It's just that what rubbed me the wrong way that you're like "you say that the Rangers had injuries", like it's not an excuse for us but is an excuse for the Preds. The Rangers were missing a few players, had their goalie injured (forgot that?), and were learning a brand new system and they lost to 2 of the best teams in the league back to back, not the Jets and Devils. Either discount the games for both teams or take them into account for both teams. I also still don't know what 15 shots on goal have to do with your goalie. In blowouts quite often teams at least pad their shot totals when the other team takes their foot off the pedal a bit.
The injuries quip is in response to all the excuses that are and were made for the Rangers around here on a daily basis (and Lundqvist missing all of two games does not equate to Rinne missing 4+ months. Is Henrik better? Yes, but the difference isn't very large), while I saw for the third or fourth time in a matter of hours today that the Predators "suck" and the Rangers should handle them easily. The comment was made in the exact manner you took it: Rangers injured? Good excuse. Predators injured? They suck! And you proved it by pointing out the injuries, new system, etc.
The Predators had a pretty large roster overhaul this year, as well. Matt Cullen, Seth Jones, Eric Nystrom, Filip Forsberg, Viktor Stalberg, Mattias Ekholm, Matt Hendricks, Carter Hutton/Marek Mazenec, and Victor Bartley have all been with the team for less than 40 total games. The majority of them are very young. But the "learning new systems" excuse is only good enough for the Rangers, a team of players who have played the large part of their hockey together for several seasons? That's exactly my point. You guys and gals here act as if only the Rangers ever face adversity, and every other team just "sucks." Multiple times today I've seen a Rangers fan post on here about how the Predators "suck." Do you realize that if they were in the same division as the Rangers, they would be in front of them in the standings? All while doing this in by far the toughest division in the NHL?
The 15 shots on goal and shot-padding in blow-outs doesn't happen as often as you'd apparently think, and it can only happen when the team getting blown out has an interest in competing in the game. The Predators completely gave up in that game, knowing that their goalie would just blow whatever goals they managed. Again, Hutton has seen 10 minutes of action in net since that game. I'm not discounting one and not the other any more than the posters here have done in reverse.
You hypocritically complain about the very things that several on this board are guilty of, including yourself, when flipped around. That was exactly my intent and my point. Long story short: The Predators don't suck, and if the Rangers write them off as easily as several of you have, they are going to roll the Rangers just like they did to the Blackhawks (7-2 final, by the way). It's disrespectful to claim a team "sucks," and it's especially stupid to claim a team "sucks" when they are doing better than the team that you all assume should roll over them tomorrow.
Edit: And for the record, no game in the NHL should ever be viewed as easy. Buffalo has beaten 5 teams, including the Leafs. Edmonton has beaten a team 7 times in a game this season already. Both are in full-on tank mode. Any of the 82 games a team plays in winnable and able to be lost.
