Post-Game Talk: #26 - 03/13/2021 | Rangers @ Bruins | 1:00 PM EST - NHLN, MSG+

[RangersFan1994]

Well, we did it boys. We solved Halak. Sorry @Tob, but that was some good coaching. Still not convinced, because no NHL team/coach loses every game, but it’s a start. Also, if we can play like this, where was it earlier?

Quinn 1st star of the game for scratching Howden. I can’t believe he did that.

When did Rooney start making elite plays? Don’t think it will last, but nice to see regardless.

Buchnevich, Zibanejad, Lindgren, Hajek, Kreider, and Kakko - very good, but Zibanejad’s one-timer is permanently broken it seems. It’s kind of a rare skill to have, so I really hope it somehow gets fixed.

Lafreniere got better as the game went on, but I want to see more at even strength. I like the Lafreniere - Chytil - Kakko line and how Chytil’s speed creates more open space and opportunities for all 3 of them, but Lafreniere has to be a bit better.

I’m starting to like Strome and kind of want to keep him. Never thought I would say that. Dude is lowkey pretty skilled.

Key - amazing. I don’t expect him to play like this every time, but he was borderline elite tonight. Shades of Dougie Hamilton and Seth Jones (yes I know it’s a lazy comparison but they both have that fluid skating stride and impact both ends of the ice in a similar way).

Fox blocked that shot for Kinkaid, man. Now THAT’S a team play right there. You have to respect that. Other than that, Fox is pretty boring because you just KNOW that he’s going to have a spectacular game. He may not be as skilled as the best players in the league (he’s extremely skilled but it’s more subtle) and he’s not the fastest, but I think he’s more cerebral and just as effective.

Trouba was also fantastic, but I’m not surprised. He has about 1 good game out of 4 or 5. Being the 8 million dollar man, he’s definitely held to a higher standard, and I need more from him. I’m not fully convinced yet. Like come on, why can’t he play like this more often?

Kinkaid played very well but he didn’t have much work to do. Good point by Vally that it can be harder when you face less shots. I would say it’s especially true for backups.

I like Callahan as an analyst. Also love his loyalty to the Rangers.

Only buzzkill is that Wahlstrom (and Dobson) are both playing well. That hurts, even though I still have hope for Kravtsov.

I hope Kravtsov plays this week, hopefully he'll have his 1st NHL game by next week. The Buffalo game would be a good game to start his NHL career.

 

[ohbaby]

The Jekyll and Hyde thing simply comes down to how the better teams play tighter with the lead. They play with more structure and this team has a hard time breaking down that structure. We're just not able to break other teams from their plan. Its an issue for sure.

It also doesn't help that the Bruins and Islanders and Caps all can play a highly structured style. And Flyers aren't that bad at it either. In a normal season, every team would be playing low intensity games for half of their 82 game schedule. Playing teams like the Wings, Flames, Hawks, Ottawa. There's more variation in the schedule. More back to backs where you're traveling in between games. Those low intensity games are boring and sleepy -- but they help build confidence, pad stats, etc. And more importantly those games skew the numbers as well. This roster could likely come back against the Ducks/Kings/Flames/Sharks/Sens. And those comebacks would blind us from seeing that the team can't really come back against a good opponent that's on their game -- because the overall stats likely wouldn't bare that out.

The greatest thing that could happen for this team is for the young kids to keep getting games so they get experience and so the team can evaluate what they have and for us to play .500 the rest of the way against the top teams in our division. That would be a worthy building block. getting shesty back too would be nice.

All good points. But last year we came back against some good teams. And it didn't matter how big a lead there was to overcome, you knew we were going to make a game of it. This year, a one or two goal lead seems to deflate us. How many times last year, did we answer right back within a shift or two to tie it? You're not seeing that at all this year.

Today we played close to a perfect game. Our D was incredible. Bruins could not get a shot on net. And we also kept them deep in their own zone defending us. I don't know if the Bruins took us lightly after last or what,... but they were outplayed every shift. I don't think Boston had one quality chance today. So a game like this make you wonder WTF happened Thursday night.

 

[wolfgaze]

 

[Ola]

So is Cally a regular now? If so, cool!

Anyone know who did the NHLN European Game of the Week? I am guessing Valley but I don’t know these guys, never get intermission reports or pre/post game shows.

 

[NYSPORTS]

I think probably we’re favorites but I don’t think we’re better than the ‘85 Oilers.

Luckily we don’t have to face the ‘85 Oilers so I guess it’s fair to say we’ve got smooth sailing the rest of the decade.

Good to see smart minds think a like.

I know when Krav and Nils arrive our Rangers will be better than the 85 Oilers yet if the PP costs them a game vs Philly this week i may call for a rebuild.

 

[TominNC]

I hope Kravtsov plays this week, hopefully he'll have his 1st NHL game by next week. The Buffalo game would be a good game to start his NHL career.

Wasn’t the assumption two weeks, between getting here, quarantine, practice, etc?

so not this week. Philly the earliest

 

[ETTER DE]

Lafreniere finds himself in a lot more 'high scoring' chances compared to Kakko imo.

Kakko has been mainly perimeter on offense. Playing outside the dots. I'd love to see him dart/cut in sometimes

At this point I do not understand how our #1 and #2 pick do not get chances on PP1. No unit is working. How about we try something different?

If you give Kakko and Laf more PP time then two other good players will get less PP time. And more 5v5 time. And Kakko and Laf will get less 5v5 time. It is likely better for their development that they play as much 5v5 as possible.

 

[leetch99]

I miss watching ADA play, wish it didn't work the way it did but it's not going to change. I like Fox, but he isn't the skater ADA is and the now we only have 1 guy who can create offense. Miller and Trouba played a good game today, hoping Miller can further develop his offense.

Trouba will continue to burden the team with his salary, not expecting any offense from him.

I would actually like to see Trouba just become a solid stay at home guy and not worry about the offense.....I know he is overpaid but nothing can be done about that now....I just want him to focus on D assignments and be a Pric* to play against ....Let Fox , Hajek carry the puck on the right side . That should suffice and he just stick to the simple clearing of the puck from zone . KISS theory.....less turnovers hopefully .

 

[Sayba]

I would actually like to see Trouba just become a solid stay at home guy and not worry about the offense.....I know he is overpaid but nothing can be done about that now....I just want him to focus on D assignments and be a Pric* to play against ....Let Fox , Hajek carry the puck on the right side . That should suffice and he just stick to the simple clearing of the puck from zone . KISS theory.....less turnovers hopefully .

I would actually agree with the Trouba point. I do think he needs to find a way to get his shots through. He does have a strong shot.

 

[leetch99]

I’ve done the same before. I have zero complaints about his game. I’m very happy with him on the third pair. I am also liking Hajek. He isn’t what I had him pegged as. He’s more of a defensive defenseman and I think he’s fine. I bet he scraps soon, too. He has a little edge and feistiness.

LOL..we are going to see a dandy scrap soon enough if Trouba and or Smith ever catch somebody going through mid ice admiring a pass....they have whiffed on a few beauties.....but sooner or later they are going to catch somebody hard. I forget which one made an attempt at that yesterday or the game before....but they JUST missed a guy .

 

[Kovalev27]

Kakko and Laf barely get any pp time at all. And when kravtsov gets here he’ll get even less.

thesr kids need these pp points helps build confidence but we’ve got too many wingers and it’s shit or get off the pot time. You either commit to them and move a guy or two out or you let their development stall playing third line with no pp time. Because that’s where we are with a healthy lineup.

I love the kid line make no mistake but it’s very convenient for Quinn to just take them all out of the top 6 and not think about them

 

[Larrybiv]

Now that Panarin is back and Igor is almost ready it's time to go on a run. We need 3/4 from Phi and Was then beat Buffalol.

Thought that was a typo, but now see what you did there. Lol.

 

[Larrybiv]

We all know Georgiev has been bad this season. But are you really going to blame him when this was the first game since NJ they actually scored more than 2 goals? '

None of those games were lost because of Georgiev. They were lost because our offense was SHIT.

Wrong. When your goalie lets in soft goals, it deflates the team.
Shitty offense or not. It's those poor offensive games, when you NEED your goaltender to stand tall and somehow win it.

Do you not remember Mr. Hank Lundqvist?

Speaking of, wonder how he would fare with this Martin led defense. Certainly better than Georgiev, anyway.

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

Love the 180s from this place.

Bruins beat us 4-0: “Fire Gorton, Fire Quinn, Fold the franchise”

Rangers beat the Bruins 4-0 two days later: “Quinn is doing a good job he needs time, this could be a playoff team”

It’s like a thrill ride you never want to get off

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

I love the kid line make no mistake but it’s very convenient for Quinn to just take them all out of the top 6 and not think about them

Quinn is here to win, that’s his first priority

The younger players developing is a secondary goal for him.

He sure as hell ain’t sacrificing a chance to win to develop these guys at this point.

That’s why I just laugh at Larry’s article about how the Rangers must give Kravstov a legit shot when he gets here. We all know that’s not going to happen this season

 

[Kovalev27]

Kravtsov if he’s lucky will get 10 mins a night with zero powerplay. We all know it

 

[Kovalev27]

Quinn is here to win, that’s his first priority

The younger players developing is a secondary goal for him.

He sure as hell ain’t sacrificing a chance to win to develop these guys at this point.

That’s why I just laugh at Larry’s article about how the Rangers must give Kravstov a legit shot when he gets here. We all know that’s not going to happen this season

well he’s NOT winning or developing these guys so he’s failing miserably

 

[kovazub94]

Loving our Defense. If you would of told me i'd be saying that last year, i'd call you crazy. Considering the pipeline as well, that's one less thing we gotta worry about going forward.

Also, Kreider's leadership and potential Captaincy is starting to win me over

What an effect Trouba has on Miller’s game! The rookie looks completely different with him vs anyone else.

 

[Kovalev27]

What an effect Trouba has on Miller’s game! The rookie looks completely different with him vs anyone else.

that’s because trouba is a very good player. People here are just ridiculous.

 

[kovazub94]

Kravtsov if he’s lucky will get 10 mins a night with zero powerplay. We all know it

I’d be fine with it and if he’s playing well - he will get his minutes. It will be a game by game thing.

 

[kovazub94]

That’s why I don’t get why Kinks get stars for this game. In a contrast to Georgiev maybe who’d probably find a way to lose this game for us too.

 

[kovazub94]

The team has two different looks.

What they look like when they're losing.

What they look like when they're winning.

But it really helps when Panarin is in the lineup. Just so much more flow and space. He creates an unpredictability for the other team that ripples throughout the whole game even when he's not on the ice.

Once Panarin is up to speed, I think Quinn should occasionally double shift Panarin. Let him play a little bit with the kiddos here and there.

Strome and Blackwell killed penalties so that’s why Panarin was with Chytil and Kakko post PK.

I love how folks who bitch about line mixing can’t see how coaching staff (ie Quinn) has a plan for shifts right after PK or PP but call these moves random. Lol

 

[kovazub94]

I must say I have a pretty big issue with PP2 unit all year being lucky if they got more than 30 seconds on the PP. That really needs to be fixed and Chytil absolutely needs to be out there.

Yeah, like when PP1 controls the puck for 1:30 in the offensive zone but no - they need to exit and go to the bench to let PP2 extra 15 seconds. ‍

 

[kovazub94]

Big props to the Jacques Martin shadow government that made the necessary adjustments to get them back on track after that rough losing streak

What’s JM shadow government or is this a sarcastic post (how I understood it being a Quinn’sbro)

Edit: Answered a page further!

 

[kovazub94]

Rangers team defense in this one was outstanding. Boston even when they were on the PWP couldn’t get anything going. All our defenders played great and the forwards were there to help them out. The Rangers overall defending has been much better this year. What’s hurt us most is the offense has often been anemic or the goaltending let’s us down. We’re not good at chasing games—partly it’s because we’re so young. Today though it all came together for one game. Having Panarin back certainly helps too.I thought this was Mika’s best game. His line mates Kreider and Buchnevich played really well too. Miller doesn’t score without that screen.

Also having just one extra day between games does wonders.