Big Blue Huddle

Been a while since I've seen an all line fight off the the first face off

Missed the opening drop of the gloves

Tuned in 1/2 way through second and rangers were in the process of giving up 2 goals in 2 shots

Played a solid third, Kreider's goal was sweet

pulled it out, grabbed the  2 points

Not sure how first half of game played out though

Pretty wild to play what was essentially the full game with just 4 defensemen.  Fox had one of his poorer outings with numerous turnovers (one led to a breakaway) and getting beat a few times to the outside. Perhaps fatigue was a factor. Then again his shot/pass to Kreider for the game winner was a thing of beauty

3 point lead on Dallas and Bruins with 6 to play.  Funny that they find themselves in a dogfight for President Trophy with 4 more wins than the others. 

Quote from: Rosehill Jimmy on April 03, 2024, 10:55:54 PMPretty wild to play what was essentially the full game with just 4 defensemen.  Fox had one of his poorer outings with numerous turnovers (one led to a breakaway) and getting beat a few times to the outside. Perhaps fatigue was a factor. Then again his shot/pass to Kreider for the game winner was a thing of beauty

3 point lead on Dallas and Bruins with 6 to play.  Funny that they find themselves in a dogfight for President Trophy with 4 more wins than the others. 

Stars won last night, so they have 105.  I wouldn't call it a dogfight.  Not sure anyone really cares about the President's Trophy.  Do think they want the top-seed in East over Boston, though.  Other division winner will get a much tought first round match-up.  Then again, Boston fans thought they were getting an easier match-up last year.

As for the opening face-off fight, I couldn't think of a better tactic to get the Rangers mentally past the Pittsburgh loss the other day.

It wasn't their best but, then again, it didn't have to be. They got the two points so keep moving forward.

Peace!

I thought they were a bit sloppy in places but it's nice to see the role players contributing. I thought Culle had a very decent game.

I actually missed the game last night despite being home. The mrs convinced me to watch a movie instead, and I figured we'd be done by no later than the second intermission but we ended up getting delayed and I basically missed it. Text flow from various friends of mine reflected what Ed posted above -- kind of a mixed bag performance, but obviously a nice end result and very encouraging contributions from the non-usual players.

As Ed noted, Cuylle is worth mentioning. I quite like this young player and would note that the season he has had this year was superior to the rookie seasons of either Kakko or LaFreniere. I don't see him ever being any sort of elite offensive player, but I could see him being a "good" offensive player who gives you an excellent two way game with plenty of physicality.

So... looking at the standings:

Three points up in the conference (even number of games played)

Three points up in the league, but Dallas has a game in hand.


Islanders had a big night last night with the Caps, Wings, and Flyers all losing. A Rangers/Islanders opening round series would be tremendously fun. And it hasn't happened since our Cup year.

I watched the game last night half asleep after a busy work week.

Cuylle's good night was trumped by Goodrow's big scoring spree and Kreider knocking the winner in on the power play.

That was a desperate Red Wings team out there playing for their faint playoff hopes. That was a difficult enough challenge for the Rangers on top of the fact that they struggle when playing in Detroit; they lost their earlier matchup here. So, this was another statement win for the Rangers.

One more week in the books and they are still in pole position. What more can you ask for?

Peace!

Nice home win tonight against a soft opponent. Kind of a weird game. Rangers completely dominated the first period but found themselves down 1-0 going into the intermission. I wasn't worried at all at that point and knew if they just kept doing what they were doing they'd be fine. Broadly that's what eventually happened, although Montreal did make it interesting for a couple minutes when they cut a 3-1 lead to 3-2 with about 6 minutes left. That was mildly unsettling, but the Rangers obviously asserted themselves after that and took care of business.

Shame Panarin missed that empty-netter as I want him to get 50 goals. Laffy could get 30 potentially though (has 27 now), which would be pretty cool.

Nice solid win. On to the Islanders on Tuesday.

I'm not sure the young Canadians were soft, per se. Scrappy, high risk, mistake-prone, maybe more in line. All that and a hot goaltender made it a game into the third period.

Just like the guys at the MSG sports desk indicated between the periods, the Rangers just needed to stay steady the course and the breaks would eventually come their way. It took the power play to kick them in gear, but the puck started hitting the net.

But credit the kids up north who got it back to 3-2 and made it a game until Mika Z-man put his second in for the two goal lead late in the game.

Well, the Rangers now have a league-leading 110 points and their magic number is three (3), as in wins. The President's Trophy is theirs if they win three of their four remaining games. The most any other team in the league can earn is 115 points so 116 will take it.

Tuesday's visit to the Island will be the most difficult of the four games; however, if the Rangers truly deserve to be called best in the NHL, they ought to be the best in the NY Metro area, right? With that, let's see what Tuesday brings.

Final week of what's been a magical season to date.

Peace!

I'm very hopeful for a Rangers win vs the Islanders.  But, on my experience, when a  good team is the more desperate team against another good team less desperate, the more desperate team wins.  The Islanders are a good team and have alot more on the line and are more desperate

Well, we knew it was going to be a battle and the game didn't disappoint from that standpoint.

It was unfortunate the Rangers gave those three goals up in the first period which ultimately held up in the end. But it was nice seeing them use the power play to get back in the game.

Lots of beat-up players a cause for concern today. Kreider got a slapshot to his groinor midsection but returned to score the first goal for the Rangers. Lindgren the Bionic Man got his skate caught in the edge of the boards, but the Z-man's collision at Center Ice, and possible concussion, impacted the end of this game and perhaps the next two or three depending how serious his condition is.

The Rangers had a buffer to lose a game and still keep pole position. With Carolina upending Boston today, the Rangers are now three points clear of both teams for the Eastern Conference. As I type this, Dallas is leading Buffalo 3-2 in the third period. If they hold on to win, the Rangers' grasp on pole position is down to a solitary point.  Three games left to play and all at the Garden. Stay healthy and win them all for the President's Trophy. They've come this far and it would be a shame to lose it now.

Philly up on Thursday.

Peace!

Disappointed, but I'm not surprised. And that's not a knock on our team. I just had a feeling this would be tough.

Ugly first period but the Rangers pretty much dominated the last 40. Sucky result but, at this point,t he key is staying healthy and gearing up for the playoffs. Hope Mika's injury isn't a long-term issue.

Brutal performance tonight. Giving up the one seed in the East would be an ugly way to end an otherwise brilliant regular season.