The second line looks useless. Stepan looks as if he has no energy, MSL has lost like 3-4 steps and Kreider looks like he's lost at times and at others looks like he's waiting for his linemates to catch up to him when he charges into the zone.
McDonagh has to start making a difference if they are going to do anything substantial in the next few months.
I am actually impressed with they way they have played so far and have skating legs from playing last night.
another PP and Yandle and MSL fumble the puck all over the place. Just fucking play hagelin hayes and miller on first unit at this point. Couldn't be worse.
I'm sorry, but I'd rather have Glass in the lineup than MSL at this point. MSL does NOTHING to help this team anymore. Give him a few healthy scratches to pull his head out of his ass and rest his old legs and after this season, 100% let him walk and don't offer him jack shit. He's this years Brad Richards for us at this point.
And Chuck, save the locker room nonsense. At this point we have Hank, Girardi, Staal, McD, Nash etc who can lead these kids. MSL has nothing left in the tank it seems like and whatever his "presence" might be in the lockeroom isn't worth the bad on ice play.
Too much soft passing still on the PP. Watch the Caps PP. Hard, crisp passing with the puck being passed in the shooting area for a one timer. Our passes are slow and soft and often behind or in the skates of our guys.
That's an incredibly selfish play there by Moore not leaving the zone on the offsides. Now it's an intentional offsides and faceoff in the Rangers zone.
That's been a problem for years, weak passing and people not in shooting position for one timers. Hopefully Yandle helps alleviate that with his vision and mobility. They haven't had it really since Leetch and Zubov.
Very good period for us. Playing a strong game for sure. Just wish we could get the PP going. If we did this game would be over. Take MSL off and put Hayes and/or Miller on.
That play there by Kreider shows me that it's the linemates he's playing with and not him that's the problem. Entering the zone, MSL should have fired it in as Kreider was headed to the boards to get the dump in. Instead MSL tried to skate around a defender, got the puck into the corner and tied up. Idk if it is just a lack of communication, but this line just isn't working at all.
It is funny, but if you read these games threads and had no clue of the score you'd think we were 0-65...LOL.
I was about to come on and say this is McDonagh's best game in awhile and is playing very well against Ovi, but I see he's still getting no love. Ovi has one shot on goal...where are the props for McD and G? Glass had an awful shift in the first where he didnt grab the outlet pass, and was then in no man's land as an uncontested shot then came from his point. Other than that he's been ok.
Girardi has been very good but to me McDonagh still looks behind the 8 ball for some reason. Overthinking it looks like, he just needs to be instinctual.
