They lack grit. M.O. of all AV teams every year even in Vancouver. Team can't win battles along the boards still. Oh and I think it's safe to say Holden is trash. Him and Girardi are carbon copies of one another. Road cones. No mobility nor skating capability and aren't puck movers. They get the puck and EVERYTHING freezes with them and then they make a soft play on the puck and lose possession.
Just one of those games where we are getting outplayed in all facets of the game. It would've been nice though had Crosby gotten the 10 minute misconduct he was supposed to get for instigator. But because his name is Crosby nothing happened and he only got 2. Laughable. Oh well.
I think Holden's been ok but Klein has been below avg and you know what you're getting from Staal/DG at this stage. They just don't get enough offense from the D.
I don't know if they can beat Pitt when Murray's in goal. He seems to have alot of confidence against them from last year.
Biggest difference I noticed from first period to second is in the first Rangers met the Pens at the blue line and hit them. Whole second period they've been skating backwards giving up ice and space and allowing the Pens to do what they want in the zone.
Let's hope one of our young goalies matures quickly because Hank is starting to look like a guy that will be done soon.
Rangers are getting hands down grade #1 whipping. Lundqvist is getting scorched. Rangers look to be getting their worst home loss in several years.
Is what it is but even with a better team this year, beating Pitt in a series would be a very tall task, unless MAF is the starter for some reason.
They probably were tired after 4/6 plus Sullivan probably lit a fire between periods. I'd expect Lundqvist to bounce back well Fri.
I'm still curious as to how Cindy didn't get an instigator penalty when he jumped McD. Seriously. How many times did we see McIlrath do that EXACT same thing but get an instigator for it. Double standards.
Different story when Zibanejad with his size and defensive game can be matched up against Sid or one of their top offensive players. His absence showed up last night as well as Buchnevich's creativity. Either way the Rangers didn't want that game. I don't think Pitt after getting whipped by the Capitals now believes they can beat them in the playoffs. It's one regular season game. However, the idea of Hank no longer being the guy certainly isn't out of the question any longer if some of the goalie prospects in the minors continue to improve.
The Rangers weak defense has been a concern for years. This unit is marginally better than last year's but only due to the subtraction of Boyle, who was probably the worst defensive dman in the NHL last year. Skjei has been the only bright spot on the team. Pitt came out on fire in the 2nd and the Rangers were too far back on their heels to respond. 17 SOG isn't going to get it done. Hope they bounce back today.
But it's also the style of play that they're playing. The defense was lights out when they were trying to win every game 2 to 1. They play much more open style now
