The more Shesterkin frustrates the Panthers, the more Rempe probably needs to be in there. Florida is a dirty team and you can't trust them in any game.
The Rangers have a chance to put a strangle hold on the series tonight, but I think it will be their toughest game to win of the playoffs so far. You have to figure the Panthers will be desperate and fired up facing an almost must-win game. The Rangers need to withstand the emotion of the first 5-10 minutes, and hopefully get to the 3rd with at worst a one-goal game and take it from there. It could be a tough one, but this team has stood up all season long.
If the Rangers are fortunate enough to get that far, I agree Al. For right now, so far in the playoffs, as stated I think tonight's game will be our toughest to win. We of course can win it, but we need to be ready for a big Panthers effort with their backs against the wall. The early portion of the game will be interesting to see how the Rangers handle their initial push and emotion. Looks like the Panthers will be making a couple of changes on their 4th line with Lorentz and Okposo in. They're also keeping their 3rd period lines together, which means Verhaeghe/Barkov/Reinhart will be together, that is a very dangerous line, the Rangers cannot let this line beat them. The other 3 lines are solid of course, but this line is by far the most dangerous and the line Florida needs to produce.
Interesting take: One thing is for sure, the Rangers are going to have to continue dealing with a Panthers squad that is happy to play dirty, and then throw themselves on the ice every time they get touched. For a team that loves to talk about how hitting is in their DNA, diving is something they do often. Whether it’s Bobrovsky flopping and dropping his stick every time a Ranger player is near him, or Sam Reinhart rolling around the ice crying causing referees to blow the play dead as the Rangers were breaking up ice 4-on-2, the Panthers are embarrassing the on-ice officials. “They thought the player was injured to the point where they had to stop,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said on Monday. “I don’t think my opinion matters at this point. [But] because it happened, I would like to see the play continue.” By the way, the Panthers have a 13-10 advantage on power play through three games in this series. So, don’t expect anything to change until the referees start calling them for embellishment. In Game 3 on Sunday, it appeared several times that a Panthers’ player was overacting to catch the attention of the officials. It almost cost the Rangers when captain Jacob Trouba was called for holding on Matthew Tkachuk with 5:37 remaining in the third period of a tie game. Looking at the replay, it’s clear that Trouba never held Tkachuk, who looked like he was taking a swan dive off a springboard. Fortunately, the Rangers were able to kill it off and set the stage for Alex Wennberg’s winner in the extra session.
The best way to get Florida to stop playing dirty is to start cashing in on PP chances. Our PP has become a weakness. We have more SHG in rounds 2 & 3 than we do PPG. I’d put Laf on PP1 and take Z or Panarin off. And I’d 100% take Fox off PP1 and put Gus on it. Also, I’d be more than ok for Rempe to take a 5 min penalty if it meant that one of Tkachuk, Bennett, Renihart or Lomberg were done for the playoffs. I don’t care how it looks or sounds, they are BEYOND dirty and is it any shock that Campbell, who had the B’s protected by his daddy when he played there, is now with the Panthers and they seem to be getting the same treatment.
That’s kind of surprising and also, not surprising. Chytil has not done much out there, but Wheeler hasn’t played in so long. Hopefully we catch lightning in a bottle with Wheeler though.
Yeah, they just mentioned that Wheeler and Rempe were in line rushes and Chytil was not on ice. I think this now closes the book on Chytil, you cannot count on him at all going forward unfortunately for him. What happens with him moving forward is for another day though. As for tonight, I would guess Wheeler takes his spot on the top line, although I guess they could put Roslovic there and play Wheeler on the 3rd line or 4th line depending on where you play Cuylle. I liked the way Roslovic/Wennberg/Kakko played last game, and I may leave them together. Brod was also on ice, and there was maybe speculation he'll play over Rempe, which would be a bad idea, and I don't see happening.
I don't think it was he's scratched and not playing; I think it was more something is up physically. I could be wrong, but everyone else was skating except Chytil, says something to me. And if it was a coach's decision, I would have stuck with Chytil, but I have faith in Lav to make the right calls.
Rempe staying in thankfully: Filip Chytil was scratched by the Rangers for Game 4, with veteran winger Blake Wheeler set to make his first appearance since suffering a leg injury on Feb. 15. The 16-year NHL veteran had nine goals and 12 assists in 54 regular-season appearances in his first year with the Blueshirts. Rookie winger Matt Rempe also remained in the lineup after logging just 4:02 in Game 3, with only three shifts in the final two periods and overtime.
Yes, they made two changes on the 4th line, Lomberg and Cousins both out I believe. I was surprised by Lomberg as well.
Yeah, sounds like healthy. Interesting, we'll see if it pays off. Filip Chytil was a healthy scratch Tuesday after playing the first three games of this best-of-7 series, which the Rangers lead 2-1. Chytil is without a point in four postseason games after missing six months with an upper-body injury believed to be a concussion.
I like the move. Chytil probably needed a break and wasn’t doing much. That would be great if wheeler could get hot right away. He had a great career and put up good numbers.
