Big Blue Huddle

Shocked at how we made the best in the east look so beatable. 
And without our best Player, who has been skating for nearly a week now.
They call a TO and respond. We call a TO and we respond.  We score a couple, they score a couple, we score, they score then we score three.
With the Game we are putting on the Ice, is there anything we can't do?
Laviolette has showed he knows what to do, and when to do it.

Our 4th Line has become a real weapon as of late. Our PP & PK are clicking. And our Goaltending is the best tandem in the NHL.
Our Captain leads the NHL in Blocked Shots.  Krides is tied for most PP Goals. I think we give up the least amount of Goals and have the most Wins.
Yeah, as mentioned, it's early, but this sure feels GREAT!!!

One final footnote from this weekend's action. My local team, the Coyotes, marched into Vegas and blanked the Golden Knights, 2-0, to lock the Rangers in as the best record in the NHL, for now.

Peace!

It would be nice if we could take a snapshot of this first six weeks or whatever it has been and just give out the cup based on these first 20 games. Unfortunately, we are not even a quarter of the way done with the regular season yet, which is a huge slog in its own right, and then as we all know playoff hockey might as well be a different sport altogether.

I'm as delighted as anyone here with the start and I'm full of hope and fantasies like every other Rangers fan, but after the last couple of playoffs (yes the last two, because we weren't getting out of the first round two years ago either if Jarry had played), I am biding my time and not getting too over my skis with the hope.

One game at a time.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on November 26, 2023, 12:40:53 PMIt would be nice if we could take a snapshot of this first six weeks or whatever it has been and just give out the cup based on these first 20 games. Unfortunately, we are not even a quarter of the way done with the regular season yet, which is a huge slog in its own right, and then as we all know playoff hockey might as well be a different sport altogether.

I'm as delighted as anyone here with the start and I'm full of hope and fantasies like every other Rangers fan, but after the last couple of playoffs (yes the last two, because we weren't getting out of the first round two years ago either if Jarry had played), I am biding my time and not getting too over my skis with the hope.

One game at a time.

It's the right approach. Historically the rangers have loved nothing more than breaking our collective hearts.

This team does seem a little different though. The 4th line is actually useable. That's a new development.

Laffy to this point has made a leap. His all around game is better and he's scoring at a high rate. Not sure if it's laviolette or just enough NHL seasoning but whatever it is thank Hod for it!

The 3rd pairing on defense, thanks to Gustafsson, is statistically one of the best pairs in the entire league. Fox goes down, this dude steps in on the PP, and nothing changes.  Still the best PP around.

And as mentioned if Shesty is in a funk or gets injured as he is want to do they finally have a backup that fan step in and be just as good and to this point even better.

Obviously things can change quickly (no pun intended) and I do find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop sometimes but this is as complete of a team as they've had in recent memory. Top to bottom deep and talented. Can't wait to see how the rest of it plays out.

Quote from: Gmo11 on November 27, 2023, 06:51:13 AMIt's the right approach. Historically the rangers have loved nothing more than breaking our collective hearts.

This team does seem a little different though. The 4th line is actually useable. That's a new development.

Laffy to this point has made a leap. His all around game is better and he's scoring at a high rate. Not sure if it's laviolette or just enough NHL seasoning but whatever it is thank Hod for it!

The 3rd pairing on defense, thanks to Gustafsson, is statistically one of the best pairs in the entire league. Fox goes down, this dude steps in on the PP, and nothing changes.  Still the best PP around.

And as mentioned if Shesty is in a funk or gets injured as he is want to do they finally have a backup that fan step in and be just as good and to this point even better.

Obviously things can change quickly (no pun intended) and I do find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop sometimes but this is as complete of a team as they've had in recent memory. Top to bottom deep and talented. Can't wait to see how the rest of it plays out.

This is what's making it a fun and exciting first quarter of the season. But, that's all that this is right now.

Last year, I still vividly remember the Rangers taking it to the-then Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avs, and took three of four points in their two games to include beating them on their own ice. I also remember a March game in Florida where they came back and won a hard fought victory over the Panthers. Further, they turned last season's Champs, the Golden Knights, into minced meat. It all meant nothing when they got bounced out of round one. That sting still remains and there's still a sense of "prove it to me" that they can take it all the way.

Bit, for now, how much more can you ask from them? Their hockey brand, right now, is actually better than it was last season and the hope is that they can stay both healthy and consistent.

Peace!

Quote from: Gmo11 on November 27, 2023, 06:51:13 AMIt's the right approach. Historically the rangers have loved nothing more than breaking our collective hearts.

This team does seem a little different though. The 4th line is actually useable. That's a new development.

Laffy to this point has made a leap. His all around game is better and he's scoring at a high rate. Not sure if it's laviolette or just enough NHL seasoning but whatever it is thank Hod for it!

The 3rd pairing on defense, thanks to Gustafsson, is statistically one of the best pairs in the entire league. Fox goes down, this dude steps in on the PP, and nothing changes.  Still the best PP around.

And as mentioned if Shesty is in a funk or gets injured as he is want to do they finally have a backup that fan step in and be just as good and to this point even better.

Obviously things can change quickly (no pun intended) and I do find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop sometimes but this is as complete of a team as they've had in recent memory. Top to bottom deep and talented. Can't wait to see how the rest of it plays out.

All excellent points. To be clear, in no way was I trying to be Debbie Downer (I don't think you think I was, but just to clarify out loud anyway). More that I am just deliberately avoiding building my postseason expectations way up, the way I have done in the past sometimes. The playoffs are just different. Case in point imagine being a Bruins fan last year. Their regular season was absolutely insane. Historic regular season. Anything less than a Cup win was going to be catastrophically disappointing for Bruins fans. And look what happened. They were out in the second round or something right?

I like the way our team is constructed, and your above points are all very strong ones. Despite the fact that Quick has been a really nice surprise, I want to see Shesty get back to something resembling 2021/22 levels by the end of the season to really feel good about our chances. Don't get me wrong - it's very nice to have two highly competent goalies, but to really go the distance in the postseason I'd much rather have one goalie who is playing at a truly elite level and one average one than two "very good" ones.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on November 27, 2023, 08:39:28 AMAll excellent points. To be clear, in no way was I trying to be Debbie Downer (I don't think you think I was, but just to clarify out loud anyway). More that I am just deliberately avoiding building my postseason expectations way up, the way I have done in the past sometimes. The playoffs are just different. Case in point imagine being a Bruins fan last year. Their regular season was absolutely insane. Historic regular season. Anything less than a Cup win was going to be catastrophically disappointing for Bruins fans. And look what happened. They were out in the second round or something right?

I like the way our team is constructed, and your above points are all very strong ones. Despite the fact that Quick has been a really nice surprise, I want to see Shesty get back to something resembling 2021/22 levels by the end of the season to really feel good about our chances. Don't get me wrong - it's very nice to have two highly competent goalies, but to really go the distance in the postseason I'd much rather have one goalie who is playing at a truly elite level and one average one than two "very good" ones.

I'm in line with you tempering expectations given I've only seen the Blueshirts lift the Cup only once in my lifetime as I'm sure that's the case for the majority of us who contribute to or read this thread. At this stage, the last thing I'm thinking about is the President's Trophy or playoffs. But it is nice to enjoy the moment without feeling guilt that it will come at a cost down the road. I'm sure some teams will figure the Rangers out and injuries will play a factor. But this team has shown characteristics of playing out a game the full 60 minutes. They may not win every game but they've bounced back from every loss impressively thus far.

I focus a bit on the goalies as that's been my predominant position on both the soccer field (competitively) and on the ice (pick up / neighborhood games only). Make no mistake that this Ranger team belongs to Igor and that's not going to change. But to have a three-time Stanley Cup, two-time Vezina Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, William M. Jennings Trophy and USA National Team Silver medalist winner backing him up, and starting the season undefeated and one win shy of breaking Halak's consecutive point record last year for 37+ year old goaltender, the Rangers struck pure gold (yes, pun intended as in Knight), in acquiring his services. Further, Quickie realizing a childhood dream of playing for his favorite team, he is currently living the dream right now. We don't know how much longer his streak will last, but it is amazing as it is impressive to watch not only his play but the way the team plays around him. Saturday's game was, in part, testament to that.

All the off-season moves, and coaching changes and on-ice adaptations are working well right now. Tonight's game against Buffalo is a good sanity check to see if the Boston game didn't go to their head. Buffalo is playing inconsistent hockey but is capable of knocking the Rangers off on their day. Their goalie, Devon Levi, has proven to be invincible at times. Fortunately, the Rangers appeared to have cracked the code on him early this season but still can't take this team for granted. Hopefully, it will be a game they can keep under their control and then get ready for what could be another high scoring duel with another Original Six club on Wednesday, the Detroit Red Wings. The Rangers took them down three weeks ago at MSG 5-3 (after being up 5-0 and calling off the dogs) and would like nothing more than a similar result. Then, some travel in the schedule sees them travel to Nashville on Saturday, where they'd like to make amends for their early season humiliation. They come home the next day to play the lowly San Jose Sharks who always seem to give them trouble. Then, back on the road to the Canadian National Capital in Ottawa to face the Senators for the first time this season. Then, a chance to catch their breath before traveling to our Nation's Capital to face the Washington Capitals who were sitting as high as second place in the division before yesterday's action (NOTE: they currently sit fourth with Carolina and Philly passing them).

The Rangers currently sit seven (7) points ahead in first place with a game in hand in the division. They remain tied with Boston at 31 points for best in the Eastern Conference with the Rangers having a game in hand plus the face-to-face win advantage which puts them in pole position. Right now, the hottest teams in the league are the Rangers (8-1-1 over last 10 games), Washington (7-2-1 over last 10 games), Florida (7-3-0 over last 10 games), Colorado (7-3-0 over last 10 games), Winnipeg (8-2-0 over last 10 games) and LA Kings (8-1-1 over last 10 games). Guess who they play after the Caps? Yup, another battle of hot teams: LA vs. NYR on Sunday 12/10. The first of a hot homestand where they'll play Toronto who are always a tough battle, the Quackers of Anaheim whom the Rangers always struggle against, and a Saturday (12/16) rematch at Boston Garden where the Bruins will be ready this time. A very tough stretch of games coming up in December which will give the Rangers the chance to test themselves against some of the best in the league as well as conquer a few jinx teams who seem to own them. So far, this season, they've taken care of Calgary and Winnipeg on the road which were always penciled in as losses. Make short work of Anaheim and San Jose as well so they can focus on the big boys in LA, Boston and Toronto.

With all that coming up, who has time to think about playoffs? You focus on these bursts of games with the exciting match-ups to get you pumped and hope they win more than they lose. So far, we've been spoiled and it's been a fun ride. Now it's up to the Rangers to take care of Buffalo and keep the ride going.

Peace!

Ugly night at MSG, no two ways about it. Really poor effort. I suspect a lot of these guys were out hard on Saturday night celebrating their big win, and the hangovers carried into today. I'm sure continuing to do shots at 4:30am seemed like a good idea at the time.

Miller in particular looked really bad tonight. Shesty continues to not come up with the big saves. There really weren't many positives.

They've obviously been torrid of late, and these guys are human beings. It was a classic let-down spot. Not the end of the world from my perspective, but they better bounce back and deliver a better effort than this against the Wings on Wednesday. I'm sure they will. They're going to hear about this one from Lavvy.

Couldn't bury a few early.  Oh well, start another winning streak on Wednesday.  Hey, at least they dominated in the face-off circle.  That has to count for something, no?

Yeah, you can dominate on the Dot and still get blown out...
With 12 mins. left in the Game, we score seven seconds into a PP and cut the score to 1-2.  Perfect spot to take over the Game.
So what do we do?
We let them score three unanswered Goals...

My big speech and the Rangers get outplayed by Buffalo. Their other goalie decides to do a Patrick Roy in MSG as the Rangers were clearly off their intensity and accuracy.

Either Buffalo's shots were magnificent or Igor is off. I'm giving Buffalo the credit as they were faster, more accurate and were getting good shots on goal while creating screens in front of Igor.

The 5-1 defeat was disappointing to say the very least. But, to put it in perspective, the Saturday game must have drained both teams since Boston also lost today, to Columbus, which was their third consecutive loss. So, in the grand scheme, today was a wash in the overall standings. Get ready for the Red Wings and bounce back.

Peace!

P.S. hoping Kakko wasn't hurt too bad tonight.

The Kakko injury looked brutal. Not going to pretend to do a video layperson diagnosis, but if it's an ACL I'm not going to be shocked.

I wonder if they'll call up Othmann.

The Kakko injury looked bad.  Would rather call up Othmann than sign Kane.

If they really try it again with Kane I'll be surprised (not in a good way).

If they still feel Othmann isn't ready they can always bide their time with Johnny Brod. He's not great, but neither is Kakko. I'm sorry for Kakko and I hate seeing injuries, but I'm relieved it wasn't someone like Bread, Laffy, Kreids, or Zibs.

On a positive note, it looks like Fox is likely to be back in the lineup on Wed...

Kane was deadwood last season. Highly doubt Drury will re-visit that move