Passed up too many straight on shots for shots from the wing. Too much passing and low percentage shots.
Can’t beat an AHL goalie, Panarin turning into playoff Rick Nash and they were gassed after the 1st overtime. ⛳️
Late in the 2nd OT you saw that one coming for Pitt in the 3rd OT. It was a terrible combo. We looked like the way more spent team, we couldn't win a FO to save our lives, and we passed up too many opportunities to shoot to try and make a fancy play. That is not a recipe for a win in the 3rd OT. I'll say this on Panarin, the dude refuses to shoot. So many times through the 2nd OT I was yelling at my screen shoot the puck Panarin. He is always looking for a pretty play. In playoff OT someone has to say to him, you've got to shoot. You win this game ugly in OT, not pretty. Frustrating. In a lot of ways the start was bad for us because it was too easy in the 1st, and yet we only had 1 goal. The Pens got smacked in the 1st, and you knew they would up their game, and the Rangers weren't ready for it after an easy 1st. They played sloppy with the puck, and in the D zone coverage wise after the 1st, and a part of me thinks the 1st period gave them a false sense, because that was a very poorly played game by the Rangers after the 1st period. Think about it, one of our worst games that mattered in a long time (not counting games late when we were locked into 2nd). A game we never should have lost for so many reasons is now an L. Can we bounce back in game 2 is now the question. We need to or this one could get away from us quickly.
After the 1st they looked like the team before the deadline that gave up too many wide open chances on Shesterkin. They need to find a way to clean that up, as well as play more straight ahead offensively.
It has happened under many coaches, so difficult to get on Gallant for it, but man he has to be saying to Panarin (and Fox), shoot the puck man. It is so difficult, but if not you have to bench for a couple of shifts. It was so glaring with Panarin. The guy simply would not shoot, and then there were times he held the puck for so long he passed up a good chance. I don't get it. He has to be better/smarter.
What's more frustrating is Fox for example won a game in OT this year in a position that he tried passing to Strome on this game. Panarin was off all game long. I expect him to be much better in game two. The bottom line is that when you dominate a first period like that you do Pittsburgh a favor only scoring one goal. But, they did make is 2-0 before letting the Pens take over.
Yeah, and when the 3rd stringer did come in and they did start shooting, those were shots from the point no one in front low %. I was happy they were shooting, but they needed to have a presence in front to make it count. And it still didn't stop Panarin from overthinking and not shooting. That Fox pass to Strome was honestly mind numbing. All alone in the slot in playoff OT and he passed, I was flipping out. Combine that with Panarin's absolute refusal to shoot and overthinking and it was a rough night.
Miller was all over the place. Some great plays. Some bad plays. Nemeth is awful. I thought Trouba was abysmal all night. Mostly other than the incompetent refs and dumb as dog shit review booth in Toronto, the Rangers passing looked like watching a high school game. Hopefully, the team settles down a little. The 4th line had trouble in their own zone. As I said, losing Motte and Blais was going to be huge. It really showed up in this game. Rooney is not a good role player. Reeves hits and that probably helps the longer a series goes but A 4th line of Goodrow, Blais and Motte would be a total pain in the ass for any team to play against.
The Rangers went away from getting the puck in deep and crashing the defensemen, starting after that bullshit call against Lindgren at the end of the first period, they couldn't get out of their own zone, made too many turnovers in the neutral zone. The definitely could not handle the full court press of the Pens in the second period. Going down to 5 dmen did not help either for large chunks of the game.
Drury did a really good job this season, and especially at the trade DL, but he had one glaring miss/blind spot, a LD upgrade. First it started with signing Nemeth. We needed a better LD added over the summer. Then he doubled down on it at the trade DL by only adding a R shot RD in Braun, and it doesn't seem like Gallant wants to play two R shot dmen together Braun and Schneider (which is the best pair IMO). It is a weakness, and it may cost us. We need to tighten up BIG TIME and play a lot smarter and higher % game. We do that and I still say Rangers in 6. We'll see what happens in game 2.
Good article: https://www.foreverblueshirts.com/new-york-rangers-disallowed-goal-should-have-counted/
Kreider was one of the few players who looked like he knew what it took to win playoff games. Some positives. The kids played really well. It was the vets that let the team down. Give Chytil credit, he showed big time with Lafreniere and Kakko. Got robbed by the corrupt league office which is nothing new for this team. Miller has incredible upside. You saw it after about game 25 when I started posting he was looking more like Poti. If he adds a little more nasty to his game, he can be an all-star type defenseman. Schneider was built for the playoffs. Just needs more experience. Panarin can't continue to play this east-west crap when it isn't there. He needs to change his game and shoot more. With his shot and accuracy, he's hurting the team. Fox, I've been saying for months is hurting the team by not shooting.
