Post-Game Talk: Washington at New York Game 4: TIED Our Shoes

[Machinehead]

On a day that I found out my grandmother has cancer the fact the Rangers won made the night just a little better

Sorry to hear that man, hope she gets well.

 

[LieutenantLackluster]

Kevin Bacon was in Mystic River with Laura Linney
Laura Linney was in the Squid and the Whale with Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels was in Dumb and Dumber with Cam Neely
Cam Neely was on the 1995-96 Bruins with Rick Tocchet
Rick Tocchet was on the 1991-92 Penguins with Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr was on the 2005-06 Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist

I did it!

 

[Black Aces]

That rush up the ice in the 2nd period by Moore was very impressive. His pinches are also executed perfectly at the right times. He is playing so confidently.

 

[RothmanHockey]

NEW YORK – The Rangers returned to their roots Wednesday night.


And because they did, they’re returning to Washington with their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinal tied at two games apiece. The Rangers edged past the Capitals, 4-3, in a classic Game 4 postseason contest in front of a rabid crowd of 17,200 at Madison Square Garden.


New York’s roots are stunning: 33 blocked shots – ten of them coming in the final 12:39, during which the Capitals threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Rangers in a futile attempt to tie Game 4. The Rangers registered 38 hits.

http://insidehockey.com/rangers-return-to-roots-win-game-4

 

[Hockey Team]

Wow. Refs threw the puck to the Rangers because Toronto and the league are trying to make it so easy for us to win. That's what I saw from Washington fans...no comment

I saw that. I informed them that the linesmen are responsible for performing the face-offs

When are they going to announce the start time for Sundays game?! I need to know asap if i have to get off from work.

Don't worry, this will end in 6 games

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

I must say, Clowe gave the team a huge boost today. Just, the lines are so evenly distributed now, its actually quite unbelievable. Boyle is back to being the Boyle we knew 2 years ago. Clowe seemed to be a little winded at points but he'll get his legs back under him soon.

Need to finish this series out though. I keep getting caught thinking we're already advancing. One game at a time, Washington is still a nightmare match up.

I've never seen a team hit so many posts on one goaltender. Keep getting pucks to the net. Good things happen. If we keep that mindset I think we can win this series. If we go back to getting pretty with the puck... Sorry boys, we'll be out in a really disappointing fashion.

 

[Ex Officer Friendly]

Sorry to hear that man, hope she gets well.

Thank you we all hope so here too

 

[DudMan28]

To not have Moore on the power play to start was stupid, but Richards needs to play. I don't think Brassard and Hagelin are going to keep this up. Our secondary scoring has been the x-factor. How long is it going to last? We're going to need our biggest guns to start taking over if we want to continue to win and lighten the load for Hank. Richards needs the time. A lot will disagree, but I think that's what needs to happen.

At what point do you just say Brassard IS one of our big guns and Richards is the secondary scoring?

 

[GFiP*]

Henrik has to have goals no. 2 and 3. Should've been 4-1... but how much fun would that be?

Yup.. bad goals for him. He needs to step it up.

 

[trilobyte]

Remembering what Mike Bossy said, and in no way am I saying that there is even a facsimile of Bossy on the team, but the philosophy is rock solid.
Bossy kept saying that all he kept doing was shooting, and making sure his shot was on the net.

And yes, I have to laugh at the last part, but if the Rangers take it to heart and put it to practice, it has to help....it cannot hurt.

 

[*Bob Richards*]

Remembering what Mike Bossy said, and in no way am I saying that there is even a facsimile of Bossy on the team, but the philosophy is rock solid.
Bossy kept saying that all he kept doing was shooting, and making sure his shot was on the net.

And yes, I have to laugh at the last part, but if the Rangers take it to heart and put it to practice, it has to help....it cannot hurt.

*Ignoring your disclaimer* BAH NO1 ON TEAM IS A GUD AS MIKE BOSSSSSY!!!11!!1!

But seriously, its simple yet truthful. Putting the puck on net is almost always a good thing.

 

[DudMan28]

*Ignoring your disclaimer* BAH NO1 ON TEAM IS A GUD AS MIKE BOSSSSSY!!!11!!1!

But seriously, its simple yet truthful. Putting the puck on net is almost always a good thing.

Its working for the Islanders right now. But then again, the Pens have swiss Fleury between the pipes.

 

[Dfence033]

I am sincerely interested in your opinion on the way the Rangers back off the opposition pointmen when under seige (powerplay or even strength).

Truly, I am not being antagonistic, just interested in this kind of thing. I have only a few bones to pick with Torts (his rudeness answering questions that other top coaches have no problem stickhandling around, and the way they back off pressuring the point).

I only question this because I see no advantage to bringing two guys back from the point, and positioning them just above the circles. I wonder what other Rangers fans might think about this. Maybe a different view based on experience?

I'm not sure if anyone else has answered this or not yet, but the major reason a team defends by closing down the slot, or "backing off the opposition pointmen," as you put it, is that the coaches and players are aware that challenging and over-committing to putting pressure on talented offensive players (which the Caps have in great supply), it opens up lanes behind the pressuring forwards. That, in turn, creates odd-man situations down low for players like Ovechkin, and to a lesser-talented extent, Ward, Chimera, and others who drive the slot, which is exactly why they run their offense and PP in a 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 fashion once they set up. The Caps scorers thrive off of creating miss-matches down low, and the Rangers have done a great job of taking away those advantages. The result? Ribero looks lost with the puck on the PP as the Rangers dare him to shoot. Ovechkin has been held largely in check without the prime wing/face-off one-timers he is deadly with.

The unintended consequence, however, is that it does allow for fluky, lucky, or skilled deflections to get in on net, which are all but impossible to stop, and you are seeing it in this series. Frankly, if the Rangers were any ounce of lucky, those will stop going in 3 times per game, and these games become 3-1, 4-1 victories, and Hank goes back to looking like the Vezina winner and dominant goalie he is. Right not, Hank is giving up goals on major screens and deflection plays in front, and that's a lot for a goalie to consistently contend with. It's why there is a significant emphasis on driving the net in all leagues. Give the goalies something else to think about (deflections, getting bumped, not seeing the puck), and good things will happen.

This is EXACTLY the defense they need to play against the Capitals, and that's exactly why Torts (who gets dumped on a lot here) is running it. It's why seemingly every goal they score is on a tip or deflection and seems "lucky." That's what you get when you play the best offensive teams in the NHL riding high in the post-season. They weathered the storm in the first 2 games, albeit unsuccessfully in getting wins, but have now swung all of the momentum in their favor. The Capitals look tentative, scared, indecisive, and lacking in confidence. That's what the Rangers can do to the best teams in the NHL when they play their game, THIS game, despite so many detractors of Torts for using this strategy.

 

[FultonReed]

holy hell, that was a great game to see in person. they played awesome, save for the moments they were pinned in their own zone for lengths of time. keep it flowin, boys!

 

[darko]

Henrik has to have goals no. 2 and 3. Should've been 4-1... but how much fun would that be?

3rd goal was a deflection. He should've had #2.

 

[Chimpradamus]

I love how this is "can't play any worse."

He did allow more than 2 goals, hence there's always a crowd claiming he played the worst hockey he's played in his entire life. Regardless how they happened, especially if there were any screened goals or deflections, because a bunch of people really don't know how difficult it is to handle those.

*Them cursing at Lundqvist while the replay is showing the goal in slow motion*: "Just save the puck! It's right there!"

 

[JohnC]

Oh my lanta. I didn't realize how absolutely dirty the play leading up to Step's goal was

 

[JayMan82]

I'm not sure if anyone else has answered this or not yet, but the major reason a team defends by closing down the slot, or "backing off the opposition pointmen," as you put it, is that the coaches and players are aware that challenging and over-committing to putting pressure on talented offensive players (which the Caps have in great supply), it opens up lanes behind the pressuring forwards. That, in turn, creates odd-man situations down low for players like Ovechkin, and to a lesser-talented extent, Ward, Chimera, and others who drive the slot, which is exactly why they run their offense and PP in a 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 fashion once they set up. The Caps scorers thrive off of creating miss-matches down low, and the Rangers have done a great job of taking away those advantages. The result? Ribero looks lost with the puck on the PP as the Rangers dare him to shoot. Ovechkin has been held largely in check without the prime wing/face-off one-timers he is deadly with.

The unintended consequence, however, is that it does allow for fluky, lucky, or skilled deflections to get in on net, which are all but impossible to stop, and you are seeing it in this series. Frankly, if the Rangers were any ounce of lucky, those will stop going in 3 times per game, and these games become 3-1, 4-1 victories, and Hank goes back to looking like the Vezina winner and dominant goalie he is. Right not, Hank is giving up goals on major screens and deflection plays in front, and that's a lot for a goalie to consistently contend with. It's why there is a significant emphasis on driving the net in all leagues. Give the goalies something else to think about (deflections, getting bumped, not seeing the puck), and good things will happen.

This is EXACTLY the defense they need to play against the Capitals, and that's exactly why Torts (who gets dumped on a lot here) is running it. It's why seemingly every goal they score is on a tip or deflection and seems "lucky." That's what you get when you play the best offensive teams in the NHL riding high in the post-season. They weathered the storm in the first 2 games, albeit unsuccessfully in getting wins, but have now swung all of the momentum in their favor. The Capitals look tentative, scared, indecisive, and lacking in confidence. That's what the Rangers can do to the best teams in the NHL when they play their game, THIS game, despite so many detractors of Torts for using this strategy.

Can we sticky this post somewhere?

 

[darko]

Got this from Caps board. Lol @ Ovie at the end there. Not the first time he's done it in the series either.

 

[Greg02]

Got this from Caps board. Lol @ Ovie at the end there. Not the first time he's done it in the series either.

Alternate view.

Yeah, just saw this on reddit and checked through all the pages to see if it was posted already. When I got back to the end, I saw that I was preempted

Absolutely pathetic backchecking. Actually astounding how little effort was put in.

 

[Holocene]

Oh my lanta. I didn't realize how absolutely dirty the play leading up to Step's goal was

It was beautiful. I hope that's the beginning of that line getting their mojo back. They all just work so well together and it's such a great two way line.

 

[Kershaw]

Team played really well after 2 periods, but I was a bit concerned with the extreme collapsing in the 3rd period.

Good read from Caps blog

http://www.japersrink.com/2013/5/8/...p-holtby-hobbles-stars-sputter-as-caps-fall-4

 

[JD123]

I am so pleasantly surprised by Brassard. It's not like I had not heard of him, or his promise, but seeing him work hard every game since he arrived, combined with some of that stuff you can't teach, makes me even happier about the trade.

Now let's hope torts gets it thru his thick skull to play Brassard on the first power play unit and give him more time than Richards. He is the reason this series has changed. He has brought pure offensive skill that is a must in such a tight checking playoff game.
And Moore needs to be on first unit as well.

 

[JD123]

And Clowe was pretty good tonight I thought. Glad torts eased him back into game. Let's hope he continues to get his nasty playoff game back for game 5 Friday eve. Gotta have those tough nasty bottom 6 forwards to work the boards down low and hopefully wear down caps d

 

[Holocene]

Now let's hope torts gets it thru his thick skull to play Brassard on the first power play unit and give him more time than Richards. He is the reason this series has changed. He has brought pure offensive skill that is a must in such a tight checking playoff game.
And Moore needs to be on first unit as well.

Good luck with that... Dan Girardi scored a powerplay tonight. He ain't going nowhere now.