GDT: GDT #78 New York Islanders vs New York Rangers | April 9th | 7:00 PM | F/W 4-2

[miscs75]

I mean, they've got a bunch of skill guys who aren't particularly physical, and this is a time-honored way of 'protecting' them. It's not just or only the Rangers. It's the league that allows teams to hire mercenary sideshows to play that role. Look, what good has it done the Devils not to have those kind of players? In that context, it's pretty clear the way things are have favored the Rangers.

We’re going see another career ended from concussions like Marc Savard and then the league will do something about it. It’ll probably be from a guy like Rempe “putting his arms up to protect himself” but it’s bound to happen with how inconsistent they are with officiating and penalties.

 

[crashthenet]

Rangers dive along the boards. I brought it up last year and here we are again. Earlier, there was a similar, and correctly unpenalized, faceplant into the left boards. Trochek is a punk and Laviolette crying about Pelech is analogous to Mario complaining about the Isles with Cooke in his line-up. Go ahead and dress the freakshow next game. Who cares.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Did not watch this, had other duties…ahem.

A split is all I wanted. Not thrilled by the commentary though.

 

[PK Cronin]

People seem to forget even if the refs didn’t miss the call on 8, the rags still would have had to score just to tie with 10 seconds to go. Impossible? No. Unlikely? Yes.

Unlikely against most PKs? Yes. Unlikely against the Islanders PK? 50-50.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Rangers dive along the boards. I brought it up last year and here we are again. Earlier, there was a similar, and correctly unpenalized, faceplant into the left boards. Trochek is a punk and Laviolette crying about Pelech is analogous to Mario complaining about the Isles with Cooke in his line-up. Go ahead and dress the freakshow next game. Who cares.

NHL is basically soccer on ice these days. Any minor contact, flop.

It’s a big part of the Hurricane’s game plan as well. That’s why they keep fizzling out in the playoffs, they can’t draw as many calls that was as the regular season.

 

[Rehabguy]

This is the type of delusional homerism I’ve missed from you

You're welcome

Isles were the better team last night but the Rags are damn talented. All you need to do to beat that team is stay out of the box. I think once playoffs start they are going to struggle severely when the whistles choke up.

Exactly. Thats what I'm expecting as well.

 

[MJF]

Did not watch this, had other duties…ahem.

A split is all I wanted. Not thrilled by the commentary though.

Let us know when you start the baby resgistry.

 

[Rehabguy]

You can tell from the NYR fan comments, that they’re absolutely terrified of facing NYI in the first round.

Is that one of these or one of these

I do think the Rags would be a great 1st round matchup for the Isles- their talent aside what the Isles were able to do in the first period against this team- that is dominating them whole handedly- that bodes well for the playoffs. The problem with the Isles is all mental at least against the Rags for now. If they just keep the pedal to the metal they will be fine. Also as Yearlylottery said as well, once the whistles go away the Isles are better built for that style of game and it shows in most of their previous playoff appearances. If they don't go into that ridiculous get a one goal lead and sit back mentality they will be fine. We saw a little of that issue last night- it's been ingrained in them for 6 years prior so it will take time for them to let go of that mentality.

Matchups are everything. In this matchup the Isles IMHO are the better team. They could have blown them away at the stadium series as well it was just a series of mistakes that cost the Isles.

 

[crasherino]

I'll chalk it mostly up to emotions and heat of the moment, but its somewhat comical that Lavy goes out of his way to create some ridiculous narrative about the Pelech/Mika collision - going as far as saying "Go watch it!". Rather than focus on that one, he had a legit gripe about his player getting boarded at the end of the game in what was an objectively bad/ugly hit. He didn't have to manufacture outrage on that one, but instead makes himself look silly for going all out on what was clearly an accidental collision. Will be interesting to see if he doubles down on that take today or if he pulls back some.

Also, I’d be surprised if Rempe played on Saturday. To what end? That would seem to be an unnecessary reaction and create a distracting narrative for the Rags. Personally, I'd love it. Having him in the lineup makes them worse. And if they want to turn their focus away from playing skilled hockey, that probably helps our cause.

Thinking that's just a knee jerk fan reaction and we won't see Rempe on Saturday.

 

[Rehabguy]

If there’s one thing the Islanders aren’t, it’s faster.

Than anyone.

More talented than the Rags? Uh….no.

Possibly so, but remember we are not too far removed from people saying this team could not play an offensive game style of play Roy is drilling into them and that our #1 playmaker (Barzal) was too slow for today's game and the rest of the league had caught onto him. It's all perception. The Isles are a legit line-up. These are the arguments people were making folks. Looks ridiculous now.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Let us know when you start the baby resgistry.

If that’s the case, I have about 45 of them.

 

[PK Cronin]

Possibly so, but remember we are not too far removed from people saying this team could not play an offensive game style of play Roy is drilling into them and that our #1 playmaker (Barzal) was too slow for today's game and the rest of the league had caught onto him. It's all perception. The Isles are a legit line-up. These are the arguments people were making folks. Looks ridiculous now.

Not a single person ever said Barzal was too slow.

 

[miscs75]

Possibly so, but remember we are not too far removed from people saying this team could not play an offensive game style of play Roy is drilling into them and that our #1 playmaker (Barzal) was too slow for today's game and the rest of the league had caught onto him. It's all perception. The Isles are a legit line-up. These are the arguments people were making folks. Looks ridiculous now.

who said Barzal was too slow? Those must be the same people who thought Mike Hoffman was the answer for this team.

 

[Glory Days]

Big win, Roy needs to have the team watch film from the first period before every game.

 

[seafoam]

Big win, Roy needs to have the team watch film from the first period before every game.

Roy needs to find a way to groundhog day them into thinking every period is the first period.

 

[crasherino]

Possibly so, but remember we are not too far removed from people saying this team could not play an offensive game style of play Roy is drilling into them and that our #1 playmaker (Barzal) was too slow for today's game and the rest of the league had caught onto him. It's all perception. The Isles are a legit line-up. These are the arguments people were making folks. Looks ridiculous now.

As others have said, the bolded above never happened.

I'm not suggesting that we aren't a legit lineup. The best version of these guys can compete with most teams - as we've seen over the year in spurts.

But, we ain't fast. If you had said....we're fast enough, I might agree. But you're kinda making things up now. But that's cool though - its a message board. You're supposed to do that.

 

[Rehabguy]

Not a single person ever said Barzal was too slow.

Actually that is true and not well written. What was said that other players had caught up to his speed and that it made his skating less effective while I was arguing it was the style of play he was being asked to play was making him less effective. An unleashed Barzal is still the same Barzal we saw his rookie year. Time and good coaching simply rounded out his game.

 

[MJF]

If that’s the case, I have about 45 of them.

Prolific.

 

[Rehabguy]

As others have said, the bolded above never happened.

I'm not suggesting that we aren't a legit lineup. The best version of these guys can compete with most teams - as we've seen over the year in spurts.

But, we ain't fast. If you had said....we're fast enough, I might agree. But you're kinda making things up now. But that's cool though - its a message board. You're supposed to do that.

Yes it did not happen just badly written. I meant to say other players have caught up to his speed I don't know where i came up with the Barzal is too slow for the game accusation. The team has come a long way from sit back on a lead mentality. Who would have thought our #1 shutdown center (Cizikas) is now playing on the first line with an offensive role. That's how far we have come under Roy folks. I welcome it with open arms. Hallelujah! I love the man on man defense. I love the D-man aggressively approaching the oncoming rusher and angling/cutting them off rather than retreating in front of the goaltender and letting them set up shop. I love the d-men getting involved in the offense and players using their athletic talents and 2 men in front of the net rather than just forechecking relentlessly and at times mindlessly along the boards. All good stuff. Roy has the mindset of a winner. He's doing everything I wanted this team to be doing. This is the system the team is well built for not sitting back on small leads.

As for the fast part, for those of us who can remember, Al Arbour preached that no matter how fast a team is the other team can't out skate the puck. That's how they beat the OIlers in their 4th cup in '83. Roy follows the same mentality and I believe he stated this recently. Short quick, break out passes which you see the Isles. You don't have to be the fastest skater because no one can out skate the puck. That said, the Isles speed is underrated by some. Barzal, Dobson, Reilly, Romanov, Engvall, Nelson, Horvat. These are good fast skaters.

 

[periferal]

Remember what Mathieu Oliver did to him earlier this year?
Rempe Leads with his Chin, he is gonna get hurt really badly someday....

"Poor Rempe. He gets challenged every game."

-Sam Rosen



What a piece of shit comment. Like the rangers have him playing because of his offensive creativity.

 

[Rehabguy]

"Poor Rempe. He gets challenged every game."

-Sam Rosen



What a piece of shit comment. Like the rangers have him playing because of his offensive creativity.

Rempes always looking for trouble but can he play hockey? I hope they play him Saturday. Just ignore the goon and take the power play.

 

[Nizami Ganjavi]

The Dobson hit from behind should've been a penalty. Typical "swallow the whistle" non-call by the refs. But this probably was egregious enough to call IMO. "Vicious?" No. But a legit 2 minute minor.

The Pelech "hit" was obviously an accident. Zibinejad runs into his shoulder (which was hilarious BTW). Anyone who watches that replay and things it was intentional is a f***ing idiot.

Agree that Lavviolette's whining is simply to try to get a call or two in his favor next time.

Hope the Rangers knee-jerk and dress the no talent goon next game, taking away a roster spot from a hockey player.

Huge win for the Islanders. Obviously fantastic first period and then were able to withstand the inevitable Rangers pushes in the 2nd and 3rd. A playoff series between these two would be awesome. Been a long time coming...

 

[Crashsunday]

Never really thought about this, but I started wondering if the Rangers game plan around their power play because it is so successful. Maybe they have specific people who are tasked with trying to draw penalties (Vesey, Trocheck) and they target specific people on other teams who they know will take the bait (Mayfield).

The difference between this game and the outdoor game is Mayfield wasn’t their to react and take a bad penalty. Perhaps Trocheck was so mad because he drew a penalty at a significant point in the game, but wasn’t rewarded with a call. Anyway, thought it was an interesting idea.

 

[doublechili]

Feeling bad for Rempe because he has to fight is kind of like feeling bad for chickens raised to be eaten.

The only reason both even exist is the thing people are feeling bad about.

(I know, most chickens are raised in inhumane factory-like conditions. It was a joke. For moral reasons, I personally only eat the $4.99 Costco rotisserie chickens which, as everyone knows, are hunted in the wild)

 

[PK Cronin]

Never really thought about this, but I started wondering if the Rangers game plan around their power play because it is so successful. Maybe they have specific people who are tasked with trying to draw penalties (Vesey, Trocheck) and they target specific people on other teams who they know will take the bait (Mayfield).

The difference between this game and the outdoor game is Mayfield wasn’t their to react and take a bad penalty. Perhaps Trocheck was so mad because he drew a penalty at a significant point in the game, but wasn’t rewarded with a call. Anyway, thought it was an interesting idea.

I doubt there's a team strategy about who will or won't try to draw penalties. Players around the league know one another, especially divisional opponents, so they are well aware of which players they can likely get a rise out of and which ones they won't.