It was a cool and showery night in Los Angeles, the perfect weather for an unsuspecting team to get blockchained in the Crypto.com arena.
Is there anything good to say about this latest loss? They only gave up two goals and none in the third. Lafreniere returned not long after taking a puck to the face without a face shield (assume they bring those on the road just in case?). Quick played a pretty good game in what was certainly an emotional night for him.
Is there anything bad to say about this latest loss? We’ll leave that to the comment section. Needless to say, they have to be better and that must begin at 8:30 PM EST (per NHL.com) in Anaheim where they face another team with current struggles.
The scores last night were: Fiala (11) at 19:25 of the 1st, Kreider (21) at 14:39 of the 2nd and Byfield (13) at 18:13 of the 2nd.
51 responses to “Rangers 1, LAK 2”
First!
If they aren’t going to show up, I’m not putting effort into a write up either, so there! 🤣
Drury considers bringing up Vomit, Bile.
This team is an absolute disgrace. 93 is soft AF. So is most of the team actually. They might actually miss the playoffs at this rate. And now with Roy (who I wanted the Rangers to get btw), the isles will be passing us soon too.
Was counting on Zac starting a melee to give us a spark last night, but no go.
Thoughts:
1/ Only gave up two. The first was a good play by Fiala getting under Schneider’s stick. The second was comedy. But we all see it – they let teams exit their end easily, go through the neutral zone with speed and then back up to escort the opposition to below the circles. Perhaps not every time but certainly the majority.
2/ The offense is woefully stale. Clearly other teams watch video and have developed plans to take away what worked for NYR through early December. Other than shuffling a body now and then, Laviolette has made like zero in game adjustments to style of play.
3/ Have they tuned him out already? At least they have not reverted to extended east-west play.. yet.
4/ The “college” coach was too in their face on the ice and lockerroom. The “old player coach” didn’t teach or make adjustments. The new “smart” coach gave them instruction and orders to play N/S. And here we are again. At no point has it ever been about the coach (as much as people harp on Gallant in the last playoff). There is something about the core that is just uncoachable.
fox gets too big a pass here and on twitter. it was a very bad thing that he won the norris which bumped up his cap hit by quite a hit.
cooscoos – it’s your boys birthday today
see 300 posts in last thread for a very late game tells the story. obvious loss.
plus being spammed by a newbie (or is it a regular with new handle?)
I am always up for moving anyone and everyone to improve the roster.
D – Fox, Miller, Tuba for all different reasons but present/future cap hits v replacement costs are a primary reason
C – Meeka, Chytil; enuf of the soft Euros
W – VC, Wheels, Pitlick – old and in the way
G – Igor; shaky mental makeup
Kings solid defensively but first period was embarrassing and Miller with another brain fart….Bottom line You stop Panarin ..you stop the Rangers. Bring up Othman Edstrom or Sykora … send down Wheeler Brodz
It is also about a significant lack of depth. Bench who in favor of who? Brodzinski was at center last night and Bonino was benched. Brodzinski is showing everyone why he is a veteran who never made an impact in the NHL. Bench Mika for who? The center issue……which has been an issue for years still plagues them. As Beezle wrote, they allow opponents to fly through the neutral zone and the D is at the circles as they cross the blueline. They lead the NHL in odd man rushes against. The NHL’s video coaches have caught up to them. Add in the clearly uncomfortable and lacking confidence goalie, and this is what we have. There is only one bit of good news from last night: Pierre Luc Dubois is not a Ranger.
This Rangers team has made a very strong argument for the need to blow it up and go back to the drawing board. The sooner they do that the better. At this rate they will slip out of playoff contention before you know it.
They are soft and refuse to go to high scoring areas….Wind in his hair comes to mind here.The guy gravitates to the side boards like they have the gravitational pull of a black hole.
The Rangers need some men…..they may have to pluck a few of the players from the girls team.
At least Sykora or Edstrom can change dynamic of the bottom 6 ..Wheeler can’t skate anymore …Brodz isn’t physical
Scouts still suck. Their top picks function, but are no more than good ancillary players.
About the only thing they can do right now to send a message is for Laviolette to invert the minutes. 3rd/4th lines get 15-20 a game, 1st and 2nd get 10-12. The only guys that can be moved to AHL are those same 3rd/4th liners so that does not really hit on the “core” problem on offense.
Defensively, move Lindgren up to play with Trouba and Miller w/ Fox. I’d sit Miller and play Robertson a game or two but not knowing the why’s of his mental health issues, perhaps that is not something to do. (People assume it is pressure from hockey but could be other aspects of his life, who knows).
The Captain, #8’s dwindling aggressive physicality tells a story none of us want to read.
BobbyO I’d like a better bottom six too but that won’t change how the top six play. Not saying don’t address but far from a cure all.
Wonder if Knoblauch would’ve made any difference as HC. Upon further review, probably not.
Miller has NEVER been very good at his primary job. This is not new. Even HE knows it. You don’t?
Coach taking a personal day to have black paint poured over his head.
NYR need 40 pts in 37 games to have reasonable assurance of making the playoffs as 2nd wildcard (98 pts). At the pace of last 10 games, they only get 26. Need to play 500 or better and snag a few Bettmans. Who thought at Turkey Time this would be a topic in late January?
I see most of you are seeing what I have been seeing for quite some time.
*when I say ‘you don’t?’ I mean that generically, not pointing fingers.
A top 6 that can forecheck means less pressure on the defense at a minimum
I have seen over the seasons, guys like Trouba finally resenting that we have no designated rah-rah brawler when they realize they personally are expected to add that aspect to their other duties.
We can leave Miller and Wheeler in San Jose and bring back Ferraro Sturm/Duclair
Pro Hockey may be the only sport left where a Head Coach can approach or exceed the salaries of some of his star players.
The Duke has been too oft traded to be considered a valued piece. Seems to wear out the welcome mat.
Better than Wheeler standing still
I don’t want the top 6 forechecking, they should be controlling the puck and possessing upon entry not throwing into the Dzone only to have them be interfered with/picked off by opposing forwards to then watch the puck break out the other way.
Bread is really the only player on the team that can do this consistently. Opens up a ton of ice for his line mates.
Meeka is a talented open ice player who needs defensive breakdowns like odd man rushes to make plays 5v5.
The D is too slow to join the rush so you have the forwards in the ozone with the D trailing behind and if the puck is turned over, odd man rush the other way with lots of time and space
Alex I believe a lot of big contracts were being written to top defensemen at that time who weren’t vezina winners too. That would have set the market. If Fox still had the points but not the hardware, I’m thinking the rangers would have only saved 750K or so.
Time to flush the toilet boys.
Teams fly through the neutral zone against the Rangers because they are playing a system that has it heyday during the dead puck era when the red line, and neutral zone mattered.
Structure and adjustments?, 😂.
Or opposing Dmen never pressed or hit by the majority of the forward group
The first forward is getting picked off unless you want them To throw it in the corner on a 2 on 2. The top 6 has talented players need to carry and create.
Deke draw and dish
We’re asking these muffins do something they are consistently incapable of doing. A pool table has more balls.
The bottom 6 fall under the label of “you get what you pay for”, which explains why they bring very little to the table. Some are just cheap , warm bodies to fill a roster. With that said, the top and middle tier players aren’t bringing much either. If they can’t win these next two, they are in real trouble.
Glad I called it a night after the second. I am starting to root for them to blow it up. I have seen enough of this group.
ORF
I totally agree, but I will never stop believing in a miracle before I’m too old to remember my name.
Rangers fans could use a representative/spokesperson. We need to send NYR management our own letter.
I nominate Minx to represent the fanbase. First JetBoo to JFK, Uber to MSG, all on us. Just don’t try to submit any chits from Colony Grill
Another one
I hope he gets the help he needs. Being in the spotlight can put a lot of stress on young guys.
A week or two ago last night’s loss would have been OK, but it has taken way too long if they are only starting to climb out of their funk now. These games should have all been winnable. They will have to be lucky to break even on this road trip.
the lottery race Ducks on a 5 game home losing steak non doubt a formidable challenge for your blueshirts
Ducks Quacking Up.
Could be the perfect storm. Lottery team, losing streak, multiple key injuries, several former rangers… hold onto your butts!
The Kings played a 1-2-2 last night and gave the Rangers fits. The Rangers play a 1-3-1 which allows the opponent to station someone at the blue line on the boards to break it. It looked a lot like 2014 again. Very few second chances, most shots one and done. Rangers do not crash the net.
Did the isles pull their goalie yet?
*NEW POST*
Shesty blows