Rick Nash

[Inferno]

So, here's my theory on why his scoring has dried up this playoffs (at least in part.)

Watch his videos from his goals this year and the past few years. most of his chances come off the rush, but more specifically, they come off of breakaways. but what kind of breakaways, where he finds a napping defender and darts into an open zone? no.

usually it comes from cherry picking. he hangs back, and then the rangers find him wide open for a breakaway.

this isnt happening in the playoffs, and a BIG reason why is because he's coming back so deep into the defensive zone. he's almost always the high guy in the offensive play when Stepan and Kreider are in deep, and he's been backchecking HARD.

like it or not, defensively, he's been very good. much much MUCH better than Sidney Crosby despite the similar horrific offensive number of both of these guys.

Nash has been commiting to playing D and its just killing his offensive game. no chances like hes used to getting, theyve all dried up. can he score like that? sure, but is he willing to sacrifice some defense to get the offense? tough to say, and a tough question to ask yourself.

i'm going to disagree on how terrible he was tonight. i thougt he was fine, and he was out there with 40 seconds to go with the rangers looking to secure a win. that shows you what the coach thinks of his defensive play.

he's been pretty damn good away from the puck. all guys have a bad turnover or 2.

im sure i'll get killed, but feel free to look at the replays yourself. no breakaway opportunities if youre not cherry picking.

 

[sark76]

Put him out on the PP all the time...maybe he can find some confidence playing against 4 players and with some more room to do his "thing"

 

[Inferno]

Put him out on the PP all the time...maybe he can find some confidence playing against 4 players and with some more room to do his "thing"

nah i dont think so. i think to get him going youre going to need to play a little more north south with the puck. rangers havent had many good rushing chances, most of the best rushes seem to be coming from our bottom 6.

i think getting kreider back will help. more rush plays.

Nash has also set up a few really good chances that havent gone, he probably should have about 4 more assists than he currently has.

regardless, he hasnt played well enough. nobodies arguing that. i just think that theres a little more to it than..."hes not a big game player"

most of the best players in the league get shut down this time of the season. it just happens. its why you need depth. 1 line teams usually dont win a lot of games.

 

[aufheben]

It'd be cool if he could score and play defense. Conference Finals: The Age of Nash.

I think the drying up is more because of his style play; dipsy-doodling around crappy defenders/goalies is regular season stuff.

 

[ImIdaho]

At this point, just have him go on the sausage, cheese, cabbage, beer diet. When the Rangers go on the PP, just have him park himself in front of the crease and let loose.

 

[Inferno]

It'd be cool if he could score and play defense. Conference Finals: The Age of Nash.

agreed, and part of the problem is most definitely between his ears...but i really do believe his almost over commitment to defense has hurt his game offensively. sometimes you gotta take chances.

 

[McRanger]

Tonight was his worst playoff game. And that is saying something.

He wasn't just invisible. He was noticeably bad.

At one point a large and seemingly immobile Ranger made a horrific defensive play and I found myself immediately assuming it was Nash and screaming at him. It was Staal. Nash wasn't even on the ice.

 

[sark76]

nah i dont think so. i think to get him going youre going to need to play a little more north south with the puck. rangers havent had many good rushing chances, most of the best rushes seem to be coming from our bottom 6.

i think getting kreider back will help. more rush plays.

Nash has also set up a few really good chances that havent gone, he probably should have about 4 more assists than he currently has.

regardless, he hasnt played well enough. nobodies arguing that. i just think that theres a little more to it than..."hes not a big game player"

most of the best players in the league get shut down this time of the season. it just happens. its why you need depth. 1 line teams usually dont win a lot of games.

Well i'm not a big X's and O's kinda of fan and it seems you might know more about that than I do, but we all know his confidence lvl is at and all time low. Someone said it before, he's not trying the plays and moves that bring him success in the regular season. A lot of his offence also comes from the high risk/reward type of plays like trying to split the D or holding the puck in traffic for an extended periods of time. Maybe he feels like those types of plays are not what the team needs. Maybe he's thinking about Boston last year and his failures. Maybe he thinks the game he is currently playing (safer) is just better for the team right now. And who knows, he might be right. But he can't go 0fer going forward. Sooner or later we are going to need him to contribute on the score board...especially as the teams get harder.

 

[aufheben]

I mean, how much longer can he go without scoring? The Finals?

Maybe we win the Cup without Rick Nash scoring? lol

 

[ImIdaho]

I mean, how much longer can he go without scoring? The Finals?

Maybe we win the Cup without Rick Nash scoring? lol

Hey, a PPG won us this game, so I wouldn't be surprised if he nets the Cup winner.

 

[Inferno]

Tonight was his worst playoff game. And that is saying something.

He wasn't just invisible. He was noticeably bad.

At one point a large and seemingly immobile Ranger made a horrific defensive play and I found myself immediately assuming it was Nash and screaming at him. It was Staal. Nash wasn't even on the ice.

wait...so are you saying you blame Nash for Staal having a bad shift?

im not even sure what this is supposed to be? if its a joke, im not sure why you say he was noticeably bad?

i guess thats what all the cool kids are saying tonight, i firmly disagree, but since the loud voices always win, i'll just sit back here and watch from the sidelines.

 

[gardenparty]

First, I'm not a "Nash Basher," really I'm not. I am pulling for the guys to break out of this slump that he's in. But one thing I've noticed, and I'm not sure if it's injury, lack of confidence, or conditioning, but he's always looking to cut his shift short and head to the bench.

He'll control the puck, cross the red line, dump it in, and then turn around and lumber to the bench. It sure looks like a conditioning thing from where I sit. Maybe this rest in between series will do him the world of good. I really hope so!

 

[TheTakedown]

Put him out on the PP all the time...maybe he can find some confidence playing against 4 players and with some more room to do his "thing"

no.. Nash is too slow and handles the puck too poorly to play on the power play. It's much better watching the Magic Wand (Poo-Brass-Zucc) with Richards and McDonough running the points.

 

[Inferno]

First, I'm not a "Nash Basher," really I'm not. I am pulling for the guys to break out of this slump that he's in. But one thing I've noticed, and I'm not sure if it's injury, lack of confidence, or conditioning, but he's always looking to cut his shift short and head to the bench.

He'll control the puck, cross the red line, dump it in, and then turn around and lumber to the bench. It sure looks like a conditioning thing from where I sit. Maybe this rest in between series will do him the world of good. I really hope so!

its everyone. everyone is taking super short shifts. i could be wrong, and im sure -31- could post the numbers to back this up or disprove what im seeing out there, but it sure seems like the average shift length of the guys is a HELL of a lot shorter than in the regular season.

im wondering if this is AV trying to keep his guys fresh and in the game. quick shifts, quick turnarounds and right back out there.

it sure seemed to pay dividends tonight.

 

[Inferno]

no.. Nash is too slow and handles the puck too poorly to play on the power play. It's much better watching the Magic Wand (Poo-Brass-Zucc) with Richards and McDonough running the points.

actually ill disagree. i like the Stepan MSL and Kreider combo, theyve been pretty good up front on the PP.

 

[TheTakedown]

wait...so are you saying you blame Nash for Staal having a bad shift?

im not even sure what this is supposed to be? if its a joke, im not sure why you say he was noticeably bad?

i guess thats what all the cool kids are saying tonight, i firmly disagree, but since the loud voices always win, i'll just sit back here and watch from the sidelines.

to be fair, that was the worst play I had seen by Staal...

The issue with Nash is that he seems like he has run out of ideas as to how to get into position to score...

So there are two applicable answers:

a) find a new position to score from

b) find a new method to get into the position you usually score in

he'll find a way sooner or later... I'm just wondering if it will be so long that he wont be here next season.

 

[Callagraves]

I mean, how much longer can he go without scoring? The Finals?

Maybe we win the Cup without Rick Nash scoring? lol

I feel like this team in the finals would look like the Devils did in 2012.

People would say "We know what they did to get here, but we still don't know HOW they got here."

 

[CommaSynapse]

Great defensively or not, he's not playing like a $7.8 million player. Not much offense is coming off his stick. He skated into the zone along the boards with plenty of space. Put on the jets and drive the net. Instead, he put a weak backhand pass right onto the D's stick. That's concerning. If he was scoring, I'd feel much better about our position going into the conference finals.

Not sure if it's a lack of emotion, injury, or hesitancy after experiencing concussions, but you can't be a $7.8 million guy lazily hanging back.

 

[Grifter3511]

wait...so are you saying you blame Nash for Staal having a bad shift?

im not even sure what this is supposed to be? if its a joke, im not sure why you say he was noticeably bad?

i guess thats what all the cool kids are saying tonight, i firmly disagree, but since the loud voices always win, i'll just sit back here and watch from the sidelines.

Well, at one point tonight he did receive the puck in the neutral zone, circle back into his own zone, and then promptly turn the puck over.

I yelled at my tv on that one.

 

[TheTakedown]

actually ill disagree. i like the Stepan MSL and Kreider combo, theyve been pretty good up front on the PP.

i agree with you on this one. This is the other good power play line, and if it wasn't for Nash and Richards having absolutely zero chemistry, then MSL would absolutely be on that top line with Kreider. AV has chosen to balance the offense out so that the 2nd line is not hampered with defense-first situations, especially considering Richards has a very high hockey IQ, and needs the ability to get to the puck while being covered defensively. MSL does that for him

 

[aufheben]

I feel like this team in the finals would look like the Devils did in 2012.

People would say "We know what they did to get here, but we still don't know HOW they got here."

Same reason: the 4th line.

 

[Inferno]

yeah i dont really like the Hagelin Richards MSL line...i think MSL and Hagelin are a little too small and similar, and MSL and Richards are both HORRIBLE on the boards.

If it were me id definitely switch MSL and Nash..but im not sure how you can do that winning 3 in a row like we're currently on.

 

[Inferno]

Well, at one point tonight he did receive the puck in the neutral zone, circle back into his own zone, and then promptly turn the puck over.

I yelled at my tv on that one.

i think i remember that play, and yeah, that was awful. again, nobodies perfect. Ask Ryan McDonagh or Henrik Lundqvist. How many times have pppl asked to start Talbot over Henrik this year despite everything Henrik has done in his career.

like i said, im not trying to excuse his play, im trying to explain it.

frankly i think the guy needs to take more risks...hes trying to be way too focused on the defensive side of the puck...which is nice, but its not what he's paid to do. if he played more offensively, we'd have the puck more often and have to defend a little less.

would need to see what his corsi and fenwick and other advanced stats are in the playoffs vs in the regular season.

 

[McRanger]

wait...so are you saying you blame Nash for Staal having a bad shift?

im not even sure what this is supposed to be? if its a joke, im not sure why you say he was noticeably bad?

i guess thats what all the cool kids are saying tonight, i firmly disagree, but since the loud voices always win, i'll just sit back here and watch from the sidelines.

Inferno,

Since I enjoy your posts, I will attempt to explain my post.

Sadly, and possibly uniquely, there was no joke to be found in my post.

I thought Nash was a horror show tonight. Not "Nash can't buy a goal!" bad. Not "Where was Nash? I didn't see him all night!" bad. I thought he was "if that ass makes one more bad play I am going to drive to Pittsburgh and punch him in the dick" bad. A rare type of bad reserved for a historic night.

The Staal reference was just to point out how bad Nash was, in my opinion, currently playing; nothing more. When I saw what I thought was a big slow oaf make a bad play, I immediately assumed it was Nash.

As for the "cool kids" comment, I'm not sure to what you are referring. I am pretty sure I post against-the-grain opinions more so than not. I've defended Nash in the past. But when he's awful I will say he's awful.

 

[Callagraves]

There's zero reason for this guy to be a Ranger anymore.