I am curious to see if Lav plays Rempe on the road where they don't have last change, he did not against Carolina. At this point Lav has a few options, I am just going to trust he pushes the right buttons with this team, whether I agree or not.
You need Rempe against this team. Kakko needs to play. If you want wheeler then roslovic needs to sit. He is kinda useless
Like I said last game, ESPN doesn't care about hockey, it is an afterthought for them. They put the pre-game show on ESPN2, the hockey game was on ESPN tonight, yet they led with the NBA game on TNT, and then a football story before they even talked about the hockey game on the 6 PM SC, what is on the front page of ESPN.com, the NBA game. Get Up and First Take never even talk hockey. Around the Horn and PTI talk very little hockey. The NHL is an afterthought for ESPN. One thing I do like about ESPN having hockey is they put all the games on ESPN+, so I can watch all the regular season games, but outside of that they don't care. And I agree that Bob W is way better than McD as the play-by-play guy. Hope he stays there for the rest of the series.
I agree on Roslovic, but I think Lav likes him, he did play nearly 17 minutes tonight. He really hasn't added much to the team. I will say this on Wennberg though, he is a 4th liner to me, especially with our depth, but he does add something being a smart defensively sound and responsible player who is good on the PK. His absolute inability to score goals shouldn't overshadow that he does have a role to play defensively, and he does it well. I truly don't know what Lav does next game, the first question is does he play Rempe on the road, we'll see. If Vesey is out though, that could make it a bit more straightforward, you could see Kakko back in, and maybe even Wheeler if he doesn't want to play Rempe on the road.
Florida is also struggling to get good quality chances, that is what a lot of this series will be. And in game 1 by the numbers, we actually had more high danger chances than they did. And I think that is a fair point about Wheeler. May not be ready to be thrown into this type of game right away. I will simply say, I am really excited. I think this win is so huge, not just because it kept us alive in the series, we were not winning down 2-0, but I think it gives us some MO, puts us in a good spot going to Florida, and I think we are due to score on the PP and bury some more of the chances we are getting. I am feeling positive right now.
The rempenator is definitely playing in game 3. Lavs had him out there in the last minute of a 1-1 game. The kid played 10 minutes and had 9 hits. Played a very good game. And his hits will help wear down that Florida defense like their forwards are doing to our defense. Also, as much as trouba hasn’t been great he started that OT goal sequence by taking a big hit to get a good pass up ice. On to game 3.
My position on ESPN is they put on what the masses are interested in. We are all die hard hockey fans but, whether we like it or not the NHL is far down the list of the most popular sports in America.
Agreed, that's what it is. The first WNBA game of Clark had better ratings than the hockey playoff game, tells you a lot. Bottom line is ESPN doesn't really care about hockey.
Another great game with an even better outcome and a lesson to Krappo to pick it up. Rempe is built for the postseason and played a hard, clean game knocking Panthers down leading to a wide hit disparity. Nice rebound by the top line after being smothered in game 1. Wennberg is the weak link to me especially after that ridiculous no effort on the Panther's goal. Not surprising the late, late hit on Vesey was uncalled but it was well after the puck was gone. Activate Rempenator for game 3 to continue the punishment. Fox has been terrible on the PP, a sore knee shouldn't be slowing the puck movement to a crawl. Trouba leads Rangers dmen in scoring, hitting, blocked shots and set up the OT winner with a great clearing pass but still gets no love, I see you working Captain.
If it were me, I would leave Rempe in the lineup even on the road, he is good to have against the Panthers. The Panthers are bullies, and you have to hit a bully in the mouth. You can just see how they play, perfect example after the Trocheck goal, they are so big and scary they have to jump players. That's who they are, and Rempe being in at least gives them something to think about. They also need to put in a PP goal or two to keep them honest, us not scoring on the PP emboldens them. If Vesey is out the question is does Wheeler or Kakko come back in. I think it may depend on role, if you want to keep Cuylle on the 3rd line, I think Wheeler is the answer as I just don't see Kakko as a 4th line guy. That may be the right move, but we'll see if Vesey can play or not.
Washington and Carolina are soft teams for the most part, now the Rangers are playing a team of men, the Panthers all take the body so putting Rempe in the lineup should be a no brainer for Lav. If Vesey is injured I'd like to see Wheeler out there, he's a big body and took a discount to come here, classic comeback story. The nice thing with this roster is it's depth. The hate on Drury has to stop especially after decades of incompetence from his predecessors. Trocheck was a great Rangers free agent signing at $5.625? He has changed the long failing Rangers philosophy of drafting small guys with big motors or strong medal chucking arms to monsters over 6'5" with big bodies and strong hockey skills, a slew of them wait in the wings to take lazy Krappo's spot. This is the Rangers second conference finals in 2 years certainly not the norm and they're playing entertaining hockey with a hall of fame coach and stronger roster. You're dreaming if you think Pitt was going to trade Guentzal here, who else should Drury have traded for?
