I can see Panarin and Kreider showing something. With Mika this is now a playoff trend where you get another big center against him and he completely shuts down. A little kid knows better than to try that pass to Wheeler. The guy frankly looks like he has no interest in playoff hockey. We can get anyone to sit on the outside taking low percentage one timers.
Well, it’s a best of three now but you certainly feel like the winner of game five takes the series. They have shown heart and no quit all season. They need that from everyone tomorrow night.
Well if there is one thing we can count on from the Rangers it is highly motivated, inspired and aggressive game 5 efforts.
I said it before the OT last night, if we lost last night I 99.9% feel the winner of game 5 wins the series. Historically 79% of game 5 winners in a 2-2 series, win the series, and on top of that the team that wins game 5 will have the momentum, and in the Rangers, case will have game 7 at home if needed. The winner of game 5 will win this series, you can just about book it IMO. And I am confident the Rangers will play well. What does Lav do with the lineup, could we see Chytil and Wheeler, or does Rempe stay in, also an interesting watch.
Mika is just looking like a clown show out there this series. He has shown very little hustle, very little commitment to the backcheck (and when he does back check it’s usually late because he missed his guy), absolutely zero forechecking, no willingness to be creative with the puck, no willingness to drive to the net (which has been an issue with this team for over a decade). Mika is literally our worst player out there right now it seems like. Whenever it’s a forward messing up it seems to be him a majority of the time. He needs to figure out where the hell his mind is and get it back onto hockey.
Your last line is the one. I think a lot of this is mental with Zibanejad right now. You see it with his lack of hustle, you hear it with his post-game comments, it is clear to me. I will be blunt, man the F up Mika. Grow some balls, be a leader, earn your huge contract, and man the F up. It is easy to be into it and a leader when things are going well, and you don't have someone in your face. Florida plays in your face, and Barkov is on your a**, now is the time when you need to man up and fight through adversity. To me effort and hustle and desire should be non-negotiable, and that is what is so damning about Mika right now. His comments last night were so alarming. How do you not say I have to fight through it, my team is counting on me, and I have to be better, it's on me to step up etc. MAN UP!!!
The beauty of sports is he has a chance to redeem himself if he can stop sulking. Yes, if his shot doesn’t hit the crossbar and goes in the complexion of that game is completely different. But there’s no reason to basically quit out there because things aren’t going your way.
i think he has hit 3 posts.. 2 of those goes in and there is none of this talk. Can we please give the Panthers some credit here. There is a reason the Panthers let up the second least amount of goals giving up 2.44 goals a game during the season. So yes our #1 line has done didly squat...our #2 line (which on some teams would be their #1) have done a terrific job and our #4 line has been scoring...
I said the Panthers were the best team in the east, and so far it looks like it, they just don’t have Shesterkin. I trade Trouba in the off-season and I name Lafreniere captain. I also remove Zibanejad from the PowerPlay immediately and put Lafreniere on the right wing one timing it which I said they should’ve done three fucking years ago.
Where do you come up with this from Al? Who isn't giving the Panthers credit, they are a very good team I haven't seen anyone say otherwise. But if you think Mika is playing at the level he should be, and better yet is hustling and playing with energy and desire I am not sure what you are watching. Mika and Kreider have ZERO points Al, ZERO. That is not oh give credit to the Panthers, they need to play better, and I say that while fully 100% acknowledging the Panthers are a very good team, no two ways about it. And yeah, he missed the net by a little a few times (hitting the post is missing the net), okay great, last I checked missing the net by a little isn't good enough. Get the pucks on goal and maybe they go in. Mika's effort and decision making has been sh*t in this series, the going got tough with Barkov, and he has wilted. Go look at his effort on the backcheck on Wheeler's OT penalty and tell me he is fully invested. Kreider, I haven't talked about effort, he just needs to get his game going, but I do believe he is playing hard. Interesting the series is 2-2, we are going home for game 5, and in a best of 3 we have home ice, but the Panthers are the best team in the East. I'll hold that judgement until the series is over. But either way, yes, the Panthers are very good. Everyone knows it and acknowledges it now and before game 1.
and in the same aspect, Mika was dragged down at the end of the third period otherwise 2 on 1 i guess he simply wasnt fully invested then either... otherwise he would have supermaned it and not gotten dragged down and one times it glove side to end the game...would we like to see more out of Mika... yeah of course ..sometimes the other side simply shuts you down...perhaps the Panthers need to look to game plan Laffy since he is tearing them a new one and not have Barkov's line against Mika's
We'll agree to disagree on this one Al. I see what I see and hear what Mika says as well. Missing the net by a little/hitting the post and having a random play where he got taken down with no penalty called, which we have no clue how the play would end if he wasn't taken down, do not change my opinion of his effort and sense of urgency overall in this series (not one random play here and there). The guy has zero points, clearly has lacked hustle on plays that you can see with your own two eyes and is not talking like someone who knows he needs to be better. This is not oh he has a few points and is playing his butt off; this is zero points, and you can see he just hasn't brought it overall as you would expect. Beauty of it all, is despite that we are tied 2-2, and game 5 and beyond is a great opportunity for Mika to step up his game and get it done. I am hopeful he will do just that.
I at least like what Kreider had to say post-game, taking responsibility and knowing he needs to be better. He didn't say try and make other decisions and hope that it goes my way next time like Mika did. “We’ve got to do a better job of advancing pucks up the ice and establishing O-zone presence,” Kreider said. “A lot of that falls on me. I’ve got to be able to get in there and win pucks – get my body on pucks, move my feet and allow us to get up the ice and start rolling.” With Kreider and Zibanejad on the ice in Game 4, the Rangers were out-attempted by a whopping 21-5.
Trouba was the only 40 hit 40 blocked shot postseason dman coming into last night now at 52 hits 67 blocked shots ,there are 4 dmen playing worse, one on the brink of a NTC anchor of a contract. I know Sather hockey Rangers fans put no stock in physicality but therein lies why they've gone Cupless for 3 decades and after 3 years of philosophy change the Rangers have experienced a remarkable turnaround . Unfortunately a few veterans haven't bought in yet, don't want to pull on the rope, will need to go if the Rangers don't get past Florida now that they've hired a legit coach. On the bright side watching replays of Kappo trying to lay a hit on a Panther is like Jerry Lewis on skates.
I thought the same . I thought he should have let him get off the shot. PP gives them 2 Minutes to shoot pucks at the net. They’re probably taught to take the player down. I didn’t like the decision by wheeler
