Rangers at Crap City

[cagedlion]

Craps did not show up in Buffalo last night. Holtby was
knocked out of the game. You can be sure he will have
a turn around game today. They probably were thinking about
the game today..........5PM start.
I will be interested to see if the Rangers play a full 3 periods
competently. The Craps have demolished the Rangers in last
two games. And yes, the Craps should be 3-0 against the
good guys. Can they beat the Craps in Washington?.....try #1
Next 2 contests between these two teams will be in DC.

Does Lundqvist play the 2nd game of this back to back?
Points are at a premium heading into the 3/4 stretch.
Lots of questions entering this game. I'm sure there will
be plenty of answers.

 

[chuckd3534]

Have a bad feeling about this one. Raanta was announced as the starter earlier in the week, so no Hank tonight. Klein also a game time decision, so we may see McIlrath in for him.

We'll see how it goes, but this has 5-2 or 6-2 Caps written all over it IMO.

BTW the Rangers have 38 games left including the Caps game. We also have 8 back to backs starting this evening. So maybe 30 Hank starts and 8 Raanta starts to end the season. We'll see if that works out well for us.

 

[chuckd3534]

And not sure if a 4-3 OT loss in the last game counts as domination cage...LOL.

 

[cagedlion]

Chuck, the score isn't the issue. They way the Caps
dominated on the boards and their forecheck
didn't give the Rangers any fluidity in the OT loss.

And yes, I am not optimistic about today's game.

BTW, in yesterday's game, Lundqvist stopped at
least 6 point blank shots with nary a D man near
them. Should this continue today, Raanta is in
for a tough game!

 

[kreidertime]

Chuck still lives in a world of fantasy where he thinks the Rangers can compete with the Craps in the playoffs. The Craps are probably about to take 10 games off. They have lost what? 9 games? There about ready for their down stretch of the season.

 

[chuckd3534]

Yes...they were dominated in that game. They have been dominated in every game. They are not really in 2nd place that is all a mirage. Last year finishing 1st or winning the Pres trophy meant nothing. This year it means everything dump...I agree. They should actually hand the SC to the Caps now and move onto the summer. The Flyers had some chances, that is weird because the standard should be ZERO chances against our 8.5 cap hit goalie...remind me again why we don't have a 2 mill goal and allow ZERO chances every game.

This board is comical now. Disgraceful really.

 

[chuckd3534]

And if the Caps take it to us today, which I think is possible today, this thread is going to be awesome to read I am sure. Should be a real winner. Shutdown the whole team and season...LOL.

And if a dman makes a mistake...wow it will explode in here. Looking forward to it.

 

[Ranger71]

Well if you're just going to take stupid penalty after stupid penalty you don't even give yourself a fighting chance.

 

[chuckd3534]

Played a really strong period. Crap goal allowed by Raanta, what can you do. Overall played well though. Good to see.

One comment I will make though, I think AV needs to have a little talk with Zucc, dude simply refuses to shoot. He doesn't even look at the net sometimes. He has a good shot, but who would know it because he doesn't shoot. Frustrating.

 

[Stepupstepan]

Zucc is too unselfish. Thats his problem and what he is. AV wont change it so you have to live with it. We've heard this over and over before.

 

[chuckd3534]

I agree, but he should say hey Mats...you need to shoot the puck more bro. Right now we are in a stretch where he doesn't even look at the net.

 

[Stepupstepan]

Dylan needs to stop hanging out with Girardi and Staal. Stay on your feet, big boy. He played well int the first and should be in for Boyle who is useless.

 

[Ranger71]

It wasn't really a bad goal, as Ovechkin wide open from 10ft will beat most goalies.

 

[Stepupstepan]

Zucc is not a child, chuck. AV wont say shit to him. Don't you think he would've said it already?

 

[Stepupstepan]

Staal and Girardi pairing pretty much on every caps scoring chance.

 

[Stepupstepan]

LOL...Typical ref bs one sided now. Joe is a moron. my ass evenly called.

 

[Stepupstepan]

Good defense Dan Girardi.

 

[JD30]

Where the fuck is Girardi on that ? just sad !

 

[chuckd3534]

The refs are fine...our PK sucks. That is a huge issue, and it has been since we let Stoll go.

As for Zucc, no clue what AV has said to him, but I know I'd be saying shoot more or you are sitting. He has to shoot.

Now this game is becoming what I expected. Right now we are not equipped to play the Caps, especially without Hank.

And yeah, that 1st goal was not a good goal. He was more than 10 ft away, and it was not a typical OV shot...has to be stopped...is what it is.

And BTW...you see us not scoring on good chances we get...we so lack finishers. We make every goalie look like a stud, even though Holtby is a stud now, we do it every night.

 

[theProdigy223]

That PP goal was almost identical to the one they gave up to Simmonds in Philly, and both times it was a man sitting in front alone at Girardi's post. He can't honestly be that dumb, can he? Is it a scheme thing?

 

[chuckd3534]

The Caps had the puck in our zone for over a minute. ALL 4 of the PK guys are to blame, not just G or McD or any single guy. The PK is terrible, closing in on the worst in the NHL. Is what it is.

 

[chuckd3534]

The whole PK has sucked. Game after game it is the same thing. This is not about one player, every single guy on the PK needs to be better.

It would be nice if we could finish some chances. Now we get a PP to get back into the game. Let's see if we can do what the Caps did and capitalize.

 

[Ranger71]

They rarely even clear the puck on pks now.

 

[JD30]

Cmon ...the guy has no excuses anymore! His reads are horrific- he looks totally lost !

 

[Rangers94]

Girardi defending no one on that 3rd goal there. Letting players set up right in front and has his head up his ass. Defensemen just aren't doing what the NEED to do in the dzone. THAT was a perfect example of our team in the dzone not committing to a defensive scheme and 5 guys just doing what they want. There's ZERO chance we get this turned around without some MAJOR move, be it a core piece going or a coach like Ulf or Arneil being fired. SOMETHING DRASTIC must be done. Too many lazy, non-committal players this year who are resting on their laurels and think that nothing can be done to them (which because of Sather's dumbass with all the NTC nothin can). The reason I don't yell at the offense like you chuck is because I feel like even if we scored 3-4 goals, we'd still lose. We scored 3 goals against Washington a few weeks ago and then got BLOWN out. We scored 5 goals against Edmonton but still gave up 6. We can score a lot (proven by the fact that we're 4th in the NHL in goals scored) but when we do we are HORRENDOUS defensively (proven by the fact we're 15th in goals against).

 

[chuckd3534]

Agreed 71. That is on all the PK guys...it is awful right now, and so is the PP. One PP goal in forever...not good enough.

Caps score to PPG's to take the lead...we do nothing on our PP. Same old story.

 

[chuckd3534]

I'm not going to argue with you guys anymore. You have all written off the D months ago, so it isn't worth it. I am done with it. Meanwhile we don't finish, our PK is awful, and our PP is a joke. But it is all Girardi and the D.

Done arguing with you guys. You all win. We suck, trade everyone, and shut it down.

Done.

 

[Rangers94]

Look at the caps PK. Guys COMMIT to the board battle, kill time along the boards and make a play. We stand in our zones wave our sticks around like we're trying to fan a fire, and allow the opposing team to set up and screen the goalie. We're fundamentally fucking retarded.

 

[Rangers94]

I'm not going to argue with you guys anymore. You have all written off the D months ago, so it isn't worth it. I am done with it. Meanwhile we don't finish, our PK is awfulness, and our PP is a joke. But it is all Girardi and the D.

Done arguing with you guys. You all win. We suck, trade everyone, and shut it down.

Done.

YOU are the one that likes to use stats, so explain the 4th in the league in goals scored and 15th in goals against if scoring goals is our primary concern. We have games where we score 3, but we lose 5-3. ITS AN ALL AROUND EFFORT IN WHICH WE SUCK. It's not JUST offense. We suck offensively. We suck defensively as well. It is possible that we suck in both facets of the game, and we do.

 

[Stepupstepan]

how can you continue defending Girardi is beyond me. Isn't it a job of d-men to tie up a wide open guy in front of the net.