Good morning , Boneheads!
That was a fun game to watch, despite being a low score affair. I hope you enjoyed as much as a I did. Good goaltending, a lot of animosity, skill, great defense. I’m looking forward to three more against these guys.
Right back at it tonight against Vancouver.
120 responses to “Rangers-0, Penguins-1”
Agreed. Very evenly matched. And a playoff round 1 preview.
A lot more positives than negatives, but I’m going to go negative if you don’t mind.
Two concerns for me, involving 4 players. Panarin and Strome (more Panarin), are struggling in these types of game.
Fox and Lindgren (mostly Fox) are struggling in these types of games.
Panarin and Strome need help right now on the RW.
Fox and Lindgren are being targeted physically by the good teams. Fox is not handling it well, and Lindgren not quite big enough to neutralize it.
Don’t get the McKegg stuff. I mean I get it, but I don’t get it.
So I was going to make the joke: “did Chytil play in this one?”….then I realized he really didn’t. Got about the same out of him as you would had he suited up.
Playoff atmosphere for sure. Not freaking out over a loss like that but it should be noted that the top guys were put in check the way they will be come post season if they aren’t willing to change their fluffy styles ahead of time.
BDL
Let’s play a game. Name every center in the organization in less than a minute not named Zibanejad or Strome. Ready? Go.
As for the struggles -and it’s not a negative nelly comment- my expectations were that we would start to see this when they got to this part of the season. At least with Fox and Lindgren along with the other young DMen. You have to go through it to learn from it sometimes.
As for the Strome line? They’ve needed a boost for quite some time. The only difference now is that they’ve both become rather pedestrian.
Question for everyone- when’s the last time Panarin had a big game against a top team?
BDL- Panarin and Fox have been struggling for weeks now. But, yes, they’re not built for these types of games. They need to be surrounded by players who can shelter/deflect this from them.
agree on both counts BDL. Hunt logging 14 minutes at even strength in the top 6 isn’t the path to the Cup.
james, needless dig at chytil there, but would certainly put him in over Gauthier or McKegg if healthy today, as at least he has a semblance of offensive ability.
could definitely stand to distribute even strength ice time more at very least and no reason at all Fox should have played 6 more minutes than the next defenseman (Trouba). Still a lot of season left, don’t need to play such a short bench already
I really hope ranger players dont listen to valley cats whole ‘offense only comes off seam chances and making the goalie move side to side’
Bc you can’t bank and count on that💩in the playoffs.
Goals are scored in front of the net in chaos.
That’s hockey just as much as cross ice passes and making goalies move side to side to beat him.
Does valley cat do all his fancy pie charts for every single playoff game league wide. I’d love to see the numbers on average during the playoffs. The ‘expected goals’ on mid and low dangerous shots may stay low and may stay high for high dangerous chances. But it’s a pretty safe bet to say that ‘actual goals’ will come from
The mid and low dangerous shots.
And for gods sake. I don’t want to see games end with rangers passing the puck 8 times in a row around the offensive zone with less than one minutes to go only to get one quality one timer that sails wide during the entire sequence. I want to see mayhem towards the net and somebody finding a way to bang it in.
have to go back to Florida Feb 1st for Panarin (1g, 2a) and Toronto for strome (1g, 1a) if we want to call them a good team, Fox had 2g and 1a against the Laughs as well
This was always going to be the telling stretch as they are only now really starting to play their divisional rivals, but to date the only contenders they have had any success against are Tampa/Florida and the latest win against Washington. Have come up small against heavy teams in the West and Canes (time to redeem themselves there)
The mckegg stuff is this
There’s a fine line between winning the games we have this year and losing them.
Mckegg plays the way gallant wants in the d-zone and neutral zone. He helps make sure we stay above that fine line.
Gallant sees a trade off of I rather have this guy out there and lower the percentages of goals against being scored off of mistakes in the neutral/defensive zone than have this guy in the lineup with a slighter higher chance of scoring for us but an even greater chance that a goal is scored against it.
Mckegg is in there to limit mistakes which lead to goals bc he doesn’t trust Chytil/Barron’s overall awareness of where to be and where to go without the puck.
Where a guy like lehkokon does what mckegg does In the neutral/dzone but adds a more complementary offensive zone component
bigger issues to fix in the offseason as we have discussed to death, but in the short run just bringing in one decent goal scorer should have a meaningful impact, as well as hopefully getting kakko back.
If they can find a way to bring in a decent. 3C as well then great, but wouldn’t pay through the nose and wouldn’t waste assets on a bottom pair d. Would rather they start to play Schneider in bigger situations (like PK)
Chytil, Barron, Rooney, Grubbe, Vierling, Korzac, Rueschhoff,
Our game is about
Great goaltending
Limiting opposing teams ozone time
Making a majority of the game: soccer like: meaning most of play in the neutral zone or going back and forth.
Running a cycle with the lines or line that are suited to.
Trying to get the other lines (sans bread) to follow suit
Letting bread/strome do their thing off the rush (which helps you early
In the season to get where to the beginning line:playoffs, but not so much once your there or almost there)
And taking advantage of a lethal PP
it’s a real formula and a fine line where Maintaining a low goals against is more important than some extra offense.
Mckegg is more helpful in that sense than chytil is in terms of what he brings as an overall game ‘good and bad’ when the name of the game is we have a formula/blueprint for where we are at as a team and it blending together has gotten us here and gallant knows it
BDL,
I saw othmann had a 5 point night last night
I know the Nemeth hate is real, and what I’m about to say is going to be met with lukewarm responses at best, but I would put Nemeth with Fox, and Lindgren with Schneider.
Pete
We haven’t played again of divisional opponents. 1 game against each team: you can’t draw anything from that.
1 game against Carolina
1 game against Pitt
Pitt was an afternoon game. Pretty sure Georgie started the Carolina game. Washington was the 1st game of the season
Don’t tel me how we stack up against these teams :when we haven’t played them enough and it’s an incomplete evaluation/take from the start
Haven’t played *a lot of divisional opponents
i said exactly that, this is the telling part of the season given schedule backloading divisional games:
“This was always going to be the telling stretch as they are only now really starting to play their divisional rivals, but to date the only contenders they have had any success against are Tampa/Florida and the latest win against Washington. Have come up small against heavy teams in the West and Canes (time to redeem themselves there)”
Bdl
I posted this last night
A Minx observation. Teams have figured out how to defend Panarin 5×5. Pressure him and he will turn the puck over. He has no one to pass it to with the ability to put the puck in the net
Regarding Fox….. I can’t help but think he’s playing hurt. His mobility looked limited and perhaps I was seeing things, but it looked like he was favoring his shoulder. We need him to be firing on all cylinders if we’re going to make a run…
No you said that haven’t stacked up well against contenders and canes and it means something and I’m saying they haven’t played enough of those games to even say that.
Out of conference regular season games cannot be used as a gauge. But by the time you’d play an out of conference team. Nothing else matters except the row your on and who’s healthy who’s not.
Roll*
Stanley Cup finals
pens vs Kings
Rangers present situation the curse of the Hedgehog!
Nightmares on Minx
Pens and kings
Panarin had 2 shots …Crosby had 3 …Panarin can’t play in games like this…hilarious
I actually thought Panarin has been playing with injury for a while
Panarin has actually always been very good at avoiding being hit. But recently he’s been doing it earlier and more deliberate than usual. Not worried
Kegger’s presence was a shout of help to Dreary.
Only saw second half of game but if they do match up v Dirty Birds, they need to smack around the two lightweights playing with Skidknees.
Meeka does a crap job controlling the puck on PP, saw 3 turnovers in first minute of key PP in 3rd.
The lack of bottom 6 scoring will ultimately be their downfall because all teams gear up to stop the big guns which means they need to get ‘some’ contributions from other sources.
Not saying Flip Flop should play over Kegger but the need to bolster their 3rd line with moves.
Very winnable game…3rd pair rookie d-men looked very good in a playoff type game….and there’s more beef coming in at deadline.
3rd line sux and needs fixing it’s their biggest weakness. We already know what Bread and Stromeo need and Krakko isn’t the answer. It’s too bad there is no possible way to pry Tuck from Buffalo.
I know this is stating the obvious but until they beat the pens I won’t believe they can. With Igor I have no doubt they can beat any other team in the playoffs.
What did the Pens do to you Eli?! They didn’t look that great yesterday afternoon in my opinion
Pens much stronger down middle
Sydney-Malkinstein-Carter-Bran Boil
Pete… gotta work on that PDS !
Carter and Boiler werent very noticeable yesterday
They didn’t, Pete. I’ll take my chances against them in best of 7 without hesitation. This isn’t 2016 on either end of this matchup
think it’s a bigger weakness that we get so little 5×5 from our top 6. having an ineffective 3rd line exacerbates that issue, but if those two top lines were humming more (Panarin’s line especially), having a mediocre 3rd line wouldn’t be as big a deal and would be easier to address (ie we could largely make it a pure shutdown group right now with Barrón-Goodrow-Kakko/Hunt)
Stromeo as been scuffling a bit lately but there is gonna be big body on his right side in a few weeks and that line will be fine
Without any moves from the Rangers, I’d take my chances against the Pens.
Pete
We get even less 5v5 from our bottom 6 as well.
It’s a problem throughout the lineup. A couple of more power plays for, and the Rangers probably win that game yesterday.
St Pete
Can the good friar skate?
Judging from the posts the strome line needs two things from one player…overt physical size and ability to score.
Ok, other than a balding friar, who are the names?
Agreed
Pitt isn’t the same team that won back to back. Credit to Sullivan and the team but theyve had to work so hard during the regular season in order to get into the playoffs in recent seasons that they’ve come into the 1st round worn down.
Uncle Larry’s politics are starting to ruin his columns …does he know he’s a hockey writer or does he want to work for NYT?
I thought I saw Panarin make at least two passes that set up very good chances. I’m pretty sure one was to Trouba and maybe the other to Strome. That said, he does seem a bit out of sync. Same with Fox. Speculation about both playing a bit dinged up rings true to me.
Pete
I know I have mentioned this before but that bush league franchise was about to fold and there was serious talk about moving the franchise. At the time they could barely get 1,000 bush league fans in the seats. Of course all this took place right before the Crosby draft. With Bettmans love for Mario Lemieux I have no doubt he fixed the draft to save the franchise. On top of that my ex-wife is from Pittsburgh so I got to see what that dump is like. I hate the city, the fair weather fans, and the team. To me it’s personal!
The constant speculation here of this guy is hurt or that guy is hurt (and I’m not making fun of it nor am I questioning the validity of it) is the exact reason why drury should not half aasen the trade deadline or not go for it.
The team is always a Sauer hit away from losing a vital player and then it is one more season of key vet getting older with nothing to show for the big contracts. Kreider having a career year, shesty playing great…don’t waste a season like this one by being a hedgehog.
Wicky
100% agree Drury does not need to be Hedgehoging up the ice!
To me, the issue with the Strome line is Strome, not Panarin. He has been struggling for quite awhile now. This is interesting, as I thought he played well when Panarin was out. Perhaps the contract issue is having a negative impact on him.
Second game in a row the reaves line has been the third line in toi and matching up against the other teams top line quite a bit (away game so pens had last choice). I’d be shocked if the misfit toy 4th line had more than about 7 minutes each.
Was it me or did laffo busto seem to get a bit of less ice time than his line mates?
I guess it must be difficult to keep a cool head and concentrate on hockey when you’re only making 4.5 million a year.
Tym
That is a great point that no one here has brought up previously.
We saw that with a couple guys in the past including sideshow bob and Kreider. Guys that want to be here but there’s legitimate reason to think they may not for one reason or another…we’ve seen it weigh on players before.
Solid point by you.
not disputing the lack of production in the bottom 6 at all Akbar, but we also aren’t paying our “top 4” bottom 6 players $28m against the cap either. Expectations and performance should be a lot higher as such.
bobby, what bothered you about brooks’ latest piece (assuming the Chara article)?
gotcha St Pete, i have never set foot in Pitt and don’t plan on it!
yes Wick, Laf got about 2 minutes less EV than kreider and mika, largely because there were a few 4-4s and think Panarin may have gotten some time at the end with those two. Laf definitely playing with more confidence, but would like to seem him shoot more (which can be said also about Panarin and Fox)
Kreider and Zibenajad are on the PK, and together at 4 on 4. I believe that is the reason for Lafreniere’s lower ice time. He looked good in the first period.
The Crosby fawning gives me acid reflux!
ABC flashed a stat (probably jinx) that NYR 5-12-1 against playoff teams without Igor. Now, 7-1 against them with him net. I still like their chances at least a coin flip against almost any team in a series.
That broadcast was particularly cringy yesterday. When Salmon Jie seem more competent, you know something is wrong.
KAM’s speed is rendered useless when he’s diddling against the far boards while the action is in front of the net.
And his lack of response to Liver Lips was worrisome and exasperating.
How are the Canes so good with Beat Wide, D’Angelo, and Smith on D?
Because the forward groups control play in the NHL
SN
Exactly!
Regarding ABC TV Saturday. Between the horrible camera angles that were making me seasick and the Crosby love fest,could barley watch. You would think Sid was the only player on the ice.
Maybe if we are lucky Chytil will be in the lineup tonight for Vancouver and we will have two Miller to complain about. I know it is a dream. But to be honest with you the last few years have felt like a dream to me.
Pete
I don’t think it’s a needless dig at Chytil I think it’s very relevant. Too many passengers on this team when it comes to willingness to get the nose dirty in playoff level games.
Chytil is who I pointed out just as you pointed out Hunt as a guy who got big minutes yesterday for the same reasons guy like Chytil were pedestrian.
Moral of the story is if you guys want to see less McKegg and Hunt then you better hope Drury can upgrade spots filled by guys like Chytil.
Exactly
Just passed the UN. Big trucks delivering Jumbo Shrimp and hundreds of cases of Dom Perignon.
“Chytil, Barron, Rooney, Grubbe, Vierling, Korzac, Rueschhoff,”
Right. And for those who wonder why McKegg keeps playing…there’s your answer
TYM good point.
Strome’s streakiness aside, he’s gone totally dormant. You can see it in his battle level. Last time he was at this level of play was to start last season and we speculated that maybe the lack of new contract weighed on him. This could be similar if there is truth to the rumors that they were trying to get something done recently and didn’t
Maybe the team needs a psychiatrist instead of a right wing
Pete —
I think you mis-read my post earlier, perhaps I wasn’t so clear. I was agreeing with you that the top 6 haven’t produced 5v5, but I piggybacked that the bottom 6 also have not done enough in their respective roles, aside from Reeves and Goodrow.
Top 6 scores yup they get $28 million… but bottom 6 needs to be heavier on the puck, particularly via the forecheck.
ah gotcha Akbar, did misunderstand
regardless of the reason both of Panarin and Strome, personally hope it’s making it clear to Drury that pairing isn’t one to be the house on the next 4-5 years.
James, i do hope Drury addresses lack of production on the wing and middle 6 centers as has mostly been an issue all year. He has just chosen not to try and fix it to date for whatever reason. My expectation/hope would be Chytil goes in for McKegg or Gauthier today, but knowing this coach if he gets back in it’s more likely to be for Barron. And id even try him with Panarin as at least Chytil will try and shoot
The Andersson pick, and Chytil not developing, is causing problems for this current team.
How many times have we seen young players (not just talking kakko, lafreniere, and Chytil) “defer” to a guy like Panarin when on their line? Just because a guy is a “shooter” doesn’t mean he’ll shoot a lot. It is even worse for a player that may be lacking confidence or isn’t sure what his role is.
There is no fix in house at this point for that line short of Kreider IMO if you are wanting more “shots” and even then it’s not guaranteed.
and the kravtsov pick and the Mac/Miller trade, or trading up in the first round twice just to draft another D, using the Nils pick on another D or about 10 other picks on even more D or undersized swedish forwards.
Let’s face it, Gorton and his pro and amateur scouting department blew a golden opportunity to set up this team for sustained success and that’s even without even considering kakko/Laf (irony being we probably are better off not winning the lottery in one or both of those years)
Can’t do anything about it now, except hope Drury takes a steady approach to try and make up for last regime’s deficiencies
I dislike the Hedgehog as much as the pens.
The dark years…don’t forget the early second round goalie pick.
Not necessarily on the scoresheet, but I believe Sammy Blais would make an impact last night. And even more during seven game series.
Winning the lotto is irrelevant if you have a GM with balls. Clearly taking the consensus pick both years didn’t provide any instant success or job security so being bold and addressing an organizational need would have been scrutinized but not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a big different between drafting Byfield Cozens/Dach vs drafting MciLrath
Was up at Stowe VT this week to ski (late hello beezle)
Watched both games on delay yesterday
One thing not mentioned here that I thought was fascinating was Mika getting a puck on edge off at 100mph in a game for a goal
That speed is usually what you see under perfect parameters in a controlled all star skill session
Most other shots I’ve seen them give the radar on in game have all been in the 70s and 80s
And before you wankers who love misinterpreting go off the handle, I’m not saying that’s what they SHOULD HAVE done. I’m merely saying it is what they COULD have done while not hurting the team.
Or maybe you need to re-read that list of centers BDL posted earlier..
This may not be a popular opinion for everyone and admittedly I have a bias towards size/strength/grit hence my initial trepidation last year in my assessment of zach Jones
But…. Every time I watch him he is clearly an asset. Rarely have I seen his size be an issue at all. His quick decision making and getting the puck out of danger and tape to tape passing and his determination to get into the corners is NHL caliber and I think is a great match with the skill and quick decisions of Schneider as his partner.
Depth heading into the playoffs is important. Nemeth as a 7th d is fine. There is nothing Jones has done thus far that has warranted demotion.
Granted. For a playoff run if they bring in a better defensman and that bumps him out this years run so be it. But currently, I do not see a better option than Jones in the rangers system. Especially this year when all pundits have reported Robertson is not ready. Robertson may be key in the future, but apparently not yet.
Also, I’ve said before. Jones is good insurance in case we lost fox to injury. Sure they may be similar in size. But they aren’t paired together. And the current pairs seems well balanced.
Strome, I’m a fan of
He is in a cold streak and I think the pressure of UFA may be affecting his performance.
I hope his cold streaks doesn’t last as long as it did in Edmonton right before he got traded. We need him now
Maybe a good time to sign Strome to that extension 😉
When Chytil healthy he should be in for kegger no doubt.
And I think he should be on the RW with bread and strome
Barron with Hunt and Goat seems like a line that can cycle and put good pressure in the O zone
All in all. For a playoff run. Drury needs to be a buyer.
Also, been said before. Kravstov not having patience this year is so idiotic it makes my blood boil
Also infuriating is ESPN/ABC mentioning blais knee injury without saying it was PK slewbans dirty play in the same sentence is a terrible omission.
Agree with Bdl. Panaran. Strome & Fox have to pick up their game. Particularly Fox; you have to wonder if his injury was totally healed
Lol, James said wanker 😉
James
At the Krakko draft my son and I were hoping the debbies took Krakko. So Hughes would be available at 2.
Thought PP did not move puck quick enough to make Pissburgh pay for being aggressive up top.
The D is too small and/or soft to have Jones get a regular turn as well. He has skill and hopefully brings back a young pivot when packaged with another asset.
Each D pair has a tough player with it in Trouba Lindgren and Schneider
Add in the size on the forward lines this is not a small team even with Jones.
Minx the funny part is that if Hughes was a Ranger fans would loath him.
Soft, not a center, draft bust, Alexander Daigle 2.0 dogs and cats living together mass hysteria
i agree cregg, if anything Fox could use a bigger partner and also needs to return to eluding checks better
will just say Hughes makes Chytil look good at faceoffs!
https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/33363582/former-heavyweight-champion-vitali-klitschko-plans-fight-ukraine-brother
Wow. Imagine being in a hand to hand life or death combat scenerio with these two 6’7 giants.
Even at 45 and 50 yo they can still lay the smack down.
If Putin gets arrested on war crimes make him get in the octagon with one of them and see how tough he really is.
Something tells me he wouldn’t fair as well as he did in the hockey game escapade where everyone let him score like 7 goals.
Maybe I missed it but are there examples of teams going deep in playoffs with two 175 lb Dmen?
well only jones is about that weight, fox is listed in the 180s, but would guess young leetch and zubov didn’t weigh a whole lot
more and nor likely did younger versions of rafalski or niedermyer.
but to cregg’s point, if the two smaller guys aren’t playing together what’s the issue if both can still handle themselves? It’s not like putting a 6-4 250lb player with schneider makes teams go easier on Fox when he is out there or makes Fox any bigger himself
I’ve got zero problem with Brooks’ latest article. While it may appear that he’s taking a shot at Gallant and the refs, my take is he’s making it that much clearer that Drury has work to do in order to improve 5 on 5 and be tough enough for playoff hockey.
I just got sent an offer for a year subscription to the athletic for $9.99 (still remember that first $16.99 monthly Bill I got after my 1st year promo subscription ended)
https://theathletic.com/checkout2/standard/PFMwb999us/?source=fbwinads&ad_id=23848277847260092&fbclid=IwAR2gVTsD28CcJHRJ9bGuDtqWSfFGsXkHfEfkrw6wee0l8DVzKcbrxfXPyCs
The Athletic is all over the place price-wise. Like an old shifty rag seller on Hester Street. They should call themselves ‘The Amateurs.’
In answer to your small D question, I did this a few months back. Since 1994, only 2 teams have won the cup with two Dmen under 6ft play semi regular in the playoffs.
So 3 hall of farmers 20 years ago. Please define, ‘can handle themselves’ because I am not seeing that part. To note, Norris Fox has played a grand total of Zero playoff games
The 08 wings had Rafalski, and Brett Lebda under 6ft. Lebda was 195ilbs, and averaged 12 minutes of ice.
The 18 Caps had Orlov, who was 5”11, 211 lbs, and Christian Djoos. Who was listed as 6 ft, and played 11 minutes a night. Those are your two teams since 94.
History tells you that you need bigger D to survive and win in the playoffs.
Leetch, by the way, in 94 was listed at 6ft, 185. Zubov 6”1, 200 lbs.
For what it’s worth, Lindgren is listed as 191 lbs. He and Fox are a small first pair.
Jackets 10 pts behind the Craps with 2 games in hand very interesting!
They shouldn’t be the first pair, it’s part of the issue, they should be the second pair.
Rule 200
I was going to say zubov wasn’t small, but Bdl did it so…
On boston
Matt gryzlk and Tory Krug both listed at 5’9
54 playoff games for gryzlyk 2018-2021
79 playoff games for Krug who went to STL in 2020
Same team. Mcavoy listed at 6’0
Those teams played a bunch of playoff games
But I guess since they had chara it makes us think their D was Yuge.
Should I duck now?
The Stanley cup the bruins won in 2011 didn’t have a very impressive D corps either at first blush. Not one that outside of chara was overly “physical”.
Ference and Kaberle etc
A bunch listed at 6’0
https://www.nhl.com/bruins/roster/2011
I love you guys but the “rules” about size instead of aptitude and hockey ability is one I can’t agree with as a hard and fast rule
Sure. The Blues had an imposing D. But that doesn’t mean a team needs all 6 guys to be 6’3 and 225 lbs and above
I think the mix and the chemistry means something too.
Unless this is 8 bit Nintendo where we are putting all the fat players out there so everyone bounces off us
SN made me do research
I’m telling mommy! 😫
3 years ago Boston had 25 yo Gryzlak and 27 yo Krug and won 3 rounds. They won 1 round the next season and then Krug was gone.
I would not include MacAvoy in the same convo due to weight and playing style.
The Krug/Gryzlak duo would be the one example that won multiple rounds though they were a bit more seasoned then Jones and Fox along with being paired with 6’9” Chara and 6’6” Carlo.
It’s about weight not height…many time a shorter player will weigh less so the correlation is there of course.
Knowledge and Facts are always welcome.
Conjecture and opinions are all too plentiful here.
NEW POST
Cregg
No disrespect intended here, I don’t think a single person was talking about or inferring that you just get the biggest guys you can find and put them out there regardless of ability.
From a roster/asset mngt perspective, I would love For Jones to be able to handle himself in the games and second season.
Krug was small in stature but took no sheet. Gryzlak is not going to worry forwards with his physical play. I just view Jones as redundant with Fox here for the next 7 seasons, along with Miller Lite and middleweight Lindgren.
Also NYR does not have the forward group that Boston does/did to alleviate the pressure on the D.