Game #13: A welcome sight for Lundqvist against lowly Red Wings

Posted on November 7, 2019 by Derek

Tony DeAngelo scores his fifth on the power play. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer via Getty Images

It’s hard to know what to expect. Following Monday’s disaster to Ottawa, you had to figure there would be a better effort. Sure enough, the Rangers delivered on that promise by methodically beating the lowly Red Wings 5-1 last night at MSG on Wednesday Night hockey.

Two Original Six franchises that have fallen on hard times, this wasn’t your Dad’s Blueshirts of the 1970’s featuring the Goal A Game (GAG) Line of Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, or the classic Winged Wheel Production Line of Sid Abel, Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay. It’s not the 1990’s Rangers of Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Alexei Kovalev, Brian Leetch, Mike Richter, Jeff Beukeboom, or the classic Red Wings of Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, and The Russian Five of Sergei Fedorov, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Igor Larionov, Slava Fetisov, and Vladimir Konstantinov.

After the game, NBCSN wisely aired the movie, The Russian Five covering the special connection the five Russian hockey players had while eventually starring for the Red Wings to help win consecutive Stanley Cups in ’96-97 and ’97-98. I enjoyed every minute of it. Highly recommended to any passionate hockey fan.

As for the game, there really isn’t a lot to say. The Rangers did what they had to do against a team that’s in worse shape than them. Detroit might boast a good first line featuring captain Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi. However, they are so incomplete, it’s sad. Having to trot out fallen veteran Jimmy Howard in net with Jonathan Bernier as the other goalie is hard for coach Jeff Blashill. They are a long way from competing. Even with promising defenseman Filip Hronek and Andreas Athanasiou, there really isn’t much. Yzerman has his work cut out.

This isn’t like that feel good win on my birthday when Pat Verbeek beat Detroit in overtime on a power play goal. That feels like a lifetime ago. So did all the classic matchups between Howard and Henrik Lundqvist. Normally, they go toe to toe like two heavyweights. The game goes to overtime or a shootout with the final score 2-1. Not on Wednesday. Howard entered with a career record of 10-3-3 vs the Blueshirts with a 1.77 GAA and .948 save percentage. But he’s not that goalie this year.

It showed. There were a couple of leaks. Following a scoreless first period that put some fans and even a couple of whiny beat writers to sleep, the Rangers got a early power play in the second. Pavel Buchnevich passed down low for Brendan Lemieux, who did the grunt work to set up Tony DeAngelo for his fifth at 4:25. Tony Dee continues to impress. The five goals are one more than he had all of last season. He is continuing to silence the doubters.

Less than a couple of minutes later, DeAngelo stepped up in the neutral zone to create a two-on-one. Buchnevich took the puck and waited before passing across for Chris Kreider, who this time was able to beat Howard from a bad angle for his third at 6:04. He didn’t exactly fire the shot quickly. Howard has enough time to make the save, but just couldn’t. It was a soft goal and good luck for Kreider, who was appreciative of the pass from Buchnevich (2 ๐ŸŽ) and credited Lundqvist for a strong game.

Another Red Wing penalty led to a second Blueshirts power play goal. This time, Adam Fox took an Artemiy Panarin pass at the left point and fired a wide wrist shot that had the good fortune of going off Ryan Strome’s shoulder and in for a 3-0 lead. That’s how it goes for Strome, who can do no wrong. He continues to play well while centering the top line with Panarin and Jesper Fast. He had two more points in the win. This isn’t a fluke. He’s putting himself in position to succeed. They oughta consider re-signing him. He adds that key ingredient most of the roster lacks.

Leading by three and totally in control, a brutal mistake allowed the Red Wings to get some life. A bad pinch from Libor Hajek resulted in Detroit coming out of their zone with a two-on-one. It’s what happened next that was even worse. Jacob Trouba barely touched Athanasiou, who went by like he was a ghost to dish across to Valtteri Filppula for an easy put away to again keep Lundqvist without a shutout. Here’s how it looked and sounded as called by Doc Emrick.

Mantha made the play to trap Hajek and Filppula and Athanasiou worked a give and go. I cannot believe how soft Trouba was. He made no attempt to check him. It was dizzying. It was very disappointing. At least it was only one bad moment. He’s better than this. He’s been outperformed by Neal Pionk. A guy that was ran out of the building because he was being used in a crazy role. I’d still do the trade 100 out of 100 times. Trouba needs to perform up to expectation. He isn’t cheap. I’m not going to mention the salary.

For a while following that goal in Filppula’s 500th game as a Red Wing, they had most of the play. It was Detroit with the puck possession putting the Rangers on the defensive. Lucky for them, Lundqvist was good. He came up with some big saves to keep the lead at two. All 12 saves he made in the period were important.

The Wings hung around in the third for a bit. A bad tripping penalty by Micheal Haley gave them a power play. However, it was the Blueshirts who made the most of it. A Howard misplay allowed Greg McKegg to score a shorthanded goal from Brett Howden and Trouba at 8:44. It was his first as a Ranger. Inserted into the lineup for Lias Andersson, he shouldn’t come out when the team visits Raleigh to face his former team tonight. I would scratch Haley. Andersson needs to play. Enough of these head games.

It was also the return for Dylan McIlrath. The former first round pick was called up by the Red Wings from Grand Rapids to replace injured vet Trevor Daley. He was okay in 13 minutes. However, McIlrath was caught on for a power play goal and one at even strength. He’s a good team guy. It’s too bad he never reached his full potential. Injuries played a role for sure. So too did the ridiculous treatment he got from Alain Vigneault. But he won a Calder Cup in Grand Rapids and seems happy. That’s cool.

As usually happens in a 4-1 game, the Rangers sat back. They allowed Lundqvist to take care of the rest. He stopped all 16 Detroit shots in the final period to net the game’s first star. We’ll probably see him again against Carolina. That should be a much better game. The Hurricanes are coming off a disappointing loss to the Devils.

We’ll see what that brings.

Battle Of Hudson 3 ๐ŸŒŸ:

3rd ๐ŸŒŸ Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers (35 saves including 12/13 in 2nd and 16/16 in 3rd)

2nd ๐ŸŒŸ Ryan Strome, Rangers (5th of season plus ๐ŸŽ, 3 shots in 5 attempts, +1 in 17:43)

1st ๐ŸŒŸ Tony DeAngelo, Rangers (5th of season plus ๐ŸŽ, 4 shots, +1 in 17:02)

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Quinn’s puzzling lineup decisions a head scratcher

Posted on November 6, 2019 by Derek

There is always panic in the land of NYR Twitter. Unlike recent criticism, frustrated fans have a point regarding tonight’s lineup against the Red Wings.

To say it’s puzzling would be one way to describe it. Simply put, it’s hard to comprehend what went into David Quinn’s decisions. Before trying to answer that question, here is what he decided to do.

Of course, beat writer Vince Mercogliano got some predictable responses from perplexed fans. Even another former beat writer questioned what the rationale is for healthy scratching Lias Andersson for Greg McKegg and sitting Ryan Lindgren for Marc Staal.

There is a considerable lack of trust from the fan base when it comes to how the organization evaluates young talent. Whether you put an emphasis on analytics like other blogs, or are more conventional like I am here, one thing we can all agree on is that there’s a reason to be less than trustworthy when it comes to how the Rangers operate. They make promises they can’t keep.

Vitali Kravtsov thought he was coming over to make the roster. Instead, he went down to Hartford and probably was confused after a promising camp. Not to say I agree with the 19-year old bailing after five games to return home to the KHL. They didn’t have a top six spot available. He was blocked by Pavel Buchnevich, Kaapo Kakko, Chris Kreider and Artemiy Panarin. Two of those forwards haven’t been consistent.

While Kravtsov continues to develop with Chelyabinsk Traktor in Russia, there are other young players the organization must do a better job with. Since his recall, Lindgren had been solid defensively and wasn’t a main culprit in Monday’s 6-2 humiliation to Ottawa. So, why is he the odd man out for Staal? Quinn indicated he didn’t feel good about it, but based on the personnel, that’s the decision he made.

Rather than make an example of Brady Skjei, who I’m at my wits end with following another mind boggling performance that makes fans question why GM Jeff Gorton gave him that contract, Quinn chooses to bench Lindgren. Oy. I could at least see the logic if he gave Libor Hajek a night off. Hajek had his worst game of the season. That’ll happen with young players.

Why not have Skjei watch from the press box? It’s not the worst thing in the world to have the 25-year old sit out a game. I don’t care that he makes an average cap hit of $5.3 million. Quinn wasn’t afraid to do it in his first season. Ditto for Buchnevich, whose play has dipped. If he doesn’t pick it up, he could use a wake-up call.

Now, let’s get to Andersson. Since preseason, he’s outplayed Brett Howden. But the organization seems to prefer Howden over Andersson in a third line center role. Perhaps this is due to last year. He obviously has more NHL experience, which might explain why Quinn trusts him more. Both players are used on the penalty kill. However, one is clearly getting more ice time and remains the favorite.

Not to say Howden has some anything wrong. This is a clear preference by the coach, who’s been unwilling to see what Andersson can do in a different role. Why did they take Lias with the seventh overall pick in the Derek Stepan/Antti Raanta trade if they were going to treat him this way. He’s the same age as Howden. Something has to give.

Quinn explained that after a couple of good games, Andersson wasn’t as effective last game. That’s true. However, if that’s the criteria for scratching him, then it should also be applied to Howden and other Quinn favorites. There’s nothing wrong with having him sit out a game with another tomorrow. But by inserting McKegg, it makes it sound like the team is prioritizing winning over what’s best long-term. It’s a rebuild.

If they can’t play Andersson when Mika Zibanejad is missing a third straight game, what exactly does that say about the organization? If they’re gonna jerk him around, trade him. Other organizations aren’t as confusing as the Rangers when it comes to developing young talent. Is this a Manny Malhotra situation? Where they don’t think he’s anything more than a third liner. That’s probably true. I just am not crazy about how they’re going about it.

At this point, all you can do is throw your hands up in the air. It is only for one game. If for some reason both Andersson and Lindgren aren’t back in the lineup tomorrow for Carolina, I’m going to lose faith in the team.

It’ll likely be Henrik Lundqvist against Jimmy Howard like always for the special 8 PM start on NBCSN. Let’s see if they can play better in front of Lundqvist after giving Alexandar Georgiev the Lundqvist Experience.

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Redemption on the road

Posted on November 6, 2019 by hasan4978

Despite my angst over the Devils’ early season struggles, their OT loss points had kept them barely afloat, but they still needed a big road trip to get back on level ground and on Saturday afternoon I didn’t really see how that was possible.ย  How could I, considering our eleven wins in forty-one road games last year and three straight road blowouts to start this year?ย  However, after two straight close, unlikely wins in Carolina and Winnipeg perhaps this team is finally starting to show signs of why they ‘won the offseason’.

My attention was split the last two games, while I did have last night’s game on I was doing other things as well so it was in the background.ย  Saturday’s win in Carolina I just couldn’t bring myself to watch much of (other than the final several minutes) after the ghastly end to our long homestand last Friday.ย  However, one lineup adjustment in Carolina did actually go a long way when coach John Hynes scratched ‘grit’ forward John Hayden and moved Wayne Simmonds down to the fourth line.ย  Suddenly the fourth line which the staff loves to play in momentum-changing situations became at least semi-viable.ย  Also showing the urgency of the team’s situation, Hynes started Mackenzie Blackwood on a road back-to-back and the second-year player responsed with a solid 24-save performance in the Devils 5-3 win.

In a recent blog I said at least one of the goalies had to step up and play better and Blackwood has done that in his last three games, playing well enough to salvage a point out of an otherwise subpar team effort against the Flyers, following that up with two straight big wins on the road including a scintillating 33-save performance against the Jets where he only allowed one goal, and none in the shootout.ย  Yet somehow, the homeristic Canadian media failed to even give him a star for his performance last night.ย  Well bleep them.ย  Where that leaves fellow goalie Cory Schneider, for the moment is on the bench.ย  Will Cory play either game in Vancouver or Calgary this weekend?ย  Probably not considering the team’s still in somewhat of a desperation mode, but it would be nice to see him get in there with a better team effort than was on display earlier this season.

It’s not as if the goalie has been the only one stepping up however.ย  After a substandard beginning to his season, P.K. Subban finally has started resembling the defenseman we thought we were getting from Nashville.ย  His masterful deflection early in the third period against Carolina held up for the game-winner.ย  Subban also spoke for many after the game when he admitted the team was tired of being in positions to win games and not getting it done.ย  In Carolina they did get it done, holding on in a tense third period.ย  Also upping his game in Carolina was Nico Hischier, who recently came off of injury but incredibly hadn’t scored a goal in his last 24 games going back to late February.ย  Hischier not only scored in Carolina, but also in Winnipeg, the team’s only regulation goal.ย  Maybe now the floodgates are open for the talented third-year player.

As Derek reiterated in his previous blog, #1 overall Jack Hughes has had a solid start to his rookie season seemingly getting better almost every game.ย  His PP goal in Carolina toward the end of the first period tying the game at two was huge.ย  After Jesper Bratt got taken out brutally after a cheap shot by Teuvo Teravainen in Carolina, Hynes had to make lineup changes for the game in Winnipeg.ย  He played Jesper Boqvist for the second straight game and finally brought Nikita Gusev out of witness protection to restore him to the lineup.ย  Both would contribute in a big way last night, though it took a while.ย  Boqvist did draw a critical late OT penalty that could have been a penalty shot but alas was just another failed power play, but both he and Gusev scored in the shootout as coach Hynes finally changed a shootout rotation that wasn’t working.

With the Alberta part of this road trip looming the team needs to maintain its level of play over the last two games.ย  Amazingly they’re 4-1-2 in their last seven games despite all their early-season issues.ย  Maybe not so coincidentally that’s also the timeline since assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald came down to the bench after our 0-4-2 start.ย  Last night’s win in particular felt like it could signal a reset to the start of the season, especially considering it was against the Jets that the Devils’ opening nightmares began at the Rock.ย ย Whatever the reason, just keep the good times rolling and Taylor Hall won’t have to worry about boos next Wednesday after all when you return home.

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Game #12: A hard fall for undisciplined Rangers in ugly loss to Senators

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Derek

Brady Tkachuk whoops it up with Thomas Chabot following a Senators 6-2 humiliation of the Rangers. AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy Ottawa Senators

This one was ugly. Oh. We warned you. It was a bitter disappointment. The Rangers were humiliated by the Senators 6-2 at MSG. That ended the mini win streak at two.

For all the things they did well against the Bolts and Preds, they royally stunk tonight. There was no defense, sloppy turnovers, undisciplined penalties, bad special teams and uneven goaltending. The latter I am not gonna delve into. Alexandar Georgiev got the Henrik Lundqvist treatment. And he fell victim to it like Wednesday’s starter.

You cannot take any opponent lightly in this league. Not when you’re a young, rebuilding team that’s accomplished nothing. The Senators came in with nothing to lose. After being totally dominated for over 11 minutes without a shot, they were awoken by a needless fight. Brendan Lemieux engaged Mark Borowiecki. He may have won, but it was a foolish one with his team ahead one and in total control.

Prior to Lemieux’s dust up with rugged Ottawa defenseman Borowiecki, Kaapo Kakko had scored his third goal on a nice forecheck and pass from Adam Fox. The Finn showed up for this one. If only there were more passengers. He recorded his first two-point game with a goal and primary helper on an Artemiy Panarin power play goal.

Unfortunately, the Rangers lost discipline and themselves. They didn’t play smart hockey. Not only Lemieux, who would later be tossed for going after nuisance Brady Tkachuk. The penalties they took were brutal.

After doing zilch, the Senators evened the score at 14:56 due to nemesis Jean-Gabriel Pageau. With Anthony Duclair creating a distraction in front, Pageau beat both Libor Hajek and Lias Andersson to a rebound for his fourth. It was the end of a really bad shift for the Rangers.

During a scrum in front of Georgiev, Ryan Strome was upset after being shoved down by Duclair. He went back at Tkachuk to earn roughing minors. The issue was Jacob Trouba, who hasn’t been the same for a while, got an extra two for a unnecessary cross-check.

That gave Ottawa a power play. On it, Tkachuk sucked Brady Skjei into a phantom trip by embellishing it to earn a five-on-three. Entering play, the Sens had only two power play goals and were a miniscule 4.4 percent. That would change. On a broken play set up by former Ranger Vladislav Namestnikov, Thomas Chabot had a one-timer carom favorably right to journeyman Tyler Ennis for a 2-1 Ottawa lead at 18:31.

Just like that, the Rangers trailed after a period. They went from being up by nine or ten in shots to being down 14-11 by the conclusion. That’s how much their level dropped and the pesky opponent’s rose. Was it all Lemieux’s fault as some would have you believe on Twitter? No. However, he cannot take that fight when the team is up and playing well. The coach can’t be happy with it. At least when Tony DeAngelo battered JC Beaudin, he took up for himself. That’s fine.

The poor play continued into the second. They let Ron Hainsey score. That’s brutal. I didn’t see it. I don’t care to. I had the Giants on. When I had the game on, I noticed Trouba take another bad penalty early on. Hajek also did because he was out of position. Let’s just say it wasn’t his best night. Skjei stunk too. So too did Trouba, who continues to fire blanks from the point off target. What has happened to him? Hopefully, not Rangers Syndrome.

There also was a Pavel Buchnevich moment. I don’t mean that in a good light either. He continues to be a enigma. You don’t know which player will show up shift to shift. On some sustained pressure, he was on the point covering for a pinching Fox. He had the puck and decided to take a low percentage slapshot. It got blocked and Pageau picked up the loose puck, broke in and beat Georgiev top cheese for a 4-1 Ottawa lead.

It reminded me of what he did in the playoffs. I said after that first goal, he looked like he might get a hat trick. He nearly did. He just outhustles and outworks opponents. He actually entered the game a plus-11 on the Sens. This guy isn’t just a Ranger killer. He’s a good player that’s consistent.

Following another defensive breakdown that resulted in Tkachuk putting away his fourth unassisted (third straight goal unassisted), a patient Kakko took a DeAngelo feed and made a sweet pass across the seam for a Panarin power play goal that made it 5-2 with 2:26 remaining in the period. It was nice to see Kakko look more confident. Even if it came in a ugly loss. He was moved up by David Quinn to the first line with Strome and Panarin.

The weird aspect of this game was the Rangers created chances following the Panarin goal. They swarmed the Ottawa net, but came away empty due to Anders Nilsson. He made some big saves to finish with 32 for the game. Very good rebound control.

I didn’t see much of the third. There was no point. Namestnikov got a little revenge by getting a power play goal to make it 6-2. That gave him a goal and assist in his return to MSG. They did put up a little video for his two years here. He’s a solid player, who might get relocated to a contender in need of an effective bottom six forward that can skate and kill penalties. It’s a contract year for him. He already has five goals. That’s three more than Chris Kreider. Speaking of disappointing.

In the third period alone, the Rangers were assessed four penalties for 16 penalty minutes. That included Lemieux earning a misconduct for getting involved with Tkachuk, who was the best player on the ice. He hasn’t started well, but against a team that played soft, he dominated to finish with a goal, assist, four penalty minutes and a power play drawn. That’s what a power forward looks like.

There’s nothing else left to say. This was pathetic. Quinn wondered how his team would play. Now you know why. What will they do against the equally bad Red Wings, who got blown out by Nashville, this Wednesday? I have no clue.

However, Lundqvist will start and someone is getting benched for Marc Staal. Hajek or Skjei are possible. At this point, I’ve seen enough of Skjei. I’ll save that for another post. Ditto for everyone’s favorite Russian.

Battle Of Hudson 3 ๐ŸŒŸ:

3rd ๐ŸŒŸ Kaapo Kakko, Rangers (3rd of season plus ๐ŸŽ for 1st career multi-point game, +1 in 17:10)

2nd ๐ŸŒŸ Vladislav Namestnikov, Senators (5th of season plus ๐ŸŽ, 3 shots, +1 in 18:04)

1st ๐ŸŒŸ Brady Tkachuk, Senators (4th of season plus ๐ŸŽ, 6 shots, +2 in 16:43)

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The points are coming for Hughes

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Derek

It took a while, but Jack Hughes has come around. The Devils number one overall pick struggled out of the gate by going without a point the first six games of his NHL career.

There were some close calls. The 18-year old center had a few near misses on potential goals. He had bad luck by hitting goalposts. It is an adjustment going from dominating juniors to making the quantum leap into the NHL.

For Hughes, he even saw some time on the third line. That was more by design from coach John Hynes. The much maligned Devils coach has been justifiably criticized for much, but his handling of Hughes isn’t one of them. An injury to Nico Hischier helped Hughes move up to center the top line. That worked out well.

Since moving between Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri, the rookie has fit in well. Given the kid’s skill, speed and capability, Hughes probably won’t be moving off that line for a while. Even with mixed results from the team, he’s producing. After no goals or assists in the first six, Hughes has recorded seven points (3-4-7) over the last half dozen. He’s failed to record a point in just one game. The unpredictable 7-6 overtime loss to the Lightning on All Hallows Eve.

His best game so far was a three-point effort (1-2-3) in a 5-3 home defeat to the improved Coyotes. A superb game even though it proved to not be enough due to the frustrating Devils’ inability to protect leads.

Had they done so recently, their record would not be 3-5-4. Especially coming off their best win thus far by defeating Carolina 5-3 in Raleigh. Even if it came at the expense of Hurricanes backup James Reimer, it was a good win.

New Jersey will be tested some more on the challenging five-game road swing with stops at Winnipeg on Election Day, followed by the Western Canadian tour in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

For Hughes, all three of his goals have come on the power play. That’s not surprising. He has four power play points (1-3-4). Even strength is always hard for young players. Steven Stamkos experienced similar growing pains with Tampa. Playing center is also a big responsibility. Hughes has three even strength assists out of his seven points and is a minus-six.

However, he’s improving. If you looked at his overall face-off numbers, it is misleading. He’s won 52 and lost 74 for only 41.3 percent over a dozen games. But he was over .500 in two of the past four contests, going 27 and 28 over that stretch. A good sign.

Regarding the Calder race, Hughes will see a familiar name among the rookie point leaders. Older brother Quinn has 10 points (1-9-10) for the Canucks. He is a defenseman that’s one year older than Jack. Right now, he’s out due to a lower body injury. He’s likely to miss a third consecutive game tomorrow.

The interesting thing about this season’s rookie class is you have a few teenagers looking to make an impact. As we’ve seen on the Manhattan side of the Hudson Rivalry, it’s taken Kaapo Kakko even more time. The Rangers’ second pick enters tonight’s match against Ottawa with only three points (2-1-3) and an ugly minus-12 rating over 11 games.

Like Hughes, Kakko has seen time on a secondary line by design. Right now, it’s for the best. He’ll likely remain on the third line until the 18-year old Finnish right wing proves he can be trusted. Even if you disagree with the coaches, their jobs are to win games. They have to find the right matchups.

Third overall pick Kirby Dach has three points (1-2-3) for the Blackhawks. It’s in a secondary role where he can learn from future Hall of Fame tandem Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Chicago has one more game to decide if they’re keeping him for the remainder of the season. Never an easy thing. Winnipeg designated defenseman Ville Heinola to the AHL after eight games. He showed promise going 1-4-5 and plus-three.

As the season moves along, we’ll continue to follow the progress and developmental process of the top picks. For now, at least Devils fans can get a little excited over their number one pick. Hughes belongs.

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Georgiev will be in net again tomorrow, Zibanejad update

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Derek

Fresh off the hot press. Beat reporter Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic updates that Alexandar Georgiev will make his third straight start tomorrow when the Rangers host the Senators at MSG.

https://mobile.twitter.com/RickCarpiniello/status/1191044998067871750

This isn’t a surprise. Georgiev made 32 saves to highlight a 2-1 win at Nashville. He’s stopped 61 of 63 shots in his last two games. Both wins. So, it makes sense for David Quinn to ride the hot hand.

It’s a nice reward for the 23-year old, who’s shown maturity in his second season. The coaching staff is pleased with him. It bodes well.

Also, Dan Rosen of NHL.com reports that Henrik Lundqvist should be back in net for Detroit this Wednesday. The Rangers have a back-to-back with a quick turnaround Thursday when they visit the Hurricanes. One of the league’s best teams, that should be another interesting test. Every game is with the current roster.

https://mobile.twitter.com/drosennhl/status/1191045290133987329

Rosen also noted that Mika Zibanejad had skated prior to practice and is making progress. He’s a possibility for Monday. My guess is they’ll hold him out until Wednesday. The team has picked up their play. If they can sustain it, it should be good enough against Ottawa for that winning streak.

https://mobile.twitter.com/drosennhl/status/1191045686772584448

That’ll do it for now. Until next time. Enjoy the awful football.

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Game #11: Chytil, Georgiev and Strome lead new look Blueshirts to impressive victory over Nashville

Posted on November 3, 2019 by Derek

Jacob Trouba gives Filip Chytil some love following his goal in a Rangers 2-1 win over the Predators. AP Photo by Frederick Breedon courtesy Getty Images

This one was a statement. If coach David Quinn was looking for more consistency from his young team, he sure got it. Led by a trio of young players, the Blueshirts posted a solid effort to edge one of the West’s best in the Predators 2-1.

The hard fought one goal victory got the Rangers back to NHL .500 (5-5-1). It might not seem like much, but to follow up what they did at MSG against the Lightning by edging one of the better teams in very competitive fashion on the road at a lively arena, was impressive.

Filip Chytil, Alexandar Georgiev and veteran Ryan Strome starred in this one. Their fingerprints were all over the place. For a second straight game since his recall from Hartford, Chytil scored. Maybe he’s here to stay. Two games and two goals. That’s a major statement for the suddenly confident 20-year old center. The finish was sweet too.

I love how patient Chytil was on the rush. He wisely waited for the defenseman to go down and went around before whipping a nice wrist shot by Nashville backup goalie Juuse Saros. He got the start for the Predators and played very well. It was an excellent goaltended game.

Georgiev was superb throughout. Making his second consecutive start while Henrik Lundqvist had a nice view from the bench, the second-year netminder made the difference between the pipes. While counterpart Saros made his share of big saves to finish with 28, Georgiev did his part with some clutch ones of his own to wind up with 32 stops. That earned him the game’s number one star.

Might this get him another start against Ottawa on Tuesday? In my honest opinion, it should. You gotta stick with the hot hand. That also goes for rookie defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who turned in another steady game this afternoon in place of well respected veteran leader Marc Staal.

It’s definitely a tough time for the warrior, who was a big part of the three runs the old Rangers made. I don’t see any reason to put him back in with the team playing well. Staal is a team guy. I hope they can find a taker and pick up part of his salary. He’s been a good soldier. Don’t forget it.

In the second period, Micheal Haley and Austin Watson went at it. I didn’t catch much of the early portion. So here is a look.

Apparently, these two had a history. Haley is a tough son of a gun for his size. He knows his role and plays it effectively. The Sharks actually miss his energy. They stink. There’s nothing wrong with having a veteran that can jump into the lineup and play six to seven minutes.

A couple of minutes following Haley’s decision over Watson, this happened.

Just an all around tremendous play. Great teamwork. Tony DeAngelo didn’t get credit for an assist, but he started it with the quick pass up to Jesper Fast, catching Nashville in a line change. The passing between Fast and Artemiy Panarin to Strome for his fourth was picture perfect. You can’t draw it up any better. For the Strome detractors, that’s now a career high six-game point streak (4-5-9). He continues his fast start.

That’s 11 points (4-7-11) in 11 games. Not bad for a versatile forward, who’s shifted to center without any issue. Once Mika Zibanejad returns, they will have a good problem due to Chytil looking much better, and Strome continuing to pile up points while being trusted by Quinn in every facet. You don’t get rid of that. If things change down the road, we’ll see. He’s 26 and making GM Jeff Gorton look very smart for stealing him for Ryan Spooner. Strome is a RFA next summer.

Let’s also give the coach some credit for putting Strome between Panarin and complement Fast, who is once again proving how valuable he is. On another team, he’s a third liner. Maybe even fourth line. However, the hard working 27-year old Swede is eerily similar to Carl Hagelin. A popular speed demon, who fueled transition while playing responsible defensively at five-on-five and on the penalty kill. You can plug Fast anywhere. He’s healthier too. It’s a contract year for Quickie. Do they keep him? Don’t worry. That’s to be determined.

After Strome made it 2-0, the Preds turned up the heat. They really started dictating play with strong puck possession and hard forechecking shifts in the Rangers end. That’s where Georgiev shined. He made some strong stops. That included getting a glove on a high shot labeled. He’s very poised for someone unheralded. I have no idea what’ll happen. But I want him here with Igor Shesterkin eventually. I know it’s probably unrealistic. How can you not love how composed he is?

Georgiev wasn’t the only star in net on Saturday. Yes. Saros had a very good day. For someone that had struggled early on, he was sharp in a well played second that favored the Preds (14-8 shots edge). He thwarted Kaapo Kakko on a breakaway. Kakko got some quality chances. He was previously set up in the right circle on the power play, but his one-timer missed its target. Hit the net and it’s in. Instead, Nashville turned it into a pair of shorthanded bids that Georgiev was ready for.

That wasn’t the only big scoring chance the Rangers misfired on. Chris Kreider continued his frustrating start by ringing one off the goalpost on a clean breakaway. He shook his head on the bench. The same guy everyone wants to move to the Blues due to the Vladimir Tarasenko shoulder surgery, was seen on the bench chatting with Kakko about his close call. It looked like a friendly chat. For those who think Kreider isn’t a leader, you’re wrong. I hope he hits a good stretch soon. My fantasy team needs it. I also have Kakko.

Penalties got the Rangers in trouble late in the period. With DeAngelo off for interference on Rocco Grimaldi that was all caused by a poor Brady Skjei turnover, Viktor Arvidsson snuck in to tip in a Filip Forsberg pass from Roman Josi at 14:36. That cut the lead in half. During a scrum at the buzzer, Strome picked up an unnecessary cross-checking minor in a battle eith Mattias Ekholm.

Fortunately, the penalty kill picked him up along with Georgiev (11 saves in the third). As a team, the Blueshirts blocked 16 shots. That included a key one from Jacob Trouba, who was battling a Predator in front. Nashville makes it tough. Nothing about their style is easy. That’s why this was a good win.

The Rangers had to kill off two more penalties down the stretch on Brendan Smith and Libor Hajek, who had the only assist on Chytil’s goal. They got the job done. Despite being on the penalty kill three different times including in crunch time, they outshot the Preds 15-11 in the final stanza.

Despite getting out-attempted 69-55, they more than held their own earning praise from a pleased Quinn. He should be. Now, we’ll see if they can build on it. They got the Senators next. A classic trap game. Let’s see how they handle prosperity. Win and that’s three in a row. That’s called a winning streak. It has happened before.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out what favorite Major League character I am quoting. โ˜บ๏ธ๐Ÿ˜€ So let’s jack it up! Let’s see some hustle!

Okay. That’ll do it for now. All in all, a happy recap on Daylight Savings day. Happy November!

Battle Of Hudson 3 ๐ŸŒŸ:

3rd ๐ŸŒŸ Filip Chytil, Rangers (2nd goal in 2 games, 4 shots, +1 in 16:34)

2nd ๐ŸŒŸ Juuse Saros, Predators (28 saves including 15/15 in 3rd)

1st ๐ŸŒŸ Alexandar Georgiev, Rangers (32 saves including 13/14 in 2nd, 11/11 in 3rd, 2 GA on 63 shots in last 2 starts)

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Groundhog Day in Newark

Posted on November 2, 2019 by hasan4978

These days watching the Devils feels like Bill Murray stuck in a near hopeless loop in the ’90’s comedy Groundhog Day, reliving the same nightmare over and over and over again. Devils take lead(s) in a home game, lose leads including one in the third period, then lose the extra OT/SO point for the icing on the cake. So far the team’s played eight of its eleven games at home and only has two lousy one-goal wins over the Rangers and Vancouver, the only games they did manage to hold onto third period leads. In the other six games?

  • Lead the Jets 4-0 with seconds left in the second period during the season opener, lose 5-4 in OT in a tone-setting defeat
  • Lead the Panthers 4-1 in the second period, lose the game 6-4 in regulation
  • Take three leads over the Oilers, lose them all including the last one with less than two minutes left in regulation, then proceed to lose the shootout
  • Take early 2-0 and 3-2 leads over Arizona but bad goaltending from Mackenzie Blackwood sinks them this time in a 5-3 loss
  • Take a 5-3 lead over a struggling Lightning team in the third period, lose that lead then after miraculously tying the game again with seconds remaining lose the game again in OT.
  • Last night? Score first and take a 3-2 lead over the Flyers after a potentially season-turning Taylor Hall goal in the middle of the third period, only to lose it ninety seconds later on another sketchy Blackwood goal allowed and then lose the shootout – again.

Notice the pattern?

Granted, as a Devil fan I’ve been complaining about blown leads on and off since the 2005 lockout, and am constantly told ‘new NHL brah…teams can’t hold leads the way they once did’. Which is true – but this season and coach John Hynes’ entire tenure really is beyond the pale of any reasonable margin of error holding leads. When you take the lead in eight home games in a month’s span and can only win two of them (including four multi-goal leads), that’s a real indicator of a problem.

From here on in whenever someone tells me the coaching’s fine, it’s the players that are the problem – specifically the goalies (who I’ll get to in a moment) – last night’s game will be among the first I cite to tell them they’re out of their mind. Fans do tend to spend a disproportionate amount of attention worrying who’s on the fourth line or third defensive pairing, I admit that. That said, using the current fourth line of Miles Wood, Kevin Rooney and John Hayden as a shutdown, energy line thinking they’re some cross between John Madden/Jay Pandolfo and the Crash Line in their heyday is just mind-bogglingly dense. First off, they’re not even that good – Rooney’s a marginal NHL player, Hayden probably not even that and Wood has been a massive dissapointment since signing his four-year contract last offseason.

In a larger sense though, you use your fourth line at home against other teams’ fourth lines. You do not use your fourth line at home against other teams’ first lines. Sometimes it’s unavoidable on the road, but at home with the last change there’s no excuse. Throwing out the fourth line automatically after our power play, when the other teams are likely not using their first liners so they generally get thrown out after a penalty kill is over with, is bad enough. You could at least justify it after a long power play when likely eight of the top nine forwards play a power play. Sometimes that’s unavoidable too. But if you’re automatically going to use the fourth line after every goal that’s scored, other teams have already started to notice that and run to throw out their top liners, which is usually why every time Hynes throws out the fourth liners after a goal they get pinned in and in a couple of instances have given up the quick retaliation goal.

Alain Vigneault did something nearly impossible last night and out linematched another coach on the road. Of course you could say Hynes out linematched himself. Especially late in the second period which was the worst instance of all, and only by a perverse stroke of luck didn’t result in a goal against. When you have a defensive zone faceoff in the final half minute of a period, with the last change, you DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT put out the darn fourth-liners! If there’s ever an instance where another team will deploy its top line automatically it’s in the last half minute of a period in the offensive zone. When you see the other coach has Claude Giroux and company on the ice in the offensive zone with seconds remaining, any normal human being is not looking at it and saying oooh I can get Kevin Rooney on the ice to match up! Even though the fourth line somehow escaped disaster there, it wasn’t by much and probably lost me for good in terms of believing this coaching staff can ever get it turned around.

Hynes’ defenders (yes, believe it or not there are still defenders) will point to the goaltending of Blackwood and Cory Schneider and say how can any coach win with this type of goaltending? And clearly the goaltending has not been good enough, which is putting it mildly – and probably the reason GM Ray Shero traded for Tampa’s Louis Domingue last night for depth, to put the top two guys on notice. As Corey Masiak pointed out in the Athletic with the below blurb posted for emphasis, the Devils’ .856 team save percentage going into last night’s game is on par with the expansion Washington Capitals of the early ’70’s, generally cited as the worst team in NHL history.

Assessing a goaltenderโ€™s performance is never easy, with things like fluky bounces and poor play in front of net affecting the results. Still, there is no way to write off New Jerseyโ€™s .856 save percentage after 10 games. No team has finished with a save percentage worse than .884 this century. The 1974-75 expansion Washington Capitals had an .855 save percentage. That team won eight games.

Woof. And considering save percentages have only skyrocketed in the last fifty years, the .856 save percentage now would probably have been closer to .820 back then. Last night wasn’t much better. Blackwood is obviously better than Cory at this point but that’s like saying MS is better than brain cancer, one just kills you slower than the other. You would have certainly liked a save on the tying goal on Joel Farabee barely thirty seconds after Hall’s lead-grabbing (and ear-grabbing) goal in the third period last night.

And yes, let’s get to the suddenly enigmatic star. I didn’t see this ear grab in real time, like most of the crowd I was just excited about the goal and how Hall had somehow scored while being crosschecked into the ice from behind. It looked like Adam Banks’ goal against the fictional Hawks in the first Mighty Ducks movie lol, only thankfully Hall’s head didn’t quite hit the post the way the Banks’ did in the movie. Even now I’m not going to assume that Hall meant it as a taunt of the crowd the way many fans are now going nuts assuming he did.

That said, this is why you don’t go down the road of criticizing the fans lightly…because every little tick will now be taken as a slight or perceived slight, whether irrational or not. And IF Hall did actually mean it as a ‘you ******** like me now moment?’ rather than as a ‘let’s ****ing go, let’s hear it, boys!’ type mechanism to pump up the crowd more, then he is every bit as petulant and moody as he’s currently being made out to be. And if he thinks our crowd is tough and surly, well go back to Canada or go play in some other big market where they’ll boo you before you blink once you sign an $80+ million deal and don’t produce there.

I probably didn’t even get into the crowd thing as much as I wanted to Thursday morning cause I just wanted to get to sleep, and I don’t doubt there are some yahoos who just go to get hammered and look for attention doing or saying something stupid. Every crowd has them, some more than others. And to be fair last night after Hall’s contreversial comments on Wednesday, there was a smattering of boos the first time he touched the puck last night, but they quickly got drowned out by a ‘Let’s Go Devils!’ chant once the majority of the crowd realized what was happening. Even as annoyed as I am at Hall for what he said, I wasn’t going to go down that road. At least not last night. If he petulantly taunted the fans? Then next time might be different. And it doesn’t look good when the team’s clip of the postgame interview with Hall cuts out right before he’s about to answer a question about his goal celebration.

Lemme just say this though, the majority of fans do NOT go to games wanting to boo, or wanting to be on their smartphones for the whole game cause the team sucks and isn’t worth watching, or stay home entirely because it just isn’t worth the aggravation anymore. We want to be there and cheer, we want to have something to get excited for, we want to enjoy the atmosphere with our friends and families. I don’t want to have to worry about giving away or selling tickets for $12.50 apiece in freaking November. I want to have moments to get excited about. We as a fanbase haven’t had enough of that in the last eight years. The spring of 2018 was a nice, brief taste of the glory days again but that’s literally all we’ve had since 2012 in terms of tangible accomplishment. And even that team was in and out of the playoffs almost as quickly as this year’s Devils blow a two-goal lead.

This year’s team was supposed to represent the biggest step forward under Shero and finally a return to relevance for good, but instead has turned into a massive embarassment where nobody seems to be accountable, except from the fans (which is another reason why Hall’s comments rankled me – the fans are the only ones who HAVE been the least bit critical of this team and we haven’t even been that critical compared to most markets!). Certainly the staff’s allowed to continue making constant in-game mistakes, run a pond hockey system and leaving talented players in the stands who can get better with time to develop, while overplaying grit guys who can’t. The players themselves…where’s the accountability and leadership in the locker room? In the previous Hynes years when you heard of someone calling a team meeting or someone having critical comments about the team’s performance after the game, it wasn’t from milquetoast captain Andy Greene or supposed leader Hall. It was from role players like Brian Boyle, Ben Lovejoy and Drew Stafford (none of whom are here anymore by the way). That’s a problem too. Not every leader has to be Scott Stevens but you need a bad cop in the room somewhere, and not one that’s an expendable back end piece.

If fans can be irrational at times, well as I said above the fans are the only ones taking this team to task at the moment. Shero having his assistant GM go down on the bench really did very little to change things other than the first couple of games briefly. Trading for a borderline NHL goalie to put the top guys on notice was a good start but hardly a brushback fastball upstairs to suggest five years of mostly losing is enough. And forget the media…the local media is mostly useless in terms of asking tough questions, not only that but Chris Ryan and Abbey Mastraco seem to be better at getting snarky with fans on Twitter than their actual jobs. Yes, Chris people are going to complain about the fourth line when they get used in the way they got used last night. And yes Abbey, people are going to complain nobody asked Hall a tough question about his own performance the other night when there’s no video on the question you supposedly asked or quote of the answer he gave. I’m not asking for a vulture media like Montreal, but how about a cage-rattler like Larry Brooks (yuck I feel dirty saying that)? Your job isn’t to carry water for the team when things are going badly, it’s to get answers to stuff the fans want to know. Is that too much to ask in 2019?

UPDATE: And sure enough the Hall response to the celebration was…not good.

https://www.nj.com/devils/2019/11/what-devils-taylor-hall-said-about-hand-to-ear-celebration-following-goal-vs-flyers.html

When asked about the celebration, Hall laughed, saying there wasnโ€™t any ill will behind it.

โ€œI thought I heard, I thought I was getting booed in the second period there,โ€ Hall said. โ€œSo just making light of that fact.โ€

Welp add another few thousand boos to that next time then Taylor, including mine. If you want to play the heel you’d better be an MVP and not flop the way you did in the shootout last night. Otherwise das vidanya, comrade!

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Rangers Stuff on Staal/Lundqvist and Kravtsov in visit to Nashville

Posted on November 2, 2019 by Derek

This afternoon in Music City, the Rangers visit the Predators for a 2 PM (1 Local Time) matinee. I don’t know how much I’ll watch. I’m not a fan of early games. We’ll see. Either way, I’ll have a game review tonight.

Let’s jump right in on some key information about today’s game against a very good opponent.

Nashville should be upset after taking the third period off to blow a 4-1 lead in a perplexing 6-5 overtime loss to the Flames. They got beat at the buzzer basically by a between the legs highlight reel Matthew Tkachuk goal. It was a game they once had a 27-9 edge in shots.

Even though they haven’t played since Tuesday, the Rangers could be getting the Predators at the wrong time. You have to figure they’ll be on edge following such a bad loss in Smashville. Especially where they have great fans. For that reason, I don’t have great expectations.

Don’t forget how deep that roster is. Adding Matt Duchene to Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris and surprisingly red hot Nick Bonino gives them a huge edge at center against most teams. Don’t forget the versatile Colton Sissons and Calle Jarnkrok, who have three of their four shorthanded goals. Filip Forsberg could return too. Along with Viktor Arvidsson, this is a tenacious group of skilled forwards that will make life difficult on goalies.

Long story short, the young and younger Rangers defense will have to do a good job in front of Alexandar Georgiev. That means limiting the Nashville attack by boxing out and keeping them to the outside. It won’t be easy. Especially with arguably the league’s best defense that’s led by overlooked star Roman Josi. It’s Ryan Ellis and Josi who top the Preds in scoring. They’re 1-2 with underrated Mattias Ekholm a key contributor.

There aren’t many weaknesses with veteran coach Peter Laviolette’s balanced roster. They haven’t missed PK Subban, who continues to make more headlines off the ice than on it. That’s not a ringing endorsement. Dante Fabbro is the fourth defenseman. Only 21, he’s considered the next good blueliner for the Predators.

Considering that Nashville doesn’t have a back-to-back with the struggling Red Wings next in Detroit on Monday, I wouldn’t be surprised if Laviolette goes back to ace Pekka Rinne. Still one of the league’s best netminders despite sheer lunacy from detractors, the former Vezina winner is off to a great start. In nine starts, he’s yet to lose in regulation, boasting a 7-0-2 mark with a 2.19 GAA, .920 save percentage and two shutouts.

He turns 37 tomorrow. The same age as Henrik Lundqvist. The difference being Lundqvist was drafted at 18 in the seventh round of ’00 while Rinne waited until 21 as the last overall pick (258) in ’04. If you want a good comparison, go look at both goalies. Each has a Vezina and Stanley Cup appearance while putting up eerily similar numbers.

Juuse Saros hasn’t yet fulfilled expectations. He’s gotten into four games and only has one win which was his last start against the bumbling Lightning on Oct. 26. After allowing 14 goals on 95 shots in his first three starts, Saros stopped 28 of 30 in a 3-2 victory last Saturday.

I laid out how good Nashville is. To David Quinn’s credit, he’s sticking with the same lineup that made the Lightning look bad. Mika Zibanejad will miss a second consecutive game (UBI). That means more of Filip Chytil centering the second line while Ryan Strome draws first line duty. If you subtracted Strome, where would they be? Don’t answer it.

I wonder if Quinn will again have Jesper Fast on that top line as a matchup player while shielding Kaapo Kakko on the third line to keep him away from being exposed. He had a better game on Tuesday. It wasn’t only that he scored his second goal on the power play. He played with more poise and looked confident. Exactly what you want to see. My guess is the forward lines won’t change.

Kreider-Strome-Fast

Panarin-Chytil-Buchnevich

Lemieux-Howden-Kakko

Haley-Andersson-Smith

Given the success he had, Kakko should stay put on the top power play unit. A good development. That means Pavel Buchnevich on the second unit. I like it better along with promoting Tony DeAngelo to that first unit. He has the right instincts. Jacob Trouba just didn’t fit due to Zibanejad and Artemiy Panarin. It’s better off this way. I also like seeing Adam Fox get power play time. He’s gonna put up more points.

With Quinn wisely opting to ice the same lineup, that means Marc Staal sits out again. He said all the right things about it yesterday. Obviously, he’s not happy. However, the prideful vet understands why Ryan Lindgren has replaced him. He’s anxious to get back in.

By ego, I’m referring to how demonstrative Lundqvist acts when things unravel. While I get the frustration, he has to understand what’s going on here. This is a Rebuild. There are going to be mistakes. Even though he was right about last Sunday’s humiliation, he should realize the situation. This isn’t a playoff contender. They’re likely gonna miss the postseason a third straight year. This is all part of the process.

When you listen to Staal or watch him during a game after a mistake or goal against, he doesn’t sulk. He’s a good team guy and true unselfish leader. That’s the only reason he’s still here. That isn’t the case with Lundqvist, who rejected a chance to waive his no-trade clause when approached by the organization over a season ago. He chose to stay.

Henrik’s loyalty reminds me of countryman Mats Sundin. The Maple Leafs became a horrible team with the great Hall of Fame center still their captain. He never wanted to leave Toronto. It wasn’t until after his contract expires that he played half a final year in Vancouver. His final postseason appearance, Sundin showed he still had it going 3-5-8 over eight games in the 2009 NHL Playoffs. His previous appearance was with the Leafs in ’03-04 before the lockout.

Igor Shesterkin lost his first game with Hartford in a 4-1 loss to Laval on Wednesday. He allowed three goals on 23 shots. In the rematch, the Wolf Pack fell in a shootout 2-1 to the Rocket. Defense prospect Joey Keane had the lone goal for the Pack. He has five. Adam Huska made 27 saves in the loss.

Finally, KHL reporter Gillian Kemmerer had a nice update on Vitali Kravtsov. Ironically, it comes from former Rangers assistant Mike Pelino, who coaches HC Lokomotiv in Russia. I think what he had to say is worthwhile.

That final part where he mentions having “unreal expectations,” is true. Especially when it comes to an impatient fan base in NYC. In many aspects, that applies to what we are seeing with the amount of venom that’s destroying the fabric of the city. Young people have no respect for anything these days. It’s embarrassing.

Updating this post, this happened earlier:

Nice to see Kravtsov get on the board for Chelyabinsk Traktor.

Getting back on topic, I really enjoy Gillian. If you aren’t following her already, you should. She’s great.

That’s gonna do it for now. Until much later. ๐Ÿ™‚

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An embarassment on and off the ice

Posted on October 31, 2019 by hasan4978

Through ten games the Devils’ season so far has been blown lead after blown lead with brain cramps, bad play and hideous coaching galore in a nightmare that just won’t end.ย  Or just as accurately, we’ve become an endless loop of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown right as he’s about to kick it, emblematic of the blown lead syndrome.ย  Each blown lead and near miss has seemingly been more frustrating than the last, although it’s still hard to top Opening Night for sheer horror.ย  Tonight was pretty close though, against a quasi-rival in Tampa.

Not that it really should have been a great shock we managed to blow another multi-goal lead, even against a Tampa team playing without their best defenseman and at basically half speed still slogging through the hangover of last year’s playoff washout.ย  Don’t be fooled by the shot total, yeah the Devils played well in stretches but honestly it reminded me more of a late February game between two non-playoff teams just throwing up crap against a wall and playing pond hockey.ย  For a game that ended up with the score it did, you would have figured it was at least exciting but it was sloppy with spasms of good play followed by a bunch of nothing.

If the game mattered more I might have enjoyed the wild swings of momentum, but I’ve already been beaten down so much by this team and the losing over the last several years that even when Kyle Palmieri miraculously tied the game with under ten seconds remaining with a hat trick goal, I couldn’t muster much more than a clap for the player himself.ย  Not after the Devils had already blown a 5-3 third period lead to go behind 6-5 in the first place.ย  I’ll give the crowd credit in that the 11000 people there were into the game emotionally, although like me they’re on their last nerve with this team and there was plenty of booing during the game, for the most part when it was deserved (more on that later).

There isn’t much I’m even going to bother to recap although I’ll say this, other than Palmieri the Devils’ so-called best players and veteran leaders really need to start acting like it.ย  So far P.K. Subban has been a massive dissapointment, but there’s only so much I can really get on him because at least (unlike a certain other big star on the team who I’m getting to soon enough) he’s more self-aware to realize he’s not playing well and take responsibility for it.ย  We definitely need better from PK though, other than the Ranger game he really hasn’t had much of a positive impact at all.

As much as I’ve bagged on Cory Schneider in recent years and it’d be nice to get a key save more than once every few months I can’t really blame tonight on him to be honest, the breakdowns when they happened were truly spectacular, as were a couple of the odd deflections that got by him.ย  Plus he’s self-aware likely to his detriment in taking his share of the blame for the disaster that is this team.ย  I can’t get on Andy Greene too much because it feels like picking on a senior citizen at this point, at least a senior citizen in NHL years but this team’s lacked leadership in a lot of recent seasons and that you can get on the captain for.ย  Travis Zajac really hasn’t done much either (one goal and four points in ten games).ย  All that is true.

And yes, the coaching staff is a disaster but what’s the point of rehashing that?ย  I feel like I’m going to die holding my breath wondering whether John Hynes or Adam Gase bites the dust first, but in both cases seemingly competent GM’s are undermining themselves with loyalty to a horrible coach.ย  In the case of Devils GM Ray Shero though, he’s had five seasons here and now it looks like more than ever we’re going to need a second rebuild to get out of our current cycle of suck.ย  That the GM needs to take responsibility for whenever (or if) he finally decides to make a change behind the bench.ย  Because even if he does make a change it’s extremely unlikely the team’s going to make the playoffs at this point.ย  I hate to wave the white flag before November but what in this first ten games would suggest the team as currently constituted is capable of a massive 72-game run needing a pace just behind Tampa’s President’s Cup season last year to make the playoffs?

That said, none of these guys are looking for an $80+ million deal this offseason.ย  If you’re just looking at stats and see Hall has nine points in ten games you might think things are peachy, but the 2017-18 MVP really hasn’t been playing anywhere near as well as that number would suggest, starting with the fact he only has one goal himself.ย  It’s one thing to be in a slump scoringwise and maybe have your timing still off due to not playing for about nine months because of his injury issues last year.ย  It’s another thing to just be careless and stupid like he was on the fifth Tampa goal, the one that tied the game when he turned the puck over, then tipped a perfect deflection past his own goalie matching his offensive goal total for the season.ย  For a supposed leader on the team that’s bad enough, reminiscent of the bad old days in Edmonton and his first year here when he would sulk around regularly.

When you compound all that with just being absolutely tone deaf enough to rip the fans for booing after yet another hideous loss (which you were a main culprit in) when you have two wins in ten games, then Houston we have a problem here.

As a fan who was there…yes the fans booed one or two of the power plays – which by the way Taylor was 1-5, not 1-3.ย  And which has been operating at a wonderful 10.3% clip on the season (good for 26th in a 31 team league).ย  So yes one lousy goal early in the first period – after which you blew that lead anyway – wasn’t exactly enough to get people off a hideous PP’s back.ย  More to the point though, how can you rip the fans for voicing their displeasure of a dissapointing team that has two wins in ten games and has blown a billion different leads when you haven’t even been pulling your own weight?ย  Not to mention it’s not like things have been going so much better for you on the road with no booing home fans to worry about where the team is sucking even worse for a second straight season.

Yes nobody can ever take 2017-18 away from you Taylor…but right now you’re just confirming the bad press you were getting on the way in here, and when it looks like when you have one foot out the door to boot.ย  I’ll be honest for the last couple of games I’ve been wondering silently whether it’s even a good idea to re-sign him, now after tonight’s wonderful on and off ice display I’m saying the silent part out loud.ย  As much as it annoys me to do so because trading Hall means rebuild 2.0, but really what other outcome could this season have at this point anyway?ย  This team’s running out of time to change the narrative, beginning a stretch of 15 games in 30 days the losses could come fast and furious if something doesn’t change, and soon.

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