Both teams lead their respective divisions. Price vs Lundqvist. Montreal attempting to sweep NY area teams in one week. Already swept Islanders back to back. Tonight Rangers. Weekend Devils back to back. We are hoping Rangers continue on their new winning streak tonight. GO RANGERS!
I hate the flyers, bruins etc. but the team I hate the most is the GD montreal excuses. Looking to blow them back to canada choking on their turkey after tonight which will make mine taste that much better tmo.
Simply awful defense there on that goal by Yandle and Boyle, mostly by Yandle though abandoning his man.
First line is the only one that can actually sustain any offensive pressure. All the other ones just get pinned down or cant make two good passes in a row.
Another defensive mess of a period by this team. They fold under forecheck pressure and struggle to generate any forecheck of their own. They're playing in their zone so much that when they get out they simply dump and change. No one goes in after the puck. I'm sure chuck will defend them, but this is an ANALYSIS of what's going on so far in this game. Struggling to handle Montreal's forecheck pressure and struggling to get anything going in the offensive zone. We looked better during and immediately after the PP but other than that 2-3 minute span we were DOMINATED by Montreal. It's really quite simple. We cannot win one v one battles along the boards in either end of the ice.
The d is slow and not physical enough. AV needs to tell Boyle to take a hike already and insert McI into the lineup.
What they need to really address is trading for another 6th dman so Boyle can be mostly the spare. This is assuming they don't feel Skjei is quite ready and i'm not including DMc as i personally dont see him as an option. Maybe someone like Clitsome or Brad Stuart, but that type.
Just don't see it Step, not on a regular basis at least, and definately not in this years playoffs. They need an experienced steady player.
We really haven't seen enough of him to make any determination though. I'm almost hoping for an injury to Boyle that forces AV to play him. And as I type this another defensive brain fart and 2-0.
We are just one and done every time in the offensive zone because we can't get out of the defensive zone quick enough that our players aren't tired from chasing them all around trying to clear it out. We just keep losing board battle after board battle. But yea, the defense isn't a concern at all, despite we can't clear the zone.
If we can't turn this game around we will be 1-3 against the REAL competition in the East (TB, WSH, MTL). That's a concern, regardless of how early it is. These are the teams we will inevitably play (yes I know only one of TB or MTL) and right now we don't look great against a possible ECF opponent. But yes. Let's keep burying our heads in the sand and keep saying "all is well" because if we don't admit there's a problem, then there isn't one.
Can Boyle please just have a career ending injury already, please? He's a bumbling baffoon out there. Is of NO use defensively and is useless on the PP as well. So what is his real value to this team? Old age? If we are really going to keep playing him over anyone else, then we will keep struggling. I'm not saying Dylan is the answer, but as much as Glass killed this team last year, Boyle is doing the EXACT same shit. In the d-zone he's a huge liability, can't win board battles, can't knock anyone off the puck, and when facing pressure or sees a forechecker headed his way panics and makes a bad play with the puck leading to a turnover. In the offensive zone he does nothing, and on the PP he does zero as well. So what value he brings over someone, anyone, else is lost on me.
I think they're giving him the veterans nod, but mostly it's there's no other option until a trade happens.
Bullshit there's no other option. Play Dylan for 10 games. Let's give him an HONEST look and chance and see what he has. He's playing one game out of every 12. That's bullshit to do to him. He's a young guy that NEEDS ice time to get better. This is another example of AV playing a player simply because of "experience" and not talent. We saw it last year eith Glass and now this year with Boyle. There is ZERO reason to not give Dylan his fair shot at showing off what he's capable of. I wish the journalists would hound AV on this and blast this into AVs face at every opportunity. If you're not going to play the kid, why not send him down and bring up Diaz? That was you have two useless old dmen up here that bring nothing to the table and Dylan can get some ice time down there.
Oh yeah i forgot about Diaz, who i actually like and think is better than Boyle. I wouldn't mind seeing him brought up.
After 2 periods Rangers 1 Montreal 2. Basically, an even period. Montreal taking liberties with penalties; McDonagh finally cashed in with PP goal.....otherwise, Price had been flawless.
