You can't have liabilities in the lineup if you want to win the cup

Rangers have at least 3. St. Louis, Boyle and Glass. That's three too many.

 

I can't blame AV for much the past 2 years but this year he's made some bad mistakes. The 4th line was key last year in winning games. He could have brought Lindberg up after 40-50 games and developed him like Fast but he stuck with Glass and the 4th line has been useless ever since. A poster made a good point on the FAN this morning. He's putting St. Louis who is done on the first PP unit instead of Nash. While Nash is useless in the playoffs on offense, the odds of that moron scoring a PP goal are still a lot better than St. Louis who simply can't play any longer. Plus putting Boyle with Stall when you have home ice and can match up is dumb. I can see putting Klein with Yandle on the road to cover up that morons turnovers. Not at home where he can matchup the lines.

 

Boyle has been fine. Glass is a 4th line player. He sucks but he is a 4th line player. MSL...yeah he is an issue, I won't argue that one. I have never seen a guy win ZERO board battles, but that's MSL now. And I agree, at home I would have Staal with Klein considering we have last change AND TB has two lines doing all their scoring.

With that said I don't think you are watching this series (actually pretty sure you are not based on your comments of watching the draft and sleeping). 5 or 6 players have done all the scoring for TB. Their 3rd pair of D isn't good. Those 5 or 6 players have scored virtually all their goals and have dominated us. It is very rare that you can say we are getting beat by a 2 line team...period, but that's what's happening.

I still say the most frustrating thing about last night is the fact we never tested Bishop with shots or traffic or rebounds. Guy was bad in games 3 & 4, and we did nothing last night to see where he was at with his game...nothing. At least when Hank bounced back in game 4 the Bolts tested him big time and he passed, Bishop who the F knows since maybe he made 2 or 3 semi tough saves all night. That angers me.

 

What you call liabilities for Tampa is comical compared to the guys on the Rangers. Glass is a player who ruins the entire offense of any line he's on. Tampa doesn't have a guy like that. Tampa doesn't have a 39 year old forward who can't play any longer in the playoffs and is a turnover machine. They don't have their star forward not consistently score. Stamkos is scoring now. Nash had one game. That's it. You seem to be the only fan now that can't admit this team has looked like garbage almost the entire playoffs.

 

Interesting dump...so 5 or 6 players do ALL their scoring and you say that. Their lower D is at best questionable. So stop already. We are way deeper than TB, they simply have two lines dominating us.

And I am a fan who is honest, I just posted we have not looked good in these playoffs. You are a fan who has made this post 3 or 4 times already in these playofs, MAYBE for once you will be right...LOL.

 

The margin for winning in the playoffs is very small. You can't have two relics who are shot in Boyle and St. Louis out there and a player in Glass who destroys all the offense of his line. You have 12 forwards and 6 defenseman. 3 out of 18 players who are useless is 17% of that squad. That's 17% too much that doesn't do crap. There was no reason for Boyle and Glass. Sather and AV could have gone with McIlrath and Lindberg, saved 6 million dollars and the team most likely would have been considerably better off. They showed patience with Miller, Hayes and Fast and were rewarded. They showed none with McIlrath and Lindberg and are being punished severely for it.

 

Interesting when you consider Boyle has played really well in this series, and most of the Caps series after a rocky start. Boyle has not been an issue. Glass and MSL are issues, but at least Glass is a 4th line guy. MSL has really hurt us. He isn't just not scoring, he is also turning the puck over and making a lot of weak plays playing top 9 and 1st PP unit minutes. That has hurt us.

We can spin all the BS we want, but the reality is MSL first and Nash second have been what have hurt us in these playoffs. MSL because he hasn't done anything and makes mistakes as well. Nash to his credit does positive things still, BUT we need him to score or else we are in trouble.

That's it in a nutshell to me.

 

Glass is what he is. A 4th line grinder. He is NOT the issue with this team. He's actually been alright and hasn't taken dumb penalties like the rest of the team. He got beat on a play last night when he, honestly, should NOT have even been on the ice. Why AV put him out there when Stamkos was out there is still mind boggling. The biggest issue is MSL and his complete loss of his game and AV's loyalty to him in not removing him from the PP not dropping him down. That's why we are where we are.

 

You are 100% WRONG. He IS an issue with this team. He kills all the offense of the 4th line. Last year the offense of the 4th line was a big reason they went to the finals. Hockey is a 4 line game. You can have one line be completely useless. It's stupid.

 

EXACTLY!!!! Glass is on a line with Sheppard who also has no offensive talent, and THAT is the issue. We have a fourth line with two guys who have no chance to score a goal. Only one of them is needed on the ice a game, but due to injuries we have both and that is what hurts that 4th line. It's not just Glass on his own at this point.

 

I'm with you Mess, this isn't about Glass or Miller it is about the top players not getting it done. Staal has been terrible in this series since game 2. Hags hasn't scored since Pitt. Nash had one game but nothing else. MSL is killing the team, and AV refuses to get him off the 1st PP. Those are the guys.

McD I think has been fine, but is fine enough from our stud # 1 dman? That is why I haven't gotten on McD. I think he has been pretty solid, but his issue is we expect stud. He hasn't been that.

Brass has 1 goal in 5 games. Hags 1 point and is a -3 in the series. Staal 0 points and is a -4 in the series. MSL is a -5 in this series...MINUS 5. Nash had 3 points in game 4...outside of that game he has ZERO points in the series...ZERO.

On the flip side, Yandle has 5 points in the series (all in games 3 & 4) and is a + 5. Not bad.

Not good enough.

 

It's funny you say hockey is a four line game because Tampa is beating us with just two.

 

I agree. Like I said he has been fine but not great. But I also truly believe McD is far from a main reason we are down 3-2. Go look at the list of the other guys I mentioned, I put every single one of them ahead of McD as a reason we are down.

As for the 4th line stuff, BS IMO. Glass has been solid as a 4th liner in the playoffs, outside of a boneheaded play last night. The 4th line hasn't scored, but they created some cycle and zone time. AND take a look at TB beating us with TWO lines...TWO.

Again you want answers as to why we are down, stop the BS of blaming a 4th line and focus on the big guys. MSL nothing and a minus 5. Nash 0 points in 4 of 5 games. Staal a minus 4. Brass 1 goal in 5 games. Look there, not at Glass and the 4th line.

That's it as we get beat by 6 or 7 players on TB.

 

Doesn't change the fact that it was a dumb play by Glass, but again it is one play in a long game and Glass has been pretty solid for his role in this series. Blaming Glass is beyond moronic when ALL the other stats of the top players are very poor. It is double moronic when you see TB beating us with two lines.

We are down because of MSL, and Nash, and Staal, and Hags, and Brass doing very little in this series. There is your issue not 4th line Glass.

 

Tampa isn't beating us with two lines you freaking moron. The other 2 lines aren't giving up anything. They are holding serve. We have players that are giving up tons of scoring chances because they suck. While Dorsett didn't have points, he didn't slow down the offense of Moore and Boyle on the 4th line. Moore had 8 points in the playoffs last year. He has 2 this year. Glass has killed the offense of the 4th line. Dorsett didn't do that. He didn't help it but he didn't destroy the offense of Moore and Boyle in the playoffs.

Tampa is built differently. They have 2, high powered lines. The other 2 lines play more of a defensive role. Our team doens't have 2 high powered lines. We need scoring from all 4 lines including some by the 4th line.