Post-Game Talk: Hurricanes @ Rangers 10/16/14

[offdacrossbar]

overall i thought we looked ok. long stretches of bad though. we were running around alot again and thats not a good sign. too many missed assignments and odd man chances against. need to tighten up our zone man d. girardi continues to underwhelm. at times staal looked downright clueless. mcd is still playing TOO MUCH and trying to do TOO MUCH. let the game come to you ryan. geez

zuke made some really pretty passes as did kevin hayes. hayes is looking more comfortable each game and av is beginning to trust him more. like his size and composure. i will gladly eat crow on him if he continues to skate like this. he played very well.

overall the forwards played well just not enough solid scoring chances against a very good russian netminder.

jt miler hasnt done enough to stay in the lineup but again, HES NOT A CENTERMAN. let him play the edge where he can free wheel and use his speed and size. too much thinking at center and thats not his strong suit. come on av, give the kid a chance to succeed. play him on the wing.

nash was a monster. he is certainly proving me wrong so far. he looks completely different so far this season. energized and fast. if he plays like this, hes one of the most dangerous forwards in the nhl.

i though john moore played great. he took his open shots, got some quality minutes and seemed aware of getting back and not getting caught. his effortless skating is so different from staals long laboring strides and girardis sloth like attempts to move up ice.

carolina played a rope a dope road game and relied on their hot goaltender. we found a way and thats all that matters.

 

[TheTakedown]

I think we need to go with this for next game:

Kreider-Hayes-Nash
Malone-Brassard-Zucc
Hagelin-Miller-MSL
Glass/Fast-Moore-Stempniak

This allows:

a) Balanced attack. Strong wingers on each line to compliment each center
b) Vets surrounding Newbies. Can't do Duclair-Miller.... it's just NOT good enough of a line as a whole against NHL competition
c) 4th line picks up some speed
d) 2nd line has a finisher. Brass and Zucc don't necessarily need a speedster... just someone with solid hands. No reason Malone can't take Pouliot's role on that line
e) I'd hope that Glass sits in this game
f) Hayes can ACTUALLY play center unlike MSL
g) Our wing depth becomes superior again... RW has 3 60 point players, LW has a 50 point, 40 point, and 30 point player on it.
h) while the center depth is still weak, it allows these guys to play their natural positions, loading our wing depth back up. helps with transition game in neutral zone too

 

[Mickaleen]

That saucer pass Hayes made to McD across the ice was awesome.

Yes! Awesome, skilled pass.

 

[Raspewtin]

overall i thought we looked ok. long stretches of bad though. we were running around alot again and thats not a good sign. too many missed assignments and odd man chances against. need to tighten up our zone man d. girardi continues to underwhelm. at times staal looked downright clueless. mcd is still playing TOO MUCH and trying to do TOO MUCH. let the game come to you ryan. geez

zuke made some really pretty passes as did kevin hayes. hayes is looking more comfortable each game and av is beginning to trust him more. like his size and composure. i will gladly eat crow on him if he continues to skate like this. he played very well.

overall the forwards played well just not enough solid scoring chances against a very good russian netminder.

jt miler hasnt done enough to stay in the lineup but again, HES NOT A CENTERMAN. let him play the edge where he can free wheel and use his speed and size. too much thinking at center and thats not his strong suit. come on av, give the kid a chance to succeed. play him on the wing.

nash was a monster. he is certainly proving me wrong so far. he looks completely different so far this season. energized and fast. if he plays like this, hes one of the most dangerous forwards in the nhl.

i though john moore played great. he took his open shots, got some quality minutes and seemed aware of getting back and not getting caught. his effortless skating is so different from staals long laboring strides and girardis sloth like attempts to move up ice.

carolina played a rope a dope road game and relied on their hot goaltender. we found a way and thats all that matters.

I find the bolded very contradicting, since there was never a point where Miller looked good on wing, and all of his best play was at center (though to be honest that's not saying much at the NHL level).

 

[Machinehead]

I think Miller does look better on the wing, but that's because he's sitting on the wing doing absolutely nothing, as opposed to center where he does absolutely nothing but is also a direct detriment to our defense.

 

[silverfish]

overall i thought we looked ok. long stretches of bad though. we were running around alot again and thats not a good sign. too many missed assignments and odd man chances against. need to tighten up our zone man d. girardi continues to underwhelm. at times staal looked downright clueless. mcd is still playing TOO MUCH and trying to do TOO MUCH. let the game come to you ryan. geez

zuke made some really pretty passes as did kevin hayes. hayes is looking more comfortable each game and av is beginning to trust him more. like his size and composure. i will gladly eat crow on him if he continues to skate like this. he played very well.

overall the forwards played well just not enough solid scoring chances against a very good russian netminder.

jt miler hasnt done enough to stay in the lineup but again, HES NOT A CENTERMAN. let him play the edge where he can free wheel and use his speed and size. too much thinking at center and thats not his strong suit. come on av, give the kid a chance to succeed. play him on the wing.

nash was a monster. he is certainly proving me wrong so far. he looks completely different so far this season. energized and fast. if he plays like this, hes one of the most dangerous forwards in the nhl.

i though john moore played great. he took his open shots, got some quality minutes and seemed aware of getting back and not getting caught. his effortless skating is so different from staals long laboring strides and girardis sloth like attempts to move up ice.

carolina played a rope a dope road game and relied on their hot goaltender. we found a way and thats all that matters.

Like the sounds of this. Very glad to hear Hayes is still keepin' up with the boys. Thanks, odc!

 

[BroadwayBlues]

Missed the game, can I get a brief rundown?

Did the lines change? I saw on the highlight of Brass' goal Kreider and Zucc were on the ice. Did AV make that change?

Hayes?

Duclair?

Nash?

MSL at center?

The D?

Any and all info would be greatly appreciated - I know how annoying this is

Looked good.

Was fine. but got benched in the 3rd because of line changes.

Was their best player. imo

AV woke up and realized he shouldn't be there.

Played pretty well. But it's Carolina....

 

[Raspewtin]

Missed the game, can I get a brief rundown?

Did the lines change? I saw on the highlight of Brass' goal Kreider and Zucc were on the ice. Did AV make that change?

Lines got changed a lot as the game went on, particularly in the third period. That period, AV shortened the bench to 9 players. It was clear he wanted to win the game more than give everybody a fair shot.

Hayes?

Looked great, again. He's getting better every game. He's so good with the puck on his stick and he holds his own away from the puck. There was a point where he was centering Nash and MSL, taking MSL away from center (this was, again, in the third period). You can tell AV is starting to trust him more, and Hayes is gaining confidence. I'd have a hard time sending him down with how he's playing right now, he deserves to stay.

Duclair?

Very unimpressive first period. Demoted to the 4th line, and played pretty well the 2nd period. Drew two penalties IIRC and had a for sure goal taken away when Brett Bellemore (I think) hooked him before he could shoot. Barely saw the ice in the 3rd period when AV shortened the bench.

Nash?

Best player on the ice for NYR AINEC. Seriously, it wasn't close at all. Monster on the backcheck all night. Had at least 3 impressive takeaways to send the play the other way. I haven't seen Nash this engaged in a very long time.

MSL at center?

****ing terrible. It needs to end. Now. AV seems to agree at least a little, he put Hayes as the center on MSL's line late in the game.

The D?

Fine. Hunwick and J. Moore had good games. Klein had a good game too. Staal.......holy ****. Just terrible. Worst game in a long time from him. McD-G were awful in the 1st but picked it up as the game went on. The only egregiously bad play I could think of from them is when Girardi had the puck at the point on the PP, and inexplicably lost control of it and it left the zone, in vintage Del Zotto fashion.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Why does miller get to come back in everyone's lineup while duclair comes out? Duclair has been one of our best forwards scoring wise and miller just looked lost wen he played?

 

[silverfish]

Looked good.

Was fine. but got benched in the 3rd because of line changes.

Was their best player. imo

AV woke up and realized he shouldn't be there.

Played pretty well. But it's Carolina....

Lines got changed a lot as the game went on, particularly in the third period. That period, AV shortened the bench to 9 players. It was clear he wanted to win the game more than give everybody a fair shot.

Looked great, again. He's getting better every game. He's so good with the puck on his stick and he holds his own away from the puck. There was a point where he was centering Nash and MSL, taking MSL away from center (this was, again, in the third period). You can tell AV is starting to trust him more, and Hayes is gaining confidence. I'd have a hard time sending him down with how he's playing right now, he deserves to stay.

Very unimpressive first period. Demoted to the 4th line, and played pretty well the 2nd period. Drew two penalties IIRC and had a for sure goal taken away when Brett Bellemore (I think) hooked him before he could shoot. Barely saw the ice in the 3rd period when AV shortened the bench.

Best player on the ice for NYR AINEC. Seriously, it wasn't close at all. Monster on the backcheck all night. Had at least 3 impressive takeaways to send the play the other way. I haven't seen Nash this engaged in a very long time.

****ing terrible. It needs to end. Now. AV seems to agree at least a little, he put Hayes as the center on MSL's line late in the game.

Fine. Hunwick and J. Moore had good games. Klein had a good game too. Staal.......holy ****. Just terrible. Worst game in a long time from him. McD-G were awful in the 1st but picked it up as the game went on. The only egregiously bad play I could think of from them is when Girardi had the puck at the point on the PP, and inexplicably lost control of it and it left the zone, in vintage Del Zotto fashion.

Any and all info would be greatly appreciated - I know how annoying this is

[/QUOTE]

Epic responses, thanks boys!

Sucks to see that the Duke couldn't find the ice in the third when AV shortened the bench. It's a depth-game though.

LOVE... LOVE what I'm hearing about Hayes. Should we expect him to be between Nash and MSL to start on Sunday, and Miller will jump back in as 3C? Who sits?

Not loving what I'm hearing about Staal. That's two bad games from him in a row. Not good.

 

[Raspewtin]

Why does miller get to come back in everyone's lineup while duclair comes out? Duclair has been one of our best forwards scoring wise and miller just looked lost wen he played?

They should both be playing imo.

 

[Levitate]

Missed the game, can I get a brief rundown?

Did the lines change? I saw on the highlight of Brass' goal Kreider and Zucc were on the ice. Did AV make that change?

Yeah he switched up the lines in the 3rd, put Hayes between Nash and MSL, Brass and Zucc back together with Kreider, moved Moore up with Stemps and Hagelin/Malone, and didn't play Duclair and Glass as much

Hayes?

Continues to look good. Surprised he hasn't gotten on the scoreboard yet but he has soft hands, hangs onto the puck well, protects it well with his body. His long reach helps him strip opposing players of the puck, and he has great patience. Skating speed is deceptive, he's a lot faster than he looks (never understood the people who thought his skating needed a lot of work). Needs to keep it up and put up some points though. OK defensively, needs to get better on draws.

Duclair?

Quiet for the most part...had some flashes including a great move to the net that drew a penalty and he almost scored on, but seemed more hesitant against a team that was playing very conservatively and taking away as much of the middle of the ice as they could. Struggled a bit to get the puck on his stick IMO. Wasn't benched for being bad but I think AV was leaning on guys who had more active games.

Nash?

Good game, was all over the ice at times, did some great backchecking, had some good looks but didn't score. Good move in the shootout to get Khudobin going one way and then moved it back and slam dunked it

MSL at center?

Same as before really. Was maybe more active when moved to the wing. We know he shouldn't be a center all season, obviously. If Hayes keeps it up then it will probably be Stepan-Brassard-Hayes-Moore down the middle

The D?

Were alright, wouldn't really bag on anyone too hard. They all made some good plays and moved the puck well at times. Still could be better but a step in the right direction.

Any and all info would be greatly appreciated - I know how annoying this is

Carolina was playing a very conservative game (their coach said after the game they were playing for a 1 goal game) so it wasn't a huge surprise the Rangers struggled somewhat to score goals. Carolina just didn't get caught in odd man rushes and didn't leave guys alone in front of the net much. Covered the front of their net real well so it was tough for the Rangers to get great scoring chances. Carolina's goal was fluky, Lundqvist was pretty solid. Still looks a bit like he's not all the way there but was classic Lundqvist in the shootout so that's a good sign.

Rangers were still sloppy with their breakouts and neutral zone passing at times, and sometimes got into the "dump the puck without any teammate support so the other team can easily break it out" So, plenty of things to still sort out and get sharper at, but overall a small step forward in not breaking down and freaking out when Carolina got a fluke goal

 

[Raspewtin]

Epic responses, thanks boys!

Sucks to see that the Duke couldn't find the ice in the third when AV shortened the bench. It's a depth-game though.

LOVE... LOVE what I'm hearing about Hayes. Should we expect him to be between Nash and MSL to start on Sunday, and Miller will jump back in as 3C? Who sits?

Not loving what I'm hearing about Staal. That's two bad games from him in a row. Not good.

Glass, pls.

He ruined what was a very good game being played by Malone (who got moved up as the game went on) and D. Moore. Took himself out of position to hit somebody on the forecheck way too many times. His linemates were doing a great job with the puck and he kept ****ing it up.

Should definitely be noted that Malone had a solid game. Very solid.

 

[pjr378]

We should've held a two-week camp just in taking faceoffs this summer. Here are the numbers from last night in case you missed them.

Hayes......3 for 15
Brassard...8 for 20
St. Louis...5 for 13
Moore.......6 for 18
Stempniak.1 for 1

For comparison, McClement was 15 for 22, Riley Nash 17 for 24, and Rask 11 for 18.

Hayes was arguably our worst faceoff man last night but I would not be surprised if he becomes our best one barring Stepan at some point this year, just on sheer size and coordination. It seems like he can learn things very quickly and it won't take much to jump over the veterans with how badly they've done in this area.

 

[TheTakedown]

We should've held a two-week camp just in taking faceoffs this summer. Here are the numbers from last night in case you missed them.

Hayes......3 for 15
Brassard...8 for 20
St. Louis...5 for 13
Moore.......6 for 18
Stempniak.1 for 1

For comparison, McClement was 15 for 22, Riley Nash 17 for 24, and Rask 11 for 18.

Hayes was arguably our worst faceoff man last night but I would not be surprised if he becomes our best one barring Stepan at some point this year, just on sheer size and coordination. It seems like he can learn things very quickly and it won't take much to jump over the veterans with how badly they've done in this area.

Hayes strikes me as a very quick learner as well. Love what I am seeing from him

 

[AHB*]

I find the bolded very contradicting, since there was never a point where Miller looked good on wing, and all of his best play was at center (though to be honest that's not saying much at the NHL level).

Completely agree. A lot of people see what they want to see. Miller is far better as a center, but frankly hasn't been very good to start the year. Not very bad either, but not very good. Hayes has been much better imo.

We should've held a two-week camp just in taking faceoffs this summer. Here are the numbers from last night in case you missed them.

Hayes......3 for 15
Brassard...8 for 20
St. Louis...5 for 13
Moore.......6 for 18
Stempniak.1 for 1

For comparison, McClement was 15 for 22, Riley Nash 17 for 24, and Rask 11 for 18.

Hayes was arguably our worst faceoff man last night but I would not be surprised if he becomes our best one barring Stepan at some point this year, just on sheer size and coordination. It seems like he can learn things very quickly and it won't take much to jump over the veterans with how badly they've done in this area.

Stepan is absolutely awful at face-offs. I'm pretty sure he was last on the team last year for our centers, including Brian Boyle.

I think Miller does look better on the wing, but that's because he's sitting on the wing doing absolutely nothing, as opposed to center where he does absolutely nothing but is also a direct detriment to our defense.

Miller hasn't been good, but direct detriment to our defense? We must be watching different games.

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

I know we havent exactly started off on fire but people on the main board are saying we wont make the playoffs, which is easily one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Flyers will though.

I have no doubt in my mind that we will make the playoffs. We were terrible for the first month last season, and then the team started to click. This team will click too, but I don't think we will go as far as last year, and that is why I'm so curmudgeon.

The predictions about the Rangers not making the playoffs suffer as much from myopia as the majority of posts on fan boards.

I'm confident that this team will kick it into another gear.

 

[AHB*]

I have no doubt in my mind that we will make the playoffs. We were terrible for the first month last season, and then the team started to click. This team will click too, but I don't think we will go as far as last year, and that is why I'm so curmudgeon.

The predictions about the Rangers not making the playoffs suffer as much from myopia as the majority of posts on fan boards.

I'm confident that this team will kick it into another gear.

Of course they will. We're one of like 3 teams that play man to man. These are the downfalls. Complete blown coverage and it takes a while to get it down. Once they do, it becomes high octane and the team turns into a well-oiled machine.

We'll be fine. We'll make the playoffs and we'll probably win a round or two. Anything else is a wild card.

That being said, it's never fun to start like this. People are reactionary, it's human nature. The same people who are saying how great the piles are and how terrible the Rangers are will be doing the same thing come April/May, when we're in a playof spot and they're lucky if they're fighting for the "8th" seed/wild card.

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

Of course they will. We're one of like 3 teams that play man to man. These are the downfalls. Complete blown coverage and it takes a while to get it down. Once they do, it becomes high octane and the team turns into a well-oiled machine.

We'll be fine. We'll make the playoffs and we'll probably win a round or two. Anything else is a wild card.

That being said, it's never fun to start like this. People are reactionary, it's human nature. The same people who are saying how great the piles are and how terrible the Rangers are will be doing the same thing come April/May, when we're in a playof spot and they're lucky if they're fighting for the "8th" seed/wild card.

It may be human nature, but so is farting in an elevator, it smells, it's overpowering to experience, and it's annoying.

There is a fine line between fan and insane.

 

[offdacrossbar]

I find the bolded very contradicting, since there was never a point where Miller looked good on wing, and all of his best play was at center (though to be honest that's not saying much at the NHL level).

i think he looks better slotted in as a power winger. too much thinking for him right now at the c.

he has good size, good wheels and a bit of an edge to his game. him playing center because we are desperate there doesnt make him a centerman. hes best suited to play wing RIGHT NOW. hes bounced round between center and wing since hes been with the organization. this isnt new.

hes young and playing the 3c right now seems like too much for him. perhaps he is a centerman down the road but right now, his best chance to help us is with him on the edge.

to me, he doesnt seem like a kid who will thrive playing and being frustrated. hes a driven kid but hes also very tough on himself and seems to have a reservation for him in his chateau bow wow.

keep him at center and i fear hell be playing center in hartford.

 

[silverfish]

i think he looks better slotted in as a power winger. too much thinking for him right now at the c.

he has good size, good wheels and a bit of an edge to his game. him playing center because we are desperate there doesnt make him a centerman. hes best suited to play wing RIGHT NOW. hes bounced round between center and wing since hes been with the organization. this isnt new.

hes young and playing the 3c right now seems like too much for him. perhaps he is a centerman down the road but right now, his best chance to help us is with him on the edge.

to me, he doesnt seem like a kid who will thrive playing and being frustrated. hes a driven kid but hes also very tough on himself and seems to have a reservation for him in his chateau bow wow.

keep him at center and i fear hell be playing center in hartford.

Don't disagree, but, out of our top-9 wingers right now, who is JT a better option than? Not one of them. On the other hand, he's in a good spot to battle for a center position as the team stands right now. Hayes has played better than JT so far in his limited playing time from what I've seen, and what I was told about last night.

I'd be very interested to see when and where JT slots back into the lineup.

 

[TheTakedown]

i think he looks better slotted in as a power winger. too much thinking for him right now at the c.

he has good size, good wheels and a bit of an edge to his game. him playing center because we are desperate there doesnt make him a centerman. hes best suited to play wing RIGHT NOW. hes bounced round between center and wing since hes been with the organization. this isnt new.

hes young and playing the 3c right now seems like too much for him. perhaps he is a centerman down the road but right now, his best chance to help us is with him on the edge.

to me, he doesnt seem like a kid who will thrive playing and being frustrated. hes a driven kid but hes also very tough on himself and seems to have a reservation for him in his chateau bow wow.

keep him at center and i fear hell be playing center in hartford.

If we put Miller on wing, then that almost assures Duclair goes back to juniors based on resume alone...

the next problem is who goes on the 3rd/4th line center until Stepan comes back? the only option that comes to mind is Mueller, and that's underwhelming... Perhaps Moore can slot up to 3C? that's my only guess.

That relegates Hagelin and Stempniak to the 4th line... that's pretty insane winger depth if you ask me...

Kreider - Hayes - Nash
Malone/Miller - Brassard - Zucc
Malone/Miller - Moore/Mueller - MSL
Hagelin - Moore/Mueller - Stempniak
Glass

I believe that both Malone and Miller have the ability to finish, especially when speaking of Miller as a winger...

 

[Made Dan]

Hayes is complicating things in a good way. Really is looking better every game.

 

[offdacrossbar]

Don't disagree, but, out of our top-9 wingers right now, who is JT a better option than? Not one of them. On the other hand, he's in a good spot to battle for a center position as the team stands right now. Hayes has played better than JT so far in his limited playing time from what I've seen, and what I was told about last night.

I'd be very interested to see when and where JT slots back into the lineup.

yeah he isnt better than any of the top 9 guys.

would be happy seeing him on the 4th line right now and seeing how effective he can be with his size and speed.

tanner glass has done zip.
ryan malone mostly invisible.
fast. blah.

i would give him a game or 2 on the wing on line 4. less responsibility. less minutes. less pressure.

 

[Vitto79]

That was ugly.. We need Stepan and Boyle back badly.

i'm already counting down the games for Stepan. 5 more . As for Boyle I hope he's back by Nov26th when I'm in Tampa to watch MSL's return