Rangers go FULL TURKEY against Montreal
NYR lose to MTL (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
It’s Thanksgiving and we all need to be somewhere more important today than reading blogs bitching about ONE game. Here’s a few quick thoughts on last night’s WOOF WOOF (or should I say GOBBLE GOBBLE) performance.
THE RANGERS STUNK!
Yes, as many were joking last night on Social Media outlets, it looked like they just stuffed themselves with a Thanksgiving meal before they hit the ice. From the drop of the puck they looked lethargic, and their decisions terrible.
Every player on the ice had a moment of horridness. I can give a pass to Mats Zuccarello and probably Derick Brassard for their efforts. Even Henrik Lundqvist laid an egg last night and admitted so after the game.
Oh…and what the hell was Rick Nash doing just walking away from Smith-Pelly? WOOF-GOBBLE!
NO THEY HAVEN’T BEEN PLAYING LIKE THIS ALL SEASON!
Do you honestly think the Rangers would be 16-4-2 if they played the way they did last night all year? Please go kick fancy stats in the nuts for even claiming that to be the case, and are only winning because Henrik Lundqvist has been supernatural in net or something.
Yes, Hank has probably accounted for about 5 of those wins (Washington, Nashville, and Arizona at home come immediately to mind) but the Rangers have been very good.
Let’s get this straight…no hockey team is perfect…not even those beloved corsi wonders like L.A. and Chicago. All teams have defensive lapses during the course of a game, if they didn’t you wouldn’t need or pay goaltenders the money teams do.
Last night, the Rangers had lapses where they actually played defense, that was the biggest issue. They were horrible and Ryan McDonagh was the worse one of them all. He was asleep on the opening goal of the third period that made it 3-1. At that time the Rangers were in position to find a way to get at least a point in this game, especially since Carey Price left the game with a leg injury.
And the defense pair of Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle never needs to be seen again! If you are going to play Boyle who is now clearly in a steep decline, pair him with Staal who can cover up for his deficiencies better than Yandle.
I expect Dylan McIlrath in on Friday against Boston for Boyle.
KEVIN HAYES IS SUCKING WIND, BUT AV MAY SCRATCH LINDBERG
Yes…he’s offensively talented but boy oh boy is he making a ton of mistakes defensively. He also coasts and holds on to the puck longer than Alexei Kovalev used to. Still, AV needs him in the lineup because when he puts it together, even for a shift, he’s hard to contain.
Oscar Lindberg played pretty bad against Montreal and may get his first scratch tomorrow against Boston. Emerson Etem hasn’t played in awhile and AV may just want to give Lindberg a game in the press box as a learning tool.
FINALLY, THE RANGERS WILL BOUNCE BACK BIG AGAINST THE BRUINS!
I have no doubts that this team will not let one stinker turn into two losses. Henrik Lundqvist and company will win convincingly on tomorrow afternoon at 1PM!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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