vs the Fishies. Tampa lost to the same score to NJ tonight. Think they are frauds getting exposed now that they are playing tougher defensive teams. Can get another W on Sunday with a similar effort. Boston and the Fishies again after. 2 out of 3 is necessary.

I like the idea of our top 3 dmen bring split up as long as the others can compliment them and its clear del zotto and stralman can

 

[Gardner McKay]

Good team win. The first period was excellent, and the Richards-Pyatt-Gaborik line was great. I don't understand why Nash was back with them in the third.

Miller looks like a player. Really impressive. Hoping that a streak finally is beginning.

My prediction after game 1 was that we would be 5-5 after 10 games and then go on a 5-0-1 or 6-0 run.

 

[Blueshirt Believer]

My prediction after game 1 was that we would be 5-5 after 10 games and then go on a 5-0-1 or 6-0 run.

I'm not sure if we are poised to go on a run just yet. Torts still has to figure out the top six. The Bottom six is shaping up nicely though.

May take a couple more games. As long as they can stay around .500, they will be ok for little while longer.

 

[Maaxse]

Not quite. 8 in 10 games. That's about 64 in 82. But it's a small sample. A 3 point night takes him to PPG just like that. A long drought sets that pace way back.

I wouldn't mind 65-70 points pace if he anchored the PP a little better. I don't think he will get a long drought, I was basically mentioning that without playing to his (probable) potential, he was still getting on the score sheet regularly enough.

 

[MrEctions]

Richies sister...not bad, not bad at all.

 

[Problematique]

What a return to form. The Swedes were looking sharp and the Americans were hot.

A question re: Olympic selection, if JT were to go on and score 50 goals and another 20 in the playoffs (no jinx), would it be possible he could nab a spot on the Olympic team?

 

[Machinehead]

We found a gem in Stralman. Coming up he was supposed to be a great player. But he was a late-bloomer on a bad Columbus team and got absolutely no chance in New Jersey. Now we're seeing some of what he was supposed to be when he was drafted.

Stupendous pickup by Uncle Glen.

 

[JimmyG89]

I like the idea of our top 3 dmen bring split up as long as the others can compliment them and its clear del zotto and stralman can

It balances out with some guys that can skate and some guys that are good defensively and puts a puck mover with each line. O find balance in the pairs. Having a shutdown pairing is nice, but it would put 2 of DZ, Gilroy, or Stralman together. Not physical enough. I hope Gilroy can fill that role. He looked tonight like he could. Torts showed trust in him too.

 

[ImIdaho]

5 for 5 on the penalty kill. There was a power play goal. You just tell that to someone who didn't watch the game and they'd think the Islanders came to play.

But alas..it was the RANGERS!

 

[Machinehead]

I wouldn't mind 65-70 points pace if he anchored the PP a little better. I don't think he will get a long drought, I was basically mentioning that without playing to his (probable) potential, he was still getting on the score sheet regularly enough.

He's a 65-70 point player these days and I think he's gonna hit that this year (numbers adjusted)

I don't know what people expected. He's not a big player and he's not a fast player. He's just a quiet producer that parlays the little things into pretty big numbers.

I don't think he can be blamed for the PP because the PP is just coached horribly.

 

[jniklast]

Not quite. 8 in 10 games. That's about 64 in 82. But it's a small sample. A 3 point night takes him to PPG just like that. A long drought sets that pace way back.

It's actually 9 in 10, and it's really startling how much hate our leading point scorer (tied with Gaborik) gets. He isn't setting the world on fire and can certainly improve, but compared with quite a few other forwards (Stepan, Hagelin, Boyle) he is far closer to last year's form. He is also more efficient than Nash for example who looked pretty lost on a line with Stepan tonight.

 

[darko]

Good win.

What a night for Miller.

 

[Maaxse]

He's a 65-70 point player these days and I think he's gonna hit that this year (numbers adjusted)

I don't know what people expected. He's not a big player and he's not a fast player. He's just a quiet producer that parlays the little things into pretty big numbers.

I don't think he can be blamed for the PP because the PP is just coached horribly.

Well we do have the big player and the fast player, so that seems ok.

 

[Machinehead]

It's actually 9 in 10, and it's really startling how much hate our leading point scorer (tied with Gaborik) gets. He isn't setting the world on fire and can certainly improve, but compared with quite a few other forwards (Stepan, Hagelin, Boyle) he is far closer to last year's form. He is also more efficient than Nash for example who looked pretty lost on a line with Stepan tonight.

Right I docked him a point there. Even more important than 9 points in 10 games, I think, is getting points in 7 out of those 10.

Everyone's gonna notice the guy that has 3 point nights and just totally dominates, while they call Richards invisible.

But that guy gets cold (like Gaborik)

When that happens, the guy quietly getting a point most nights comes in very handy.

 

[LaffyTaffyNYR]

Richards this year kinda reminds me of Teixiera for the Yankees. Puts up stats but for some reason seems like they are quiet ones

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Solid win.

Lundqvist looked very sharp. That Tavares goal was phenomenal, no way anyone was stopping that. JT will score 100 next year.

McDonagh was our best player IMO. Staal close behind. Stralman made some bad mistakes, but he was great with the promotion.

Miller had a great game, he's always been a confident and heady player. He's just a tad bit limited.

Kreider looks better, but he still goes limp in the legs when he gets the puck in the neutral zone not near the boards. Probably nervous after the Orpik play.

I also thought Hagelin played great, and Gaborik had better legs then previous games. Nash probably had his worst game, yet he could have easily had an assist if Stepan wasn't terrible. Just shows how damn good this guy is.

Keep it up fellas.

 

[bernmeister]

was hoping Miller would be at most of Stepan, with more physical gifts, but need to grow.

Pleased to see that he's played better than could possibly be reasonably hoped for, after 2 games turning into Callahan lite.

 

[Maineice11]

JT Miller on the Broadway Hat: "It's a nice hat. I'm looking forward to getting a win next game so I can pass it off"

New York Rangers (Twitter) @NYRangers

great attitude!!! go get another win!!!!