NFT: NY Rangers 2023 - 2024 Season

[coggs]

Who said that?  The fact is Igor saved them where in the third they were especially dominated. 

Is Igor part of the team?

[coggs]

Shot attempts were 94-35 in favor of Florida with Florida attempting 40 shots in the third. 

I question the accuracy.  After the first, they said it was 37-10 Florida.  Rangers had 8 SOG, you are telling me they only had 2 shot attempts that either missed or were blocked?  I find that hard to believe.  94 Shot attempts, but only 37 SOG?  Yeah, think we found Florida's problem.  There was a kid on my daughter's team who was good for about 15 shot attempts per game. Only 2 or 3 were actually on net though.

[coggs]

I just listened to Alexander Barkov post game.  I think this says it all, ""In play-offs, it doesn't really matter how you lose if you lose 6-1 or in overtime it is still a loss..."

[coggs]

Rangers definitely stole this one. But they all count the same. That second Laffy goal though... Sheesh was that a beauty.

Florida is almost certainly going to win game 4. Knowing it's a must win for them and being extra pissed off about blowing this one. The rangers are excellent and with shesty there's always a chance but I see this thing turning into a 3 game series with 2 are MSG. I'll take those odds.

Well, they just called up 13 guys from Hartford.  Maybe have them play Tuesday then?  Let the regulars rest for thursday?  Same thing was said about game 2 and 3 against Carolina, game 3 against Washington.  It will be a new game and what happened today will have no bearing on what happens Tuesday.

[kartanoman]

OMG!!!

I knew it was coming soon, bit never would I have guessed it would be the game winner in OT. Alex Wennberg has had so many close calls and has done great work at Center and on the boards, but I am so happy for this kid, coming from Seattle, becoming a dad in his early days with the team, and slowly assimilating with the team. What a great way for him to close this one out.

Goodrow starting to show he's a money player in the playoffs while Laffy puts on a show in twisting Bob into a pretzel for goal of the Playoffs.

Rangers regain control the series!

Peace!

[Gmo11]

Every time I see the Laffy goal I shake my head. THAT'S the guy they drafted #1 overall! He took a leap this year and hopefully this is a sign of good things to come next season too. What a freaking goal!

[DaveBrown74]

Every time I see the Laffy goal I shake my head. THAT'S the guy they drafted #1 overall! He took a leap this year and hopefully this is a sign of good things to come next season too. What a freaking goal!

It was unreal. Not just the play itself but the deftness and explosiveness of his rush up the ice on the left wing that preceded the play.

This guy was very good in the second half of the season and has been awesome in the playoffs. I'm starting to feel like the Rangers are short-changing themselves by not having him on the PP1 unit.

[kartanoman]

It was unreal. Not just the play itself but the deftness and explosiveness of his rush up the ice on the left wing that preceded the play.

This guy was very good in the second half of the season and has been awesome in the playoffs. I'm starting to feel like the Rangers are short-changing themselves by not having him on the PP1 unit.

What a time to come of age! But the aftermath of a game that the rest of the hockey world remains in disbelief that the Cats have absolutely dominated the series but are trailing two games to one in, you take a step back and you realize the stage is set for Lafreniere to come out and live up to his overall #1 draft choice.

The Cats have strategically taken Breadman, Z-man and Kreider out of this series with their defensive focus. Now, Goodrow is getting the looks and capitalizing; his Cup experience rising to the forefront at the most opportune times. Wennberg has quietly done excellent work across all his responsibilities and was finally rewarded with a timely game winner. Trocheck remains the most valuable player on the ice, not named Igor, for everything that he does. All of that teamwork is opening the gates for Laffy to step up and be the scoring machine, which he has taken by the bull horns.

But we need to get real for a moment, folks. We have a serious problem with Miller's timid play to include his inability to clear pucks or engage physically on the boards. Two goals yesterday fall on his back for playing small. I'm beginning to think it might be time to bring Jones back because Miller is completely out of this series, mentally and physically.

A lot of newspaper comment sections were ripping Trouba apart but how can you when he was largely defending by himself at times out there? Even in taking those penalties, I can't fully blame him as he was trying to protect the area in front of Igor.

Despite all the hype about Florida "should be" leading the series 3-0 or 2-1, whatever, they didn't score the fifth goal, so all that BS goes out the window.

I watched the NHL Network's post game coverage and the Cats players acknowledged they didn't get it done and the Rangers did. Maurice was elegant in his remarks but left something not at all surprising on the table as his final comment, but the manner with which he said it was interesting. A reporter asked him about the team's emotions after this game and how he might handle the locker room. He reflected momentarily, then thoughtfully articulated the following (NOTE: edited the post to insert Paul Maurice's actual words):

"Sometimes you want to keep the growl," Maurice said. "A lot of times in the playoffs it's about making sure that you keep that energy full, that you cut off your losses, that you let it go. Then there's times you want to keep it and eat it and let it burn for a while and find a different energy source.

"So when you put up whatever we put up tonight and you don't come away with a win, you should be a little growly."

Just a brilliant articulation and it sent chills up my own spine. Long story-short, if you thought Game Three was crazy, Game Four WILL be a kamikaze no-holds barred all-out attack with no prisoners taken. Expect a goon-fest extraordinaire with ambulances standing by.

So, we'll see what happens but I think we can expect Florida to come out guns-a-blazing and physical to the extreme. It will be interesting to see how Laviolette counters this but you'd have to think if they overpress, or are thinking too much about hitting, someone is going to break loose and create a mismatch opportunity to put past Bobrovsky, who all of a sudden has become mortal.

Finally, it was wonderful seeing all the blue in the stands and reading how pi$$ed off the locals were that their building was invaded by Rangers fans who kept screaming "MSG South, baby!" LOL! There's no doubt that Ranger Nation helps our boys on the road and we're only too happy to give it up for them. It has really made for a memorable year which I hope continues on favorably for them, and us.

Peace!

[Giant Obsession]

The first 7 - 8 minutes will be crucial.

Keep hitting them, no let up.  Heck dress Wheeler instead of Rempe if afraid of careless penalties.  Although this kid has been exemplary.

Bring it and bring it hard, this series can still be lost.

Finish it while they are mystified how we won game 3.

[babywhales]

I coach middle school baseball and I hate to say it but it cost me the 1st period of the Game 1 and all of Game 2. 

Overall, the Rangers got outplayed in 3 of the 4 wins vs Boston and 1 of the 2 wins vs Florida (if not both based on the reports I have read). In that sense they are getting it done but it sure would be nice to play a full game dominating a team more consistently

As well as this playoff series has been going I would argue the Rangers have not even hit their stride. I have read they are lucky but plenty of puck luck is being had by their opponents so to focus on their luck and no other is selective criticism. 

Kart- Miller has been off all year imo.  His personal issues required he pull himself from lineup 6 months ago.  He seems to exist on both ends of the spectrum, making aggressive amazing plays at times or absent minded soft play.  In the cap series he did a tremendous job against OV.  Unfortunately, this time of year on this stage 1 mistake can be the difference.  I will say in Game 3 the whole defense was chasing the Panthers. 

Hoping my team gets rained out tonight so I can watch the whole game. 

GO Rangers

[kartanoman]

I coach middle school baseball and I hate to say it but it cost me the 1st period of the Game 1 and all of Game 2.

Overall, the Rangers got outplayed in 3 of the 4 wins vs Boston and 1 of the 2 wins vs Florida (if not both based on the reports I have read). In that sense they are getting it done but it sure would be nice to play a full game dominating a team more consistently

As well as this playoff series has been going I would argue the Rangers have not even hit their stride. I have read they are lucky but plenty of puck luck is being had by their opponents so to focus on their luck and no other is selective criticism.

Kart- Miller has been off all year imo.  His personal issues required he pull himself from lineup 6 months ago.  He seems to exist on both ends of the spectrum, making aggressive amazing plays at times or absent minded soft play.  In the cap series he did a tremendous job against OV.  Unfortunately, this time of year on this stage 1 mistake can be the difference.  I will say in Game 3 the whole defense was chasing the Panthers.

Hoping my team gets rained out tonight so I can watch the whole game.

GO Rangers

I appreciate your inputs, as always! Thx for the reminder regarding Miller whom I do remember that time. I really felt bad for him and I don't want to sound overly critical since he would be his own worst critic anyway. That article in the paper he graciously allowed to be published was courageous on his part; it spoke also to the Rangers' organization in how they back up what they say when you hear them talk about loving each other and being united; powerful reminder! I am going to say a small prayer for him that he finds his inner strength to make it through tonight and realize his team is there for him, as are the fans despite their disappointment that he didn't have a good game on Sunday.

Regarding the competition in the Atlantic, I don't think it was hard to see that the Metro, apart from themselves and Carolina, and perhaps the hot team of the month making a run, didn't offer the same intensity in competition as the Atlantic Division from top to bottom. As for Boston, a team the Rangers swept this season in three games and two in Beantown, I vividly remember their coach say, after their third loss, that those guys (i.e. Rangers) just have our number this year, in a dejected voice. Would they have offered up the same level of competition as Florida has, to date? I really don't know the answer to that, but I can say that I sure was hoping they'd find a way to beat the Cats the same way I was hoping the Avs would have beaten the Stars, who put on a show last night to take Game Three from the Oilers, 4-3, and lead that series two games to one, but I digress.

Don't you have a video recorder in your home???

I agree with your assessment about "luck" in the Rangers-Cats series to date. More-so, the smallest of mistakes seem to have the most significant of consequences. For Miller, not clearing the puck led to a direct chain of passes that led to a Cats' score. Likewise, Rodrigues losing Wennberg, while the puck was in a scrum, led to #91 sneaking out in front of Bobrovsky, so that when Lindgren got the puck and wristed it goalward, the opportunistic Wennberg's fateful, long-awaited goal finally came to fruition in the form of the game winner in OT. It's not luck, just creating an opportunity from a small mistake and capitalizing on it. All those other stats mean nothing in the final analysis if Florida cannot score goal #5, which they were unable to.

Onto tonight's game, where the bad guys are taking the ice with "the growl," as their coach so eloquently put it. What does that really mean, what are the Rangers in for and what do they do to counter it, if anything at all? Or, will this be the Lions eating the Christians in the Roman Colosseum tonight? What can we expect?

P.S. Fingers crossed for rain for you. Or, please send it my way, where we're 103 and baking under sunny blue skies!

Peace!

[Messiah717]

They didn't deserve to steal another game.  Exactly what I said after the last game in regards to how badly they've bring outshot and out attempted.  They cannot continue to get nothing out of their big three.  Mika has been so bad he would be benched if this was the regular season.

[Gmo11]

They were manhandled again but yet again had a chance to win it in the end.  And this time it was a calamity of errors at the worst possible time by a variety of people that did them in . Starting with about 7 seconds let in regulation when Kakko was blatantly tripped and then elbowed in the head while he was sliding on the ground....no call.  Mika with an incredibly stupid turnover.  The Rangers changing both defensemen, during the long change period, before the puck was even in the offensive zone, Trouba doing whatever the hell he was doing right before the goal was scored.  Seriously go back and watch that play and tell me what in the holy hell Trouba thought he was doing.

With the way the Rangers penalty kill has been recently I almost wished in real time that they had just awarded a penalty shot.  I think Igor on a penalty shot is a better chance of denial than the Rangers on the penalty kill at this point.

Having said that, they did get the split in Florida like we needed them to do.  It wasn't pretty but they got it.  Now they better win Game 5.  Cause I really don't see how they're going back into this building and winning Game 6.

[babywhales]

3 out of 4 games vs the Panthers the Blue shirts have been outplayed.   

They got away with the same vs Boston but I doubt it will work with FLA. Now would be a great time to get it together and start playing some tuff playoff hockey.

It goes without saying but Igor is a complete beast.  He is completely dialed in and they are doing their best to simply waste it. 77 shots on goal in the past two games is crazy. 

Specials have been dominated by FLA in the past 2 games as they go is 2 of 6 on PP in Game 3 and 2 of 4 in Game 4.  Tightening up the box will be important in Game 5.  As GMO stated the whistle getting eaten on Kakko was BS, I said to my wife and boys, wait till they call the next one on the rangers and it becomes a much bigger deal.

The Rangers simply need to start playing like its obvious to all they want it more, like they can not be denied and so far it looks like FLA wants it more

Looking for the Garden to turn things around on Thursday

[files58]

The Refs were never going to make that call on Kakko unless it was a point blank scoring chance. Really dumb pass by Zib. You can't throw xice passes like that whether it's in November or May. Now it's do or die. Fla gets away with the cute physical stuff that's a subtle part of the game. Especially after Bennet wasn't suspended for the all the world to see punch on Marchand. How did the league put blinders on for that? During the season they suspend players for borderline infractions. Oh yeah, what about the Vesey hit?  It's time to accidentally on purpose bounce a few clearing passes off Florida helmets. At some point during his career I'd like to see Tzachuk need surgery to remove his mouth guard from his chin.