Congratulations to CCCP! 4 people predicted the score ( CCCP, TomK, Hockey Sittoo, and Romeo), but he was the only one who predicted Buchnevich with the GWG.
As for the game. Lucky win? For sure. But they worked for it. Some nights you get rewarded.
- They accomplished something they haven’t been able to accomplish in some time. They came out determined and ready to play from the get-go. Was far from perfect. How many times did they fail to clear the zone? But they kept Pittsburgh to the periphery, not allowing them to get pucks to dangerous areas. Except on one occasion where both Holden and McDonagh forgot to cover Conor Sheary. Pavelec didn’t have to make too many saves. No way he could’ve stopped that.
- They out-shot Pittsburgh 10-4 and created a good amount of high grade scoring chances against the youngster Jarry, who stood tall. Until Nieves got one through traffic that went 5-hole. Jarry should’ve stopped that one.
- The second period was what we expected. Pittsburgh came out swinging, and dominated the game for stretches. Except it ended up with NY getting more goals. One on pretty impressive drive by Skjei, with Jesper Fast being completely uncovered. But he was smart enough to follow the play. Smart should be his middle name. The second, by Zucc ( who was their best forward imo), was another one that went 5-hole and Jarry should’ve stopped.
- I liked the third period more than any other. Yes, they let Hornqvist get one on breakaway ( caught them changing on PK, AV has to look at that tape). And, yes, Buchnevich goal was pure luck. But they didn’t sit back after it was tied. And they defended very well after they went up 4-3. Pavelec also showed that he can play. Especially when his goal posts are his friends 🙂
- Kidding aside, Pavelec stood tall when he needed too. He was rusty throughout. He needs to play more. He was able to stop most of the initial shots ( can’t really blame him for any goals ), but his rebound control was wanting.
- All in all, it wasn’t the best game to watch. Sometimes sloppy on both ends, not too physical. This game wasn’t what one would expect from two division rivals fighting for the spot in standings. But you take two points in regulation and move on.
- You have to like what we’ve seen from the 4th line lately. They dominated most of their shifts. They can come out and do more than just kill some time to get your top 9 rested.
- Phil Kessel. He was asked to be “the guy” in Boston, and especially in Toronto. He couldn’t do it. And in Toronto he was undeservedly blamed for their failure. He is thriving in Pittsburgh behind Crosby and Malkin. Scores often, scores when they need him the most. Added a couple of Cups to his resume. After what he went through with his health early in his career it’s difficult not to root for him. Too bad he plays for Pittsburgh.
- I’m starting to worry about Brendan Smith. He just can’t find his game. All his summer wedding adventures notwithstanding, he should’ve been back to his baseline by now. Let’s just hope this isn’t his baseline because it will be a very long and painful contract.
- Rick Nash had his worst game to date. And I’m not talking about his scoring. He was dreadful defensively, with too many giveaways. Couldn’t stay on the ice. Literally and figuratively. Ended up with 4th line TOI. Something to watch going forward.
We will do another contest at some point soon. This one wasn’t difficult to score. Even though some of you can’t read and comprehend very simple instructions. 🙂
But keeping it for regulars only was the right move. Hey, after all this HAV doesn’t need to increase its traffic. We don’t get paid for it. Not even a cent per post 🙂
259 responses to “Rangers-4, Penguins-3. CCCP wins the contest”
Here are the Rangers PP TOI (per game average):
Shattenkirk 3:30
Zika 3:24
Buchnevich 3:09
THE 3:08
Zucc 3:07
D’Angelo 2:40
Nash 2:19
Miller 2:18
McDonagh 2:17
Vesey 1:17
Hayes :0:37
Here are the Rangers SH TOI (per game average):
Staal & McDonagh 3:02
Hayes 2:08
Holden & Grabner 1:59
Fast 1:49
Nash 1:41
Smith 1:39
Skjei 1:33
Kampfer 1:14
Cracknell & Zika 1:10
Zucc 1:02
Thanks EddieJ! I have tears in my eyes…
(I’m also cutting up onions for supper)
Q: How many third-pair defensemen (or defencemen) are 8th in scoring among D? A: Shattenkirk and Barrie..
Everyone knows who our Big Guns are and who should be producing more. PP, in this case, is a distraction from the total game facts.
Total Game Facts, or TGF, is the next great stat! (Along with BGF, Big Guns Factor.)
Coos
Shatty has a lot more time on pp than Vesey, Hayes, Grabner among others. yes he has comparable minutes to others on the first unit.
ILB and others
more on the cap like you pointed out. see the last sentence below.
Dan Rosen‏Verified account
@drosennhl
Cap projection for next season is between $78-82 million, depending on NHLPA’s use of inflator, Bettman says. Cap this season is $75 mil. Bettman says League revenues expected to rise 8.2 percent up to $4.54B U.S.
I don’t know which pair is considered a third pair in NY. Not to mention that Holden has been quietly eating up first pair minutes playing with McDonagh.
Baseball is now hiring more and more managers who are ruled by stats and computers. Front Office hires more and more on the basis of friendliness.
LOL, Olga.
What’s with all the Shatty controversy? We all know his history, his predilections. his attitudes, his puck-moving talents, his price, his wanting defense. Nothing more to say.
So this will be a good year to be a UFA. Everyone will have $3-5 million new money that is not committed to anyone. Does that impact the thinking on Grabner or McD or does it all still depend on where they are at the deadline?
Alex, $4.54B would bring the Cap up to $79.5M before inflator. I’m using a $126M figure for players’ benefits this year.
Haven’t been following the Caps much lately, but it certainly looks like they have their A game going. Gonna be a tough one tonight, especially if the D goes awol with Ovi/Backstrom on the ice. Hank might end up wishing his flu lasted just a bit longer….
Shattenkirk is this team’s version (albeit an expensive one) of Reijo Ruotsalainen and Sergei Zubov – defensemen who make their living at the offensive end of the ice.
maybe an increase in the cap makes it easier to digest another dead money buyout in staal (added to girardi) especially for next 2 years when girardi’s dead money is higher than the following 3 years.
still would rather a trade of staal after the season when we eat a lesser amount for a shorter period than a buyout.
Nash, Zucc, Vesey, & Kreider
“The Unroofables”
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-revenues-salary-cap-projected-to-rise-in-2018-19/c-293815570?tid=277548856
If the NHLPA doesn’t trigger any growth factor, the cap is projected to rise to $78 million. A 2.5 percent inflator leads to a projected cap of $80 million and a five percent inflator results in a projected $82 million cap. The growth factor can be anywhere from 0-5 percent. For 2017-18, a growth factor of 1.6 percent raised the salary cap from $73 to $75 million.
An $82 million cap would be the largest season-to-season rise in the salary cap since it was instituted for the 2005-06 season. The cap rose $6.4 million from 2007-08 to the 2008-09 season ($50.3 million to $56.7 million).
Commissioner Bettman said his preference is a smaller-scale rise in the salary cap because of the impact it has on the escrow taken out of players’ contracts.
Escrow ensures the owners and players receive an equal split of hockey-related revenues, per the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The League is trying to keep the escrow in the single digits.
“We’re projecting from our standpoint that the final escrow when it’s settled out and we disperse it will be a single-digit escrow from player salaries for last season,” Commissioner Bettman said. “For this season, if we stay on the low end [of the cap], we can keep it single digits as well. But again, the Players’ Association may have a contrary view and that’s probably not a discussion that we’ll wind up having until June.”
The escrow is at 15.5% now, they will be dispersing around 3-5% from last year’s. At some point escrow was at 16% last year. The escrow should go down next year anyway because many of the front-loaded contracts are winding down…
Thanks, Wickster.
I think one invites a wee bit of controversy when one refers to the Shatman as third pair.
TOI for the season:
McDonagh 23:26
Shattenkirk 20:54
Skjei 20:18
Holden 18:04
Staal 17:41
Smith 15:07
For the games since Vegas? Don’t know yet.
Since Vegas:
McDonagh 23:17
Skjei 21:47
Shattenkirk 20:42
Holden 19:37
Staal 18:00
Smith 16:55
All this talk about the rising Cap, players benefits, escrows, owners/players revenue splits, Butttman butting in, and what’s for the loyal fans? Let me guess. Ever-Rising prices.
They can Con Edison, but they can’t Buffalo cooscoos!
Any truth to the rumor that the NFL owners are sub rosa courting Adam Silver, NBA commish?
Uh. NHL owners. NHL!
Burakovski playing tonight for the craps.
I have no interest in all that money, cap numbers and figures. I enjoyed hockey a lot more before I ever knew any of that stuff. I’m a hockey fan and my team has a game tonight. GO RANGERS!
I thought Charles Burakovski was a BarFly.
That’s a Factotum, Coos.
Burakovski returning from left thumb surgery. In the olden days, we know what that meant- thumb attacks. We live now in a kinder, gentler hockey universe. But it’s why they used that ‘upper body,’ ‘lower body’ vernacular, so the enemy never really knew exactly where the injury was to exploit.
New Post!!