Game Thread 4/14/17 Game 2 New York Rangers vs Montreal Canadiens

If Kreider was any more fucking stupid with his decision making, it would be record breaking. Said it for months they were foolish not to call Graves up for 40 games. Either way, you could see this team was lacking conditioning wise. They looked half dead in OT. Gimme a break. However, I expected nothing from this team in the playoffs so I'm no at all shocked by this. Hank was great again. Smith looks like a keeper. Hayes looks like crap again. He's simply too slow. They would be wise to move him in the off-season.

 

My pressure was up watching these Idiots and the Yankees, now it's time for a glass of wine.

 

One thing I see different tonight from game 1 is the Rangers play with the puck. Now for sure you have to give Montreal credit for stepping up their pressure as a desperate team, but tonight the Rangers were back to trying to be fancy and make plays instead of getting it out.

Nash on the winner. We already discussed the plays at the end of regulation. Get pucks out and deep and attack from there. That is exactly what they did in game 1...Montreal never really got a good chance late down by 1...but tonight they didn't play that same style and it directly cost them on 2 of the 4 goals against.

Win game 3 in a rocking MSG and all is good. Lose game 3 and we have big issues.

 

For sure 717, that's why I had a low confidence level into OT. They spent it all to win in regulation. Fair to wonder why they were so out of gas once Montreal tied it, but they clearly were. OT was 95% Montreal, Rangers had no gas left. That concerns me a little.

Game 3 real big for the Rangers on many levels now. Obviously not a must win, but if they lose game 3 and continue the home ice struggles and have back to back L's off of a bad L tonight, the tide will be very much against us. Big game for us.

 

Rangers should learn from desperate Montreal tonight, get pucks deep and attack. And throw everything on net and crash. Hopefully they are back to playing smarter with the puck in game 3.

I expect the Rangers to start strong at home, hopefully they can get an early goal or 2.

 

You guys realize there are only 6 dmen on the team..your not going to sit a vet like staal for the last 2 minutes

 

As crushing a loss as you can have (in the first round at least) but as someone said, 1-1 was the goal and we got it.

No words for Holden on that last shift, when you have no stick you can't just sit your ass in the crease. He has been our worst skater these 2 games. I thought Staal was good yesterday but today struggled.

Another guy who HAS to get going is Hayes. He has been invisible both games. His wingers are going but he is not. Like Dump said Kreider too has to be noticeable. Right now he is not having the impact he should.

As team I thought the defensive structure for the most part was still there. They have a tendency to scramble when the puck is held in the zone for an extended time. One of the tough parts about playing man is that on a long shift the defenseman can't keep up and it looks like they are skating in mud. Gotta be smart when that happens.

Overall that's a tough loss to swallow but I like where we are. Get a big win at home on Sunday for an Easter miracle and we're in business.

 

Yup...as I said earlier, big picture I like where we are also. Klein in for Holden in game 3 and away we go.

Need to play a little smarter with the puck, out and attack instead of fancy stuff, but overall cannot be upset despite the awful way we lost tonight. BUT that only holds true if they play well and win game 3. If we lay another egg at home and go down 2-1 this L tonight will be even more crushing.

So rebound with a strong home effort in game 3 and all is good. Coin flip at best if we can do it with our awful home ice play.

 

I think one thing is a 100% guarantee for game 3...Holden will not be playing. If he is I will be very angry at AV. Should be a 100% lock that Klein is in for Holden.

And yes, game 3 of a 1-1 series is always huge % wise. Very big game for us.

 

Good point on the comebacks Mess. Resiliency is necessary to get through the playoffs. Down but never out.

And after they tied the game, you knew they were going to come out FLYING for OT and we weathered the storm. A lot of positives, just a shit way to lose the game.

 

Should've kept Brass for at least this year if they wanted to do something. Ziba looks like another soft player who cant get it done in a big moment. He fits in right in with the rest of them. Good effort though. I feel bad for Hank because they are gonna look at his playoff overtime record and it ain't pretty.

 

And yes Klein 100% in for Holden next game. Would also help to get another right shot from the blue line in the game.

I didn't realize game 3 would be Easter Sunday, so unfortunately my presence won't be felt until game 4. But I let the boys know and told them to make sure they're up 2-1.

RANGERS IN 5 (maybe six).

 

Can't get on Grabner much but a clear with 30 secs probably does the job. In the OT they tried going through the middle of ice with tired legs which hurt them at the end. I'm not sure what happened on the goal, as Z and Lundqvist seemed frozen with the puck sitting there. One pp goal up 3-2 really would've made MTL have to take more chances and also take the crowd out. That has to start helping them.

 

they had the chance to go up 2-0 and they don't. Same shot in the LA series in 2014, they played an A+ game but blew te lead late and sucked in OT.
Game 1 is LA the team was dead in overtime. Now they're dead in game 2 of round 1. Unbelievable. Never an easy series with his team

 

Brassard defensively sucked. He's had a horrible season. Zibanejad was fine. He hasn't played a lot in the playoffs. Give him some time.

To me what is very, very, concerning is how tired and out of shape this team looked in this game. That is a very bad sign moving forward. That to me means that the team has become too much of a country club and they aren't scared of their coach any longer. They were beaten to every puck, almost all night. They were completely gassed in the OT. It's game freakin 2 of the playoffs. How can they be running out of gas.

 

I really think game 3 is going to tell you a lot of the story on the direction of this series. Not saying the winner of game 3 wins the series for sure, but I do think the winner of game 3 will be in a real good spot.

If we win we're up 2-1, got some of the home ice monkey off our backs, and could have been up 3-0 (which bodes well for us finishing the series off).

If they win they're up 2-1, keep us lost at home (remember it is not just in the regular season but in the playoffs as well that we have sucked at home), and they would have a great comeback in game 2 and then continued the momentum by winning game 3 on the road (which bodes well for them finishing the series off).

I do think it is that big of a game, even if it isn't a game that the winner will win the series for sure. I believe you'll have the story of this series right in front of you pretty clearly after game 3.

For me personally, it will be hard to see us winning the series if they lose game 3 after the way they had to be crushed emotionally losing game 2. That's my take at least.

 

Tough loss...Holden has been off for sure and is looking like more of a liability on defense than an asset on offense. If he sits, and that's a big if with AV and his stubbornness, is there any chance AV goes w/ Clendenning over Klein? I'd much prefer Klein but he has not been steady at all this year. Clendenning is a mess.