Post-Game Talk: #1 - Rangers @ Hawks [Warning #102]

[cd211]

Great win vs the Blackhawks. Glad we pulled this one out.

People on this board really are incredibly negative, like maybe to the point of rooting against certain players. Why come on this board to complain about certain players after a win? I honestly can not understand it. Thanks to many of those who offer insightful comments rather than just complaints.

I'll offer this though, the Rangers did, and continue to do many of the little things in hockey that make a huge difference. Many times last night in the first 2 periods the Rangers had 2 or more guys around the puck, had their sticks in the right lane, and overall were in position to capitalize on offensive chances. That's a sound hockey game and a great defensive, road game strategy. I'll hope for 82+ similar games out of this bunch!

Amen brotha!

same crap, different day.. rangers played a great game in one of the hardest buildings to play in the league.

I like the start and noone had a bad game.. "Hank saved us",is complete crap.. i don't think Crawford was at the other end in a lounge chair, dude played just as solid and what you want from your number 1..

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

I thought Fast looked very tentative last night.

On quite a few plays he had the opportunity to drive to the net, and instead he pulled up looking to make a pass.

I like quickie, but he has to be more decisive if he is gonna stick with this team. Take the chances when they're available.

 

[Vitto79]

Was at the game! Great game to watch live. Hawks are dangerous but rangers deserved to hang on overall

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

Another year. Another lead the Rangers don't continue to pursue.

I think that has more to do with the back end personnel.

Staal and Boyle were not good. G was not good. Klein surprised the **** out of me. Glad he figured it out. Mcdonagh wasn't good. Yandle was good.

Break up nash brass and Zucc. All 3 guys stunk last night bLiked kreider line, surprisingly. All 3 guys played well. Liked the 3rd line. Stalberg can be better. Oscar and miller looked great. Liked the 4th line. Moore looked great. The other two good.

Hank needs to carry this team to the cup this year. No other way around it. Best player needs to come up the biggest.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

Was anyone else about to have a coronary when they called offsetting penalties on Yandle and Shaw. Shaw trips/slew foots Yandle, nearly resulting in the tying goal, then proceeds to mug him in front of the net. Yandle starts defending himself, then both of them get offsetting penalties. How in the hell is that fair? And the worst part is, it gave way more space for the Hawks offensive players to try and win the game. I was about to lose it.

 

[Wamsutta]

I don't get how you make the above post (#254) after one (1) game of the season. I'm just baffled here. Like, they didn't even lose. And I would think that's a strange post following a loss, let alone a win against a good Chicago team.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

Was anyone else about to have a coronary when they called offsetting penalties on Yandle and Shaw. Shaw trips/slew foots Yandle, nearly resulting in the tying goal, then proceeds to mug him in front of the net. Yandle starts defending himself, then both of them get offsetting penalties. How in the hell is that fair? And the worst part is, it gave way more space for the Hawks offensive players to try and win the game. I was about to lose it.

What about the MMA tackle on Yandle on the boards.

 

[Ryan McDonut]

We had a good start but the third period was pretty bad. I think we had around 15 seconds of time in their zone. Either way I'll take the win

 

[Miamipuck]

I thought Fast looked very tentative last night.

On quite a few plays he had the opportunity to drive to the net, and instead he pulled up looking to make a pass.

I like quickie, but he has to be more decisive if he is gonna stick with this team. Take the chances when they're available.

Defensively he was superb. He was on the ice the last minute and stole the pass the gave the Hawks no last shot.

 

[TheTakedown]

I'm VERY happy with the forward group. 4th line was fantastic, 3rd line had skill, and the 2nd line was very dominant in the O zone!

The defense is overpaid and slow though... Girardi, Staal, and Boyle were pretty bad. Klein was pretty decent, McDonagh was average but not great (probably because Girardi was so ****ing bad) and Yandle was amazing

so I'm not what the next move is for this team on the back end

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Congrats. Rangers looked real good and sharp for the first game of the year. Really Like Oscar.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

I'm VERY happy with the forward group. 4th line was fantastic, 3rd line had skill, and the 2nd line was very dominant in the O zone!

The defense is overpaid and slow though... Girardi, Staal, and Boyle were pretty bad. Klein was pretty decent, McDonagh was average but not great (probably because Girardi was so ****ing bad) and Yandle was amazing

so I'm not what the next move is for this team on the back end

Should be one of Staal or Girardi. someone needs to guilt Sather for all these NMCs

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

I'm glad the players seemed to be as pissed as I was watching that 30 min j.o. session. Especially after the finish to the season last year. Nice response in the first especially.

That said its 1 of 82. 2 points.

Finally, I didn't think anyone could replace Marty Brodeur on my hockey hate scale. Nice work Doc Emrick.

 

[Blueblood9]

Glad i watched the game. If i didnt and came into read this thread i woulda thought we got smoked 6-0.

They played well but had some rust still. That bottom 6looks like it will be better then last year which is a huge plus. Hayes had moments playing with step and krieds but still seems like hes finding his legs on the wing.

That brass line needs to get its **** together.

 

[Mac n Gs]

We had a great first, really lousy second, and a much improved third period. After what Mikos said about AV only focusing on scoring chances, I can see it more and more with how this team plays on the ice. We dominated the Haws in "royal road" chances.



Our corsi sucked, but honestly, the Hawks couldn't really get anything into the middle of the ice. Only Kane and Panarin ever posed a threat around Hank. Do I like conceding all of those shots to the outside, not particularly because you never know how a puck will bounce on the ice, but overall, they played effectively according to AV's standards. I'm also giving the defense the benefit of the doubt outside of Staal-Boyle. That pairing was a disaster. Yandle-Klein played very well, but they also got some cozy o-zone starts. McD-Girardi had some really good play and some really bad. They also got pretty ****** luck in the second when Stepan broke his stick and they couldn't get it out of the zone.

If we can play predominantly like we did in the 1st and 3rd over the course of this season, we're going to be an extremely dangerous team.

 

[Kaapo Cabana]

Us looking like crap in October shouldn't surprise anyone.

Plus, ya know, we did win.

some observations:

Nash-Brass-Zuke: had a bad night, they'll get their game together and will become our best line eventually

Kreider: WOW looked like a man possessed last night. The guy is a monster. My only complaint is that he didn't bury that one-timer in the slot. No big deal.

Hayes: Meh, still looks a bit uncomfortable out there, but that flip to stepan was a very smart play.

Step: usual steady self. always finds himself in the right places at the right times.

Miller: Awesome. This is the best he has looked in a Ranger jersey. I am a believer. Its Miller time.

Lindberg: scored a nice goal, and didn't look out of place. faded a bit as the game went on, but was still solid.

Stalberg: Pretty good. Great at retrieving the puck, bad shot selection. Works well on that line, but if we ask him to do any more than that, we are asking for trouble.

Moore-Stoll-Fast: LOVE IT. The absence of Tanner Glass allowed this line to shine, and it did. Sub in Etem to spell Moore and Stoll every few games, and this is a top 5 4th line in the NHL.

McDonagh: didn't think he was that bad, but not particularly good. Meh
Girardi: Noticeably bad game
Staal: see Girardi
Boyle: See McDonagh
Yandle-Klein: equally good. Easily our best pair tonight.

maybe we can keep Klein, and try to move Staal or Girardi instead?

Hank: Great job. Midseason form.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Kreider could have had a hatty last night. He played a great game IMO. Ton of chances.

 

[Miamipuck]

Last night I couldn't hear the announcers, did anyone have that great benefit as well? All I heard was the crowd, it was a great way to watch the game.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

Rangers and jackets always have bad blood.

Rangers will probably ice glass, at the very least.

Clarkson, hartnell, Dubi, prout, Bourque... They're big and rugged and dirty.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Glass provides no more ruggedness or any other benefit over Moore-Stoll-Fast. If we're worried about that, put McIlrath in for Boyle either Friday or Saturday.

 

[Miamipuck]

This 4th line is going to be better than 2014's 4th line, if they keep Glass in street clothes.

 

[pjr378]

Glass provides no more ruggedness or any other benefit over Moore-Stoll-Fast. If we're worried about that, put McIlrath in for Boyle either Friday or Saturday.

The only excuse I can see is that we want Dylan to focus on working his position instead of tuffness, so we put Glass in for tuffness. Not that I'd be too happy about any changes to the 4th line.

 

[Loff]

Hey! Atleast we didn't lose 6-3 or something like that. It's the FIRST GAME of the year and we pull off a 3-2 win against the ****ing Hawks. Come on peeps. Baby steps.

 

[eco's bones]

Rangers and jackets always have bad blood.

Rangers will probably ice glass, at the very least.

Clarkson, hartnell, Dubi, prout, Bourque... They're big and rugged and dirty.

IMO the Rangers go with the same lines. Bottom 6 were really good against Chicago. Why change?

I see the potential of McIlrath in for Boyle. Boyle got the short end of the stick with ice time last night--only 14 minutes--I'm wondering if AV wasn't happy with his game. Then again the Rangers had 0 pwp time against Chicago where Boyle tends to get a lot of time so.....we'll see.

 

[Levitate]

Since NBC doens't like showing full replays, did Boyle fail to keep the puck in or slow it down on the Hawks first goal? It looked like he was on the boards to stop a hard clear along the boards but just missed it somehow and the next thing you know the Hawks score because they have a 2 on 1

I think the biggest issue was that the D and forwards didn't seem in sync with each other defensively about moving the puck. This is also where McDonagh goes from "looking like an all-star" to "looking like a guy who's making a bunch of mistakes" because he loves to make small plays with the puck to his teammates that are unexpected and would work great and catch the other team off guard...if he doesn't catch his own team off guard.

At any rate, forwards gotta do a better job providing passes to their D and the D have to make better decsisions. But it's one game, I'm not totally surprised they looked out of sync.

Also, two forecheckers in hard after the puck like the Hawks were doing is what the Isles have done to the Rangers with some success last year so I suspect that's part of it. It always took the Rangers awhile to figure that out