Devils vs. Rangers game 1

[kreidertime]

Wish the Rangers would shoot like this every game. When Fox shoots it’s amazing how many good things happen. Only negative was Kane was atrocious. He looks washed up.

 

[kreidertime]

Boomer just said everything I did. Kane blows. Somebody needs to clock Hughes in the open ice. Miller is a tool with turnovers. I'd almost sit Kane at this point. He's a liability.

 

[NYR Fan]

I agree on Kane, he looked bad. Also played soft as F. Outside of the one nice pass he had to spring a 2 on 1, he kept turning the puck over with soft passes in the neutral zone or at the Devs blueline. A few times I was like WTF Kane. It is a concern. Unless he is hurt you have to play him, but man it is very concerning. I still say this is mental and he's in his head. Sounds crazy for a vet of his stature, but you don't make mistakes like he did without something being off, and that looks mental to me as he is showing zero aggression.

Words of caution for all, don't sell the Devs short. They are a good team, and those thinking we roll them now I think are underestimating them. The Devs will win games in this series, I think game 2 for sure, and it will be a long series between two good teams, either of which will beat the Canes IMO.

 

[PorterPanzer]

Kane had an assist and 2 SOG, hardly invisible but clearly the new whipping boy for the passengers aboard the S.S. Cuprun who choose to sit in the lifeboats instead of enjoying the cruise. I didn;t realize how physically Tarasenko played the game, huge upgrade over Vatrano. Mikkola is a huge upgrade over Braun, Drury did an excellent job improving the team with limited funds. Hitting Hughes is easier said than done.

 

[Messiah717]

Yup, I expect NJ to come out strong Thursday. They have to as they obviously don't want to be going to MSG down 2-0. Playing their game the Rangers are the better team but the Devils have some guys who can ruin a game if you play stupid.

 

[theProdigy223]

Awesome win. Despite the penalties that first period was one of the best efforts up and down the line up I have seen in awhile. Whole team was locked it. It was obvious the Devils were going to push in the second, we held strong and got the saves we needed from Igor. Love the focus and bounce back putting in the empty netter right after Hughes got his skills competition goal.

Big shoutout specifically to Goodrow. You saw last night why we got him: he is built for a playoff depth role. We didn't get to see it last year when he broke his ankle game 1. Compared to last year's 4th line which had Rooney and Reaves, this bottom six is light years ahead.

Regarding Kane. I don't think it is in his head or mental at all. He is one of the most clutch big-time performers of recent history and did it multiple times. It's simply that his hip is shot and he needs surgery. See my last post on him. It's not a secret. He kind of got by during the regular season, but now that the game is moving at playoff speed he is going to look that much slower. The stopping power is not there, the first step is not there. He is still dangerous with the puck on his stick, can still create and finish, and teams will have to respect him, but expecting him to just start flying around is not realistic. I'm confident he still has some big plays and clutch goals in him, but we did not trade for 2015 Kane or even last year's 93 point Kane. We got a Kane with a real bad wheel but who can still be dangerous and play a perfect complimentary role in the top 6 - so long as he plays smart and does not turn the puck over with soft plays, which he did too often last night. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt for now that he'll adjust his game and still be a big part of this playoff run.

 

[NYR Fan]

Respectfully I'll disagree with you on Kane Panzer. he did not play well last night, and had some really bad turnovers. And you may be right 223, maybe it isn't mental, and he really is hurting. I just haven't liked his words either about being a guy and fitting in, but maybe I am making too much of that.

Overall I hope he has some big plays and clutch goals left in him, but right now I would take making the smart play and being somewhat strong on the puck as some of his turnovers last night were really bad. He needs to do more then weak tips and deflections to get pucks out, and needs to get pucks deep instead of low % passes or trying to skate through multiple people.

I love Kane, and was a huge supporter of him coming here, but he has been at best whatever since he has been here. Maybe that is now the bar with him and that needs to be accepted. So that could be on me/us for expecting more. But like I wrote, at the very least he cannot leave us in bad spots with turnovers in high danger areas. He has to stop that.

 

[theProdigy223]

Yes absolutely. The turnovers and soft plays with the puck can't happen. I'm sure he will be the first to tell you. But he is a veteran guy with incredible playoff success under his belt, and you don't get there without the right mindset and an ability to adjust. So let's see if he can adjust and play a more controlled game. He's going to score a big playoff goal here soon.

And dump, let's be realistic here. Unless he starts shooting on his own net or doing snow angels in Igor's crease, he is not sitting. Drury did not bend over backwards and twist this roster into a pretzel just for Kane to get benched in the playoffs for Johnny Brodzinski.

 

[kreidertime]

I don't expect him to be sat by the team but if he can't play, he needs to step up and tell the team he can't play.

 

[strudwickisthebest]

Devils could have won that game if not for missed open nets and a couple posts……and IGOR. They need to tighten up and someone needs to be leveled on open ice by trouba

 

[Stepupstepan]

The two positives having Kane in top six even if he is not the same player. He forced players who should never be near top six into a great fourth line. Keeping the kid line intact for the playoffs. Another one is other coaches still have two worry about the matchups as he has a history of playoff success.

 

[Stepupstepan]

The guy who needs to get leveled is Hughes. He has his head down ALL the time. Without him the devs are nothing.

 

[kreidertime]

I don’t agree with that. I never thought the Rangers were gonna lose that game after about halfway through the second. They didn’t miss open nets either. That’s not true.

 

[kreidertime]

Plus, the Rangers have Shesterkin and the Devils don’t. The thing that concerned me the most was the lack of face off wins. That led to a lot of shot attempts. They’ll be a game where some of them are going to get through and get deflected.

 

[Messiah717]

Clearly, need to stay out of the box. I don't see the Devils going 0-4 with zero shots again. They were very good at limiting the Devils to one shot and keeping them from rebounds. Confident that Igor can stop most initial shots.