Post-Game Talk: duck @ RANGER

[Unpredictable1]

Yes... by default. In my mind he could be Shesterkin but at 6'5. That size makes a huge difference.

Shesty has the best of the best gamesense/anticipation. That's unmatched as far as I've seen... but I've never seen a goalie do what Oettinger did, last playoffs.

Living in Calgary - I can attest how much Jake had this city incredibly frustrated. Unworldly performance that I watched in complete awe.

Even with that - too small a sample size for me just yet and would need to see more. (but so far, he's real good)

When it comes to his height, I'll take the counter on Igor's puck handling skills which are the best I've seen in recent memory. He can singlehandedly disrupt an opposing team's entire game plan of puck entry.

 

[n8]

That's not really nothing new for the Avs coming out from Kuemper lol. Georgiev has played well for the Avs so far and good for him. He's not an elite goalie, but good enough for the Avs and that's what they were looking for.

Not that many goalies that I would consider being elite or great in this league in this day and age. Vasy, Shesty, Hellebuyck, Saros... Starts getting pretty slim after that doesn't it? I mean those are the goalies that I would really like if I had to start a team today.

I wouldn't have Hellebuyck on that list. He did have an elite stretch but the last two years he's been more of a streaky goaltender.

 

[Peltz]

By the way, not sure if it's been said yet, but I think Sammy Blais had a really great first game back. He was noticeable.

 

[bleedblue94]

We can wait though if we look bad in that game it won't mean that we're automatically not a contender it's one team that plays out west. If we do make the SCF it's entirely possible they would have been upset before then. I will say I REALLY hope they start Georgiev in that game and we light him up for 5+.

i didnt say if we lose we arent a contender. it would put our numbers to start in perspective though and show that although we have nice fancy stats against a certain tier of teams in this league we still need improvement and evolution to excel against those elite teams. I keep saying I dont care about beating up on bad teams because we as a franchise are no longer just trying to make the playoffs. we have evolved to a point that is beyond that. this team is aiming for bigger and the biggest goal and games/style/results that point towards that goal are what I am looking for. every team starts the season saying he cup is their goal, but probably less than 1/3 of the league really believe it or are aiming for it. sometimes other teams become viable options as the season progresses, but you usually have less than 10 that are looking at the cup as their focus. that is where this franchise is and is where i am looking. i am not going to apologize for not giving two shits about a 6-4 win over a lottery team no matter how much people try to manipulate my words or attitude, i have higher expectations. I love this team and I want them to win another cup in my lifetime.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

i didnt say if we lose we arent a contender. it would put our numbers to start in perspective though and show that although we have nice fancy stats against a certain tier of teams in this league we still need improvement and evolution to excel against those elite teams. I keep saying I dont care about beating up on bad teams because we as a franchise are no longer just trying to make the playoffs. we have evolved to a point that is beyond that. this team is aiming for bigger and the biggest goal and games/style/results that point towards that goal are what I am looking for. every team starts the season saying he cup is their goal, but probably less than 1/3 of the league really believe it or are aiming for it. sometimes other teams become viable options as the season progresses, but you usually have less than 10 that are looking at the cup as their focus. that is where this franchise is and is where i am looking. i am not going to apologize for not giving two shits about a 6-4 win over a lottery team no matter how much people try to manipulate my words or attitude, i have higher expectations. I love this team and I want them to win another cup in my lifetime.

I don't think one game no matter how good or bad will answer any of that. It won't necessarily answer if we're a better team than Colorado and even if it does chances are they won't even make the SCF again because it's rare that teams do it twice in a row.

By the way, not sure if it's been said yet, but I think Sammy Blais had a really great first game back. He was noticeable.

He'll always be hated because of Buch and being injury prone but he's an excellent role player and if he doesn't get hurt maybe we need a player like him more than Buch now that Kakko/Lafreniere are coming on.

 

[DanielBrassard]

His corsi is like 63% 5v5 which looks great, but its being driven by his line mates (who have slightly lower numbers, but believe it or not, they've also played more 5v5 than Kreider has this year. Kakko has played the most of the 3!)

Here is the most obvious instance of Kreider being ineffective 5v5 - He has 1 shot on goal at 5v5 through 4 games this year (Kakko has 9, Mika has 12!) That isn't going to cut it (he averaged around 2 a game last season.) But beyond the numbers, the eye test alone confirms that he hasn't been good at ES. Hes been super floaty in the OZ (he can win most races to loose pucks or use his wheels to seal off a wall, but he doesn't.) Hes looked unprepared for some pretty good passes coming his way that would have generated a quality scoring chance MULTIPLE times through 4 games, I think there were 3 of these alone yesterday!

His line is crushing it and operating at a high level, but it's because Kakko and Zibanejad are doing almost all of the work. And its not like Kreider isn't capable, he just hasn't done it so far. Just stylistically if hes going to play this way, Chytil is a better fit for him and thats a combo that has been pretty great in the past.


Off topic but heres a fun fact -

Our team leaders in iXG this year are..

Laf (1.37!)
Kakko (1.14)
Chytil (1.12)

The kids have shown up.

Well said, and this lines up completely with what I've been seeing as well. So far Kreider has been a passenger. Zibanejad looks as good as he's ever looked as a Ranger as well as Kakko which is why that line has been exceptional thus far.

 

[Levitate]

Well said, and this lines up completely with what I've been seeing as well. So far Kreider has been a passenger. Zibanejad looks as good as he's ever looked as a Ranger as well as Kakko which is why that line has been exceptional so far.

honestly I'm OK with this though? Like...what other LWs are we needing to replace Kreider with at this point. I think I'd rather have Laf playing with Panarin and doing well at RW, while Zibanejad and Kakko are carrying Kreider for awhile, than playing some video game min/maxing of lines to eek an extra point out of things.

I was a lot more concerned about it when Zibanejad and Kreider weren't really doing much 5v5 by themselves but Kakko (for the very short moment) has solved that by giving that line the ability to cycle the puck, even if Kreider isn't playing at his best.

Kreider's also not dumb and he knows if he's not playing well. He'll work on getting it sorted out and be a productive player.

 

[DanielBrassard]

honestly I'm OK with this though? Like...what other LWs are we needing to replace Kreider with at this point. I think I'd rather have Laf playing with Panarin and doing well at RW, while Zibanejad and Kakko are carrying Kreider for awhile, than playing some video game min/maxing of lines to eek an extra point out of things.

I was a lot more concerned about it when Zibanejad and Kreider weren't really doing much 5v5 by themselves but Kakko (for the very short moment) has solved that by giving that line the ability to cycle the puck, even if Kreider isn't playing at his best.

Kreider's also not dumb and he knows if he's not playing well. He'll work on getting it sorted out and be a productive player.

Not saying they need to change anything just commentary on how Kreider 's played. I wouldn't touch anything with the lines.

 

[Kovalev27]

I see no place for kravtsov in this lineup if blais is healthy. Vesey should be a 4th line regular. He’s had a great start defensively for us.

I think goodrow next to chytil is more useful than kravtsov.

I just don’t see a spot until injuries happen but the kid isn’t going to the minors either. Tough spot for everyone honestly

 

[CLW]

I see no place for kravtsov in this lineup if blais is healthy. Vesey should be a 4th line regular. He’s had a great start defensively for us.

I think goodrow next to chytil is more useful than kravtsov.

I just don’t see a spot until injuries happen but the kid isn’t going to the minors either. Tough spot for everyone honestly

Kravstov should grab the opportunity to beef himself up a bit. Once he has the strength for board battles he should be fine.

 

[will1066]

Kravstov should grab the opportunity to beef himself up a bit. Once he has the strength for board battles he should be fine.

That will take time.

 

[Machinehead]

Kreider is an old dog with a lot of mileage on his legs -- and he uses his legs a lot.

He may not drive play like he used to. I think he'll get better and if he scores goals, it's fine.

With Kakko playing as well as he has and if he stays on the line, we won't need Kreider to drive like we used to need him to drive.

 

[will1066]

Well said, and this lines up completely with what I've been seeing as well. So far Kreider has been a passenger. Zibanejad looks as good as he's ever looked as a Ranger as well as Kakko which is why that line has been exceptional thus far.

honestly I'm OK with this though? Like...what other LWs are we needing to replace Kreider with at this point. I think I'd rather have Laf playing with Panarin and doing well at RW, while Zibanejad and Kakko are carrying Kreider for awhile, than playing some video game min/maxing of lines to eek an extra point out of things.

I was a lot more concerned about it when Zibanejad and Kreider weren't really doing much 5v5 by themselves but Kakko (for the very short moment) has solved that by giving that line the ability to cycle the puck, even if Kreider isn't playing at his best.

Kreider's also not dumb and he knows if he's not playing well. He'll work on getting it sorted out and be a productive player.

Kreider is an old dog with a lot of mileage on his legs -- and he uses his legs a lot.

He may not drive play like he used to. I think he'll get better and if he scores goals, it's fine.

With Kakko playing as well as he has and if he stays on the line, we won't need Kreider to drive like we used to need him to drive.

Post in thread 'duck @ RANGER' Post-Game Talk: - duck @ RANGER

 

[TheDirtyH]

Kreider is an old dog with a lot of mileage on his legs -- and he uses his legs a lot.

He may not drive play like he used to. I think he'll get better and if he scores goals, it's fine.

With Kakko playing as well as he has and if he stays on the line, we won't need Kreider to drive like we used to need him to drive.

I don't see him as a passenger exactly. I think he's trying to figure out how best to complement his two linemates. Kakko is doing a lot of the things Kreider used to be responsible for. I think kreider has done a good job to set picks, draw defensemen to the front, and generally to give his linemates more time and space to operate and play catch. I expect that the more that line palys together, the more dangerous they'll become, including Kreider.

 

[Off Sides]

Kreider, JVR, Pacioretty, to me have always been somewhat parallels, until last season where Kreider pretty much crushed it. I'm never been very confident in Kreider in terms of consistency, we'll see I guess.

 

[The New Russian Five]

Kreider has always been a streaky player. I'm not worried. He'll get hot eventually.

 

[RonaldNeptune]

Dominant overall with spurts of extremely sloppy play. The Ducks are a very young team with good young talent so it's not an unexpected final score.

I'm not sure how much longer Lafreniere will stick on the 2nd line if they leak goals like they did tonight. I thought Panarin had a really strong game and Trocheck had his moments, Laf had a rough game I thought outside of the goal. Kreider-ZIbanejad-Kakko line and the 3rd line were excellent, nothing to complain about.

Got me wondering if at some point we see a shuffle where we have laf/zib/kk then you keep panarin/trocheck and chytil/kreider and see who can stick on the right wing.
Laf-zib-kk
Bread-trocheck-krav
Kreider-chytil-blais

 

[romba]

CK railroads a guy once per game. Not into the boards, not skating 25 miles an hour, not putting his hands up, just skates through a player while going for the puck like he’s not even there and maintains his balance and he retrieves the puck. Often the recipient will go for retribution and he bounces off it like a stiff breeze. Yes, he makes some bad decisions with the puck on his stick, but he’ll learn fast he can really trust KK and just give it to him or Zbad and do what he does best and head for the net.

 

[bleedblue94]

I don't think one game no matter how good or bad will answer any of that. It won't necessarily answer if we're a better team than Colorado and even if it does chances are they won't even make the SCF again because it's rare that teams do it twice in a row.

It won't give a definitive answer but it certainly will aid in forming a more well rounded opinion, and if that's your stance then the win against Tampa is meh just as well.

I wasn't suggesting a win says we are better than the avs, hell I'm not even caught up on the score aspect so much as I am the gameplay. I want to see how we play against a team like that, an elite team.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

It won't give a definitive answer but it certainly will aid in forming a more well rounded opinion, and if that's your stance then the win against Tampa is meh just as well.

I wasn't suggesting a win says we are better than the avs, hell I'm not even caught up on the score aspect so much as I am the gameplay. I want to see how we play against a team like that, an elite team.

Any one game is meh about telling us how good this team is.

 

[bleedblue94]

Any one game is meh about telling us how good this team is.

So are 4 cupcake games against teams with a combine record of 3-10, but I digress

 

[SnowblindNYR]

So are 4 cupcake games against teams with a combine record of 3-10, but I digress

Man you're REALLY invested in this team being shit. You're a great fan.

 

[bleedblue94]

Man you're REALLY invested in this team being shit. You're a great fan.

No I'm not.

You spent enough time last night trying to create narratives I didn't say and bait me to argue about things I also didn't say. Please just stop putting words in my mouth or suggesting things I never said. I'm literally asking you to just stop it already. Realism is not pessimism.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

No I'm not.

You spent enough time last night trying to create narratives I didn't say and bait me to argue about things I also didn't say. Please just stop putting words in my mouth or suggesting things I never said. I'm literally asking you to just stop it already. Realism is not pessimism.

Every pessimist ever is a realist. No one thinks they're a pessimist. You've spent the last two days discrediting literally everything the team has done because they beat two good teams off to slow starts and a bad team and lost to an average team. Every one of your posts is discrediting anything the team has done well because they didn't beat the Avs. Every one of your posts has discredited the team. Why should I go along with it? The team has the best roster since the early to mid-90s probably and all you could muster up is excuses for why they're not as good as people here seem to think.

 

[egelband]

some thoughts to this point in the season

• I think there's a conscious effort to be more shoot first and to crowd the slot/net front, which to me is a great shift in strategy. they still do their fair share of cross-ice tomf***ery but they are shooting from different angles and getting more players to the net. I pointed out how frustrating it was that they try to force pucks to the slot, but I understand why they're doing it and think they will improve a lot. it helps that players like Chytil, Kakko, Laf, Troch, Vesey, and Blais are swarming the net constantly looking for tips and second chance opportunities. I also think this is why some of them have taken some really awkward shots and put themselves into weird positions for chances, this is counter to what a lot of them have played like the last few years. think it needs time

Yep - exactly. i'd add that creating havoc in front of the net forces the opposition defense to collapse a bit opening up those cross-ice passes which force the goalie to move laterally and lose his angle...the key to goal scoring. Trocheck on the doorstep is a key that has opened up Panarin's game again. And set a terrific example up and down the lineup.