Pre-Game Talk: Rangers at Red Wings, October 26, 2013

[SoupNazi]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Wings on ice for practice. Everybody who is not on IR is skating as well as Hlelm. Looks like more line changes.

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I'm anxious to see what the line changes are.

Click to read more...

 

[SoupNazi]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Datsyuk and Zetterberg split up. Datsyuk skating with Bertuzzi and Alfredsson; Zetterberg centering Franzen and Tatar.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 57s
Weiss still centering third line, with Abdelkader and Cleary. Fourth line of Miller-Andersson-Tootoo intact.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Extras are Eaves and Samuelsson. Helm not ready to play until next week's road trip, they hope.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 52s
Defense pairs same as last game: Kronwall-Smith, Quincey-DeKeyser, Lashoff-Kindl.

That'll get Weiss going. Abby must be sparking the third line

 

[Heaton]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Datsyuk and Zetterberg split up. Datsyuk skating with Bertuzzi and Alfredsson; Zetterberg centering Franzen and Tatar.

Oh, very interesting! I like it.

As for Weiss, Nyquist can't come up fast enough.

 

[SoupNazi]

Oh, very interesting! I like it.

As for Weiss, Nyquist can't come up fast enough.

Not at all. They need to make a move, any move, sooner rather than later or Weiss is going to continue to look poor.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 2m
First power play unit still has Datsyuk and Zetterberg together, with Bertuzzi. Kronwall and Alfredsson at the points.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Weiss is back on second power play unit with Franzen and Tatar. Kindl and DeKeyser at the points.

 

[Heaton]

Well, Tatar is definitely getting his chance now.

 

[Vladdy84]

I like the lines a lot. Ideally Nyquist instead of Cleary on that 3rd line. Oh well. Very pleased.

 

[InjuredChoker]

weiss with abby and cleary... gl on him for getting his offense going.. guess babs wants really hard to him focus on d side of the puck.

 

[The Zermanator]

Finally, Tatar is put in a position to succeed. Hope he runs with it.

Top 6 looks decent. I'm glad Babcock put Alfredsson with Datsyuk instead of Zetterberg, they had some good chemistry together. Bert plays well with Datsyuk. 2nd line looks good if Franzen pulls his weight.

Not crazy about the bottom 6, though. Looks pretty tepid. If only Nyquist was up. I'd go:

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Alfredsson
Franzen-Zetterberg-Tatar
Nyquist-Weiss-Samuelsson
Cleary-Abdelkader-Tootoo

Is this even possible cap wise? Or do one of Tootoo/Samuelsson have to go in any situation?

 

[SoupNazi]

Well, Tatar is definitely getting his chance now.

Yep, it's time he grabs his chunk of cheese or piece of pie and runs.

 

[Flowah]

Pls Tatar. Pls hat trick.

And yeesh. One way to not get Weiss out of his funk is by giving him those linemates. But at this point I will gladly take this lineup that keeps Abby and Cleary out of the top6

 

[SoupNazi]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 28s
They"re winding up practice with sprint drills. Helm not taking part because of his groin issue.

Babcock making them do sprints? He's still angry about Wednesday.

 

[Chance on Chance]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Datsyuk and Zetterberg split up. Datsyuk skating with Bertuzzi and Alfredsson; Zetterberg centering Franzen and Tatar.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 57s
Weiss still centering third line, with Abdelkader and Cleary. Fourth line of Miller-Andersson-Tootoo intact.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Extras are Eaves and Samuelsson. Helm not ready to play until next week's road trip, they hope.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 52s
Defense pairs same as last game: Kronwall-Smith, Quincey-DeKeyser, Lashoff-Kindl.

That'll get Weiss going. Abby must be sparking the third line

I'm liking the lines. Tatar looked good the past 2 games so nows his chance to really impress. Top line will be interesting to watch. Abby just keeps dropping to "spark" lines. Trade Cleary for Nyquist and that 3rd line would be half decent. Would like to see Smith on the 2nd PP over dekeyser but I think the other moves are in the right direction

 

[Laser Rayzor]

I'm liking those lines, I'd love them with a few tweaks

Slot Nyquist and Eaves/Miller on the 3rd line instead of Cleary and Abby, Put Helm as the #4C with Abby and Tootoo/Andy as the wingers and that is a pretty formidable forward group. It'll never happen though but I'm happy to see Babs take a step in (IMO) the right direction.

 

[SoupNazi]

I'm liking those lines, I'd love them with a few tweaks

Slot Nyquist and Eaves/Miller on the 3rd line instead of Cleary and Abby, Put Helm as the #4C with Abby and Tootoo/Andy as the wingers and that is a pretty formidable forward group. It'll never happen though but I'm happy to see Babs take a step in (IMO) the right direction.

Meh, I'm not so sure now that I'd say it will never happen. A week ago, yeah, but Babcock isn't pulling the same garbage as last year and playing Cleary in the top six. Maybe, just maybe, Cleary is falling out of favor with Babcock. The same thing might be happening for Abby.

Sammy is clearly already out of favor with him, as evidenced by his current residence in the press box.

 

[SoupNazi]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Babcock said Howard will start tomorrow vs. Rangers. Eaves has been cleared and is ready to play but won't dress tomorrow.

 

[Vladdy84]

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive 1m
Babcock said Howard will start tomorrow vs. Rangers. Eaves has been cleared and is ready to play but won't dress tomorrow.

Come on Babcock. Sit Cleary and let Patty have a shot on the 3rd line. Adds speed and more scoring ability and a right handed shot. Better PK'er too!

 

[Outl4w]

I hope Tartar runs away with his 2nd line and PP duties. Next up bring up nyquist.
Alfie Dats Tartar/nyquist
Z Weiss Tartar/ Nyquist
Abby Helm Franzen
Tootoo Anderson Miller
is what i would like to see for a few games.

 

[skinneh]

Poor Weiss..

But I am happy Abs is moving down where he belongs.. and Tatar up where hopefully he belongs.. and I agree if we could add in Nyquist for Cleary things might be looking better!

 

[KJoe88]

Love the first two lines. Tats better make the most of this. Playing with Z and Mule should be good.

As for Weiss., he'll have easier competition on line three, but Abby and Cleary don't help.

I want and expect a win.

 

[StormSurge9]

I want and expect a win.

The Rangers without Nash, Callahan and likely Lundqvist. We better win. I have always liked the Rangers D. Man would Girardi ever look good wearing the Winged Wheel.

I expect Tatar to seize this opportunity.

 

[mindfly]

How is Weiss suppose to get confidence and score when he has Cleary and Abdelkader as his wingers?

 

[SoupNazi]

As for Weiss., he'll have easier competition on line three, but Abby and Cleary don't help.

Nope, they hinder and this is setting him up to fail.

 

[sully6one]

I hope Tartar runs away with his 2nd line and PP duties. Next up bring up nyquist.
Alfie Dats Tartar/nyquist
Z Weiss Tartar/ Nyquist
Abby Helm Franzen
Tootoo Anderson Miller
is what i would like to see for a few games.

I see too many people posting lines like this with 0 skill on the boards besides our big 2. This is not what you want. On NHL 14 yea it'd work. Real life no. These lines would make D and Z be the first on the forcheck. Tatar, Nyquist, Weiss, and Alfie have a hard time winning board battles.

 

[Chance on Chance]

I see too many people posting lines like this with 0 skill on the boards besides our big 2. This is not what you want. On NHL 14 yea it'd work. Real life no. These lines would make D and Z be the first on the forcheck. Tatar, Nyquist, Weiss, and Alfie have a hard time winning board battles.

Ya because Cleary and Abby have shown so much board skill, not too sure who you want there

 

[Chance on Chance]

Nope, they hinder and this is setting him up to fail.

Would be nice to have Nyquist on the 3rd line to help him out