Nice to see a new team tonite. Devs split first 2 games with bruins so seem improved from last season. Want to see the rangers continue their momentum from Saturday and laf to get his first goal tonite!
Will be parlaying the Rangers with the Flyers and Avs tonight. Anyone else on the sports betting apps?
Blackwood is decent. Took him in my fantasy pools. Fox isn't a great PP guy. He's not a great shooter. Lundkvist has a great one time slapshot. Tony D is in the shithouse. So, the PP will struggle. Need to be patient and wait for the stars to make plays.
Reminds me of the pussy Rangers with Barzal when he first came up and he embarrassed them. Same with Hughes now. Have to hit the little pussy and make him taste pain like the Rangers did with Barzal last game. Then he's useless.
Quinn over coaches. Shesterkin is the fucking starter here. Stop playing Georgiev when he has one good game.
Not sure how I feel about that game. A lot of shots, many not from prime scoring areas. I felt they tried to be too fancy with their passes at times. Watching the 3 games so far, it feels like there is something missing. Some spark. It just feels like their big players haven't really gotten going. Lafreniere and Kakko have been kind of blah, but you don't really feel their presence consistently. Overall so far I have been a bit underwhelmed by their play. It is what it is this season, but that's my overall feel currently.
Couldn't let Strome walk for nothing, but he does have to be part of a package, I'd say with DeAngelo and a kid(s)/pick(s) for a # 2 C. Both of those guys should not be part of the team past this season as we add a legit # 2 C and Lundkvist comes over. I will say as this season goes on/this summer, Gorton will be on the clock to do what needs to be done to take the next step. After this season the honeymoon ends IMO.
Kakko just seems so stiff moving and handling the puck sometimes. I hope his PT doesn't affect his confidence but by the same token he needs to start emerging to get that time.
No one else concerned about Zib??? Looked like he got his bell rung crashing into the boards towards the end of the game. There is one player this team can't afford to lose.
Georgiev didn't play well, Blackwood played lights out and the Rangers didn't make NJ pay on the PP definitely a game they could have won. The young players need to understand that this is like a playoff game for NJ and Kakko needs to pull his heado out of his asso and stop tiptoeing around like a teenager sneaking in after curfew. 19 of the 50 SOG were by the Rangers defensemen, lots of juicy rebounds unfinished and the Debs blocked a lot of shots. No update on Zibad but it looked upper body the way he went into the boards. Fingers crossed.
Kakko needs to step up his game. Very young, bright future ahead, so no over the top craziness, but it's time for him to start playing like the # 2 pick in the draft. Hughes clearly stepped up his game this season, now it's time for Kakko to do the same. Outside of glimpses here and there, we have not seen # 2 overall type play from Kakko. I also must say I don't love the lines right now. Di G on the 3rd line doesn't excite me. I would rather have Gauthier there. I might give Kakko another shot with Panarin and give him a full game to see if it gets him going. I thought the Lafreniere/Chyil/Gauthier line looked okay in game 1, and Lafreniere looked better on LW than he has on RW.
It's way early, but it almost feels like the players aren't really viewing it as a legit season and are almost treating it like a scrimmage with full gear. Maybe that's just me making a huge assumption. I'm sure it's probably somewhere in between.
Kakko keeps getting jerked around by Quinn. That's the first problem. I agree Lafrenierre doesn't look comfortable on right wing. For starters, Kakko should be on the first PP unit. They should go with 4 forwards. Buhnevich is a bad PP player. So is Strome. Simple as that. Kakko has shown a good one timer but Quinn is a moron and doesn't take advantage of it. They second PP unit should be Lafrenierre-Chytil-Buchnevich with Fox and Miller out there if DeAngelo comes back.
As is usually the case, I think Quinn can utilize Kakko in more high leverage positions that set him up for success, but I also think Kakko needs to earn it. I will say there is some responsibility both ways in that one. I would go back to the lines from game 1 if it were me. I think that gives us the best balance, sets up Kakko in a spot for success with Panarin, and puts Lafreniere on LW where he belongs. On D I expect DeAngelo to be back in. I would guess Johnson sits, although I have to say it wouldn't shock me if he sits Miller. I would sit Johnson though.
