Big Blue Huddle

They looked tired because they played four very hard games last week and the Jackets didn't want to be the team the Rangers would have broken their all-time record against. But beyond all that, the Rangers struggle against Columbus because that team plays hard-nosed for 60 minutes. When you have an empty tank, and they have that Russian line doing ballet moves around Quickie to score, what can you say?

Edmonton put 16 on a line and that was just amazing. The Rangers put 10 and were no less impressive in their feat. Now it's the Maple Leafs' turn at seven (7) in succession and running. It's great stuff to follow as we get to crunch time.

After a couple of days off, the Rangers will right the ship against their Central Ohio nemesis.

Peace!

I fell asleep after the game (coached the kids at soccer practice last night) despite being in the Mountain Time Zone.

A well-rested Rangers' team neutralized Columbus and jumped them in the second period for two goals while Igor continued his magnificent play. Unlike Saturday's battle, the Rangers' kept the Jackets in their zone and pressured their goalie, Elvis Merzļikins, who matched Igor, save for save, in the first period and the first half of the second before the Breadman scored from a flick pass from Trocheck off the faceoff. Those two have got that one down to a science. Foxy added one as well to close the period 2-0.


But the Jackets refused to quit as Sillinger scored to open the third period and Marchenkov was constantly penetrating through the Rangers' defense and shooting away at Igor (NOTE: man, can he shoot a puck!). He and his Russian line buddies kept the puck in the Rangers' zone for the majority of the final period, clicked a few shots off the iron of the goal, but couldn't get the equalizer. In the closing moments, Kreider and the Breadman hit the open net for the final score and, thankfully, no more Columbus this season!

Matt Rempe, big shiner and all, received the majority of cheers during the night. That the Rangers have home-grown physical talent now issuing warning to would-be goons during the playoffs is pure genius on Lavoilette's part. Both he and Edstrom continue to gain experience and are playing good hockey right now. It is certainly making things interesting for Drury as March 8 approaches. Meanwhile, I've remarked that Rempe taking the Garden by storm reminded me of Nick Fotiu in my childhood. Sure enough, the NY Post couldn't resist and hunted down our old champ, Nick, for his thoughts on the kid:

Matt Rempe Rangers Arrival

Next up, La Soiree de Hockey au Canada, destination Toronto, where the Leafs' long winning streak was recently broken. As high a quality matchup this is, it will pale in comparison to next Monday night at the Garden when Florida comes to town. Preview of the semi-finals? Truth be told, the Atlantic may end up with the two Wild Card spots but, as we've seen since January 1st, several teams have made runs to get into contention. If the playoffs began today, the Rangers would host Tampa. But right now Florida, Toronto and Detroit are the hot teams in the Atlantic with New York and Carolina in the Metro. The fight for Metro #3 seed will be interesting. Can Ohilly hold on or will Washington or the Isles make a final push? The last 20+ games will make or break a lot of teams. The Rangers will have some very tough games to navigate in March (Winnipeg, Boston, Colorado, St. Louis, Florida, Carolina, trap game at Arizona?). If they are still in first place, when April rolls around, you can be sure they're battle hardened.

Rangers and Leafs have split their first two games, with both teams winning their respective games at home. Let's see if the Rangers can break that trend.

Peace!

Fought to get the point.  Tough loss in the shootout.  Trading deadline at the end of the week.  Need to do something to get guys like Mika and Kreider going at even strength. 

Tough loss. Thought they put in a big effort and played well. They had tons of chances. Fox had two huge chances that Samsanov denied. Bread also had chances. Shesty made some big saves despite allowing three goals. Just came up a notch short against a tough opponent tonight in a hostile environment. Nothing to hang their heads about.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on March 02, 2024, 10:36:04 PMTough loss. Thought they put in a big effort and played well. They had tons of chances. Fox had two huge chances that Samsanov denied. Bread also had chances. Shesty made some big saves despite allowing three goals. Just came up a notch short against a tough opponent tonight in a hostile environment. Nothing to hang their heads about.

Well stated. To escape that building with a point was an accomplishment that they might find useful when they tally up the points at season's end. Useful in that Winnipeg bounced back at Carolina, down 0-3 at the end of period two, and went on a tear to the tune of five (5) third period goals to dump the Canes 5-3 which increased the Rangers' lead over the Canes in the division.

But now comes the monster of the NHL to the Garden in what might very well be the game of the year, to date, when Florida plays the Rangers on Monday. The Panthers lay waste of the Red Wings 4-0 in Detroit yesterday and that's as sobering a wake-up call that there is.

#1 vs. #2 in the race for the President's Trophy. But I remember last season how the Rangers went into Florida in March, came out winners, and look what happened to both teams. Big game, but a lot of hockey to go.

It's all going to be hard from here-out so we'll know, soon enough, if they are battle hardened to make a run.

Peace!

Quote from: kartanoman on March 03, 2024, 01:29:51 PMWell stated. To escape that building with a point was an accomplishment that they might find useful when they tally up the points at season's end. Useful in that Winnipeg bounced back at Carolina, down 0-3 at the end of period two, and went on a tear to the tune of five (5) third period goals to dump the Canes 5-3 which increased the Rangers' lead over the Canes in the division.

But now comes the monster of the NHL to the Garden in what might very well be the game of the year, to date, when Florida plays the Rangers on Monday. The Panthers lay waste of the Red Wings 4-0 in Detroit yesterday and that's as sobering a wake-up call that there is.

#1 vs. #2 in the race for the President's Trophy. But I remember last season how the Rangers went into Florida in March, came out winners, and look what happened to both teams. Big game, but a lot of hockey to go.

It's all going to be hard from here-out so we'll know, soon enough, if they are battle hardened to make a run.

Peace!

The March schedule in general is brutal. I'm ok with that though. It's an opportunity for this team to get a feel for what a playoff schedule is going to be like. Almost a dry run if you will (not that these games don't significantly matter). If nothing else, we're going to be "battle tested" heading into the postseason.

Happy to get the point, and have a six point lead over Carolina with even amount of games played. Why am I not happy? Is it because I'm a Ranger and Giant fan? There's a little something missing besides a Right Wing for Zib/Kreids. The meat grinder starts now. We are either going to play teams in playoff position, or teams fighting to get in. Shesty is in form, but there are a lot of good goaltenders(Bobrovsky). Speaking of Florida, tomorrow will be a nice measuring stick. They play a wonderful style of in your face hockey, and are well coached by Maurice. They have talent, toughness, and playoff experience. I've written this before the Rangers need to up the NASTY in their game. Not the fighting stuff by Rempe, but the check he laid on the Leaf dman. I just don't understand why puck carriers are allowed to skate through Center Ice with speed untouched, and only stick checked. This is league wide, not just the Rangers. I'm not talking about Park, Marotte, Stephens, Trouba type checks, just getting in the way, a jostle, make them keep their heads up. The stick checking along the boards makes me nuts. The boards are an anvil. These things are all inside of the rules. Did they rewrite the rule book, and I missed it. To win a Cup you MUST METE OUT PUNISHMENT, within the rules. Without the fighting which is limited in the playoffs anyway. Drury, go get a Right Wing, or is there a call up surprise? We need two scoring lines. Without Zib's line scoring it will be very difficult to get to the Conference Finals. If Kakko would be playing anywhere close to where Laffy is we would be very tough to beat. We're that close. Grrrrrrrrrr

Well, that was a heck of a game. Even though it took the Panthers an unbelievable magic trick to get the winner in the third, hats off to the Blueshirts for hanging in there the whole game.

What do you want yo talk about? The Panthers are the hardest team to score against and their aggressive forechecking, defensive fortress around Bobrovsky, not to mention the goalie's performance were all solid. But the Rangers had their chances. It's what Florida does on offense that leaves opposing defenses stymied. But I thought the Rangers played very well and Igor had another stellar performance. How do you stop that third goal? Answer: you don't.

If Florida continues to play at this level, nobody is going to lay a glove on them. But at some point you'd have to expect their bubble to burst. We'll just have to wait and see But that was one exciting game at the Garden last night with its fast paced action.

I also liked the fact that the Rangers aren't taking $hit from nobody these days and are prepared to drop the gloves anytime. The Rem-pe chant in the stands was a blast!

The Rangers ger one more crack at these Panthers down the road. But next up is St. Louis whom, for whatever reason, they seem to struggle with. A bad loss to them earlier this season will be fresh on their minds. They have 'til Saturday to strategize how they'll go about it.

Peace!

I don't know that 3rd goal game winner sure seemed stoppable to me. Granted it went through the legs of Trouba but from damn near the blue line and it wasn't moving particularly fast.  Shesty played fine outside of that but it looked like his brain was rebooting as the shot was coming towards him cause he just froze and watched it go right past him.

I agree, I thought Igor should have done better with the GWG.

The Panthers are the best team in the league for a reason and the rangers hung with them.

I like Rempe, it's nice to see some grit. I think Kakko needs the deadline so he at least knows where he's gonna be. I've seen a fair bit of twitter chatter that he's on the move, so let's see.

Quote from: Gmo11 on March 05, 2024, 06:59:45 AMI don't know that 3rd goal game winner sure seemed stoppable to me. Granted it went through the legs of Trouba but from damn near the blue line and it wasn't moving particularly fast.  Shesty played fine outside of that but it looked like his brain was rebooting as the shot was coming towards him cause he just froze and watched it go right past him.

It's unfortunate after the February he had that a poor played shot, one mistake by Igor was enough to turn the tide in the game.

Otherwise a very good game

We don't have enough. Historically that has been the case going back to the "Fat Cats" except for 94'. I mentioned in a previous post that there's something missing. That something is an emotional edge. That edge is a willingness to take the physicality of the game to the limits of the rules, and slightly beyond when the opportunity presents. "Sorry Matthew I was trying to clear the puck off the boards, what was that, 4 teeth, and a very swollen cheek, full shield face mask, gee sorry" Basically a f/u attitude all over the ice. Ok, now I've gotten my 1 Cup in 84 years Ranger fan frustration out. They played ok, not great, not bad. Even when they went up 1-0 I thought they were chasing the game. Against good teams they get hemmed in their zone too much. Makes me nuts, especially when they have a chance to clear, and make an errant pass. Just get the freakin puck out of the zone, and start all over. They need to be quicker, and sharper with their passes, and decisions. No more of this x-ice crap. It's dangerous, and doesn't work in today's NHL. Shoot the puck more from everywhere in the O zone. Off the goalie's head, back, a defensemen, cause chaos. Every once in awhile it's ok to take a boarding penalty, we have the PK. Make the opposition keep their heads' up while skating through Center Ice. That slight emotional, physical edge makes the difference. We need one more goal scorer(who doesn't). If Kakko is here after the trade deadline maybe he will come around some more. He's really strong on the puck, but he had the tying goal on his stick, and shot wide. They're very good, but might not be good enough. Unfortunately that's how Bettman wants it.   

Quote from: Gmo11 on March 05, 2024, 06:59:45 AMI don't know that 3rd goal game winner sure seemed stoppable to me. Granted it went through the legs of Trouba but from damn near the blue line and it wasn't moving particularly fast.  Shesty played fine outside of that but it looked like his brain was rebooting as the shot was coming towards him cause he just froze and watched it go right past him.

Lomberg's wrister which caught Igor off guard was more Igor than anthing, agreed, but an opportune goal that was a kick in the ribs to the Rangers. I was thinking about that insane first goal of theirs where Barkov scooped the puck with his stick, juggled it, flipped it over to Rinehart who scored ... just a crazy goal that leaves your jaw on the floor.

Other than Nashville, who have won eight on the trot, this one makes Florida's fifth in succession and nine of the last 10. As I penned earlier this morning, if they can keep that intensity up, then give them the cup because they will have more than deserved it. But Edmonton won 16 in a row, cooled off and sit second behind the Canucks who ran away with that division. A team that is getting hot at the right time is Winnipeg with their all-world goalie Hellebuyck who loves to play the Rangers. They come to town this month. My point is that the Rangers get another crack at Florida and the result might be different next time if the Rangers keep playing the way they are and the Panthers inevitably slow down as every hot team has at one point or another during the season.

Agreed, when Florida is on their game, the Rangers will have a difficult time trying to beat them. Same goes for Carolina, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, Detroit or even Tampa (i.e. the shell of the team who beat them two seasons ago in the semifinals). I agree with the toughness and am pleased they are finally showing signs of not backing down from other teams who have been feeling them out lately.

Now, it's just wait and see if Drury pulls the lever on any trades which might impact the rest of the season. TBD.

Peace!

Wasn't good enough last night. Not against that caliber of a team.

Will be interested to see what they do at the deadline. A friend of mine who is a diehard said he heard Drury inquired about Alex Tuch on Buffalo.

Alex Tuch would be my dream acquisition. I wanted him when he was with Vegas. I don't think Buffalo will trade him, believe he is a native Buffaloan. He would be perfect on Zibs right. Shot, physical, skate.