Come May 2016 we can all look back at this week and have a good laugh! Hope to see the Rangers regroup and get a win. Go Rangers!
Schenn should be getting the instigator penalty there yes? Let's see if there's any consistency by these refs.
YAY!!!! CONSISTENCY!!!! Still don't like the penalty for instigating. There's nothing wrong with a fight there, nor in the Bruins game.
This PP. Ugh. When they get a PP I always know it's the perfect time to go get a drink, use the bathroom, check out other scores/games and then come back without having missed a thing.
Another flat period by this team. Gotta figure that they will break out of this funk eventually. It looks like we just can't get out of our own way. Overthinking, over passing. Just shoot and crash the net. Shoot and crash. Shoot and crash. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Someone needs to remind the Rangers of this.
Watching the team play the past handful of games and they are flat as a pancake...you nailed it 94. To me it almost seems stale. As we pass the 1/4 point and move forward towards the 1/2 way point it is going to be a struggle. A lot of people talk about the Rangers struggles on D, well to me it is more than that. Miller hasn't stepped up like we hoped. Etem has been a zero. Kreider has been invisible most of the season. Hayes is frustrating me as well. Not a lot of players playing up to their expected levels right now. The goalies, Zucc, and Lindberg I'd say. Not much else after that. So you ask the question...is it typical Rangers in October/November/December? Is it players losing it? Is it lack of fire and focus after going deep in the playoffs year after year and coming up short? I happen to think it is the latter. I just don't see the Rangers playing with a lot of passion or fire since the TB game. I see a way too fancy and soft of a game. You need to have patience, especially since we had a great start record wise, but you have to be concerned about Miller and Etem and Hayes and Kreider. If these guys don't step up and start playing better we are going to struggle. To me the D is lack of attention to detail. You clearly see it. These dmen are all over the place. Pinching too deep. Getting caught out of position. Losing battles. To me that screams lack of focus and want to. Sort of playing pond hockey. This is why I am not as concerned about the D long term. I have to think they will settle down and get back to playing the system correctly as the season progresses. I have patience here. I am more concerned about the forwards and depth of scoring than the D. The 4 guys I mentioned must become threats, especially with Stepan out, or else we will be in trouble. This is what happens when you are a SC or bust team. Hard to get up for early to mid regular season games. Also what happens when maybe the grind starts to wear on you. It is why we talk about the SC window. You cannot do it year after year in the NHL these days. The Kings missed the playoffs last year. The Hawks are a marvel and appear to be the exception, but it isn't easy. I fully expect the team to get their game back, but as I said yesterday at some point the well will be dry. It is darn hard to get up season after season and make deep run after deep run. Team just looks worn and stale right now. Need to get their act together, and they will, but again this is SC or bust...nothing really matters until the playoffs.
The way we have played recently is more in line with what I expected this regular season though, so I am not surprised by the play recently. They will get it back together, but I personally view this regular season as a distraction from the main show which starts in April. I have to think the players have some of the same thoughts even if it is subconscious. Long way to go...
You see it right there again. Soft TO in the neutral zone. Simmonds skates in with tons of room despite 5 guys back. And they still get 3 chances and a man all alone in front to put it in. Not much going on with the Rangers right now. Playing very soft and flat. I refuse to believe all these dmen lost it...to me it is not mentally into it. Not playing hard or with passion. I don't think it is much different than the starts the past two seasons. I expect us to wake up eventually, but my lord we are not playing hard at all.
Honestly, this reminds me of the Vancouver teams of AV. Good offense (which this team has mediocre offense) and bad defense with lots of opportunities given up. This is AV's game plan and it's why his goalies always got lit up or looked amazing. They faced a ton of shots and either stood on their heads and looked great, or got lit up and resulted in a goalie controversy. All in on offense and hope to win games 6-5. Unfortunately this team isn't made to win games like that. This team is still made to win games 3-2, 3-1. AV is trying to force this team to be something it still isn't. We are right now in a transition period it almost looks like. AV wants more offense but the team doesn't have that skill to make these pretty plays, and less focus on defense, which is what this teams strength has been.
Watch some of those old Vancouver teams games. I've had center ice for a long time so I've seen their games with AV there. AMAZING offense, especially with the Sedin twins. AWFUL defense when stuck in their own zone. Inability to clear pucks out of dzone for minutes at a time and a lot of high scoring chances against. Same blueprint here currently, except we don't have that great offense sadly. We need to get focused on defense and then counter better. That's when we're at our best. When we counter with QUICK, PRECISE outlet passes, not stupid short passes in the zone and along the boards.
Who's doubting the coach? I'm saying we're not built for what AV wants to do, which is obvious to see. He needs to get back to what we were doing earlier in the year and last year. Simplify the game. Quick passes out of the zone and counterattack. Not sure if the team has forgotten about that or he's not emphasizing it enough, but we clearly aren't doing it currently.
I'm not doubting AV. I'm doubting this team's effort and focus. Only thing I'd like to see from AV is more focus on defense and use the defense to counter attack the other team. We seem to have lost that. I don't know how or why we stopped doing it, but we clearly have.
Doesn't remind me of Vancouver at all. This team has never had better than an average O overall, despite what the regular season gpg #'s showed, and their D has always been near the top of the league. And their PP has always struggled. So other than being almost the opposite of Vancouver I don't see it. Team is flat right now...that's it. You can see it in all the recent games. Not much else to say. They were way worse and allowed many more goals against at this point last season, so I don't think it is new and I don't think it is a shocker. Playing poorly right now, and until they get back to the system, start playing with some passion, and stop the soft free lancing they will continue to struggle. Not much deeper than that IMO. Anyone who thought this regular season would be a glide was nuts. This regular season will be a challenge IMO. Today was pathetic though. Made the terrible Flyers D look all world. Maybe 1 or 2 decent chances after the 1st period. Sh*t effort and the Flyers took it to them and dominated after the 1st period. 100% deserved to win...good for them. I'm sure the Rangers will get back to their game at some point...not sure when though.
