About Last Night: Rangers 1, Flames 0

No Nash. No Lundqvist. No Problem.

Calgary is no slouch and a 1-0 victory against a good team is just what the doctor ordered. They not only keep pace with the Islanders (also victorious last night) but finally show that they don’t have to score 5 goals each night to win.

So here’s the good and the not so good from last night.

The Good:

Cam Talbot – 21 saves, shutout & 1^st star. The win last night improved Cam’s record to 7-1-2 in Lundqvist’s absence and gave the Rangers their league-leading 9^th shutout of the season. His rebound control was much better and credit the defense around him for a change.

Defense – The goals cooled off and the defense stepped up. Finally. A few early bad turnovers aside everybody on the ice did their job well. They moved pucks to the outside, controlled rebounds and didn’t give Calgary lanes to fire away. Still believe the team is in need of some defensive depth but you certainly do worse than Dan Boyle and John Moore/Matt Hunwick as a 3^rd pairing. Speaking of defense…

3^rd Period Shutdown – Going into the 3^rd period last night Calgary had scored 74 third period goals (2^nd in the NHL behind Tampa’s 77) and they kept it that way. Calgary’s monster 3^rd periods are a big reason why they’re close to a wild card spot so keeping them off the scoreboard is an accomplishment on its own; especially for a Rangers team that’s struggled to close games out late.



Kevin Hayes (In for Rick Nash) – Karri Ramo was ON last night. It took a pretty pass from Brassard, to the sub on the line for Nash, Kevin Hayes to beat him and thankfully that’s all that was needed. The dude is still red hot with 6 goals and 11 points in the last 13 games. It’s been good to see others be able to step up when the stars go down.

Discipline – Not a single power play for the Flames. Fantastic. All the good for this.

Good/Not So Good:

Karri Ramo/J.T. Miller – Miller shoot the puck anywhere else, but RAMO WITH A SAVE!!!!

BRUH!!!!!

The Not So Good:

Tanner Glass – Why is JT Miller fighting? The only skill you seem to bring to the table is toughness and it’s not even there. How do you have a -15 on a team with one of the highest goal differentials? How you got a 3-year deal is beyond me. Hope you’re in the press box when Fast is healthy. He had a shot on goal though, his first in about 10 days, so good for you. Lee Stempiak produces better games at half the salary.

Not a whole lot of not so good. When you don’t give up a goal you can’t really bitch. A few shots wide and maybe some better finishing sure but an all-around good win, the type of win that was badly needed.

Current Standing: 37-16-6 (80 Points, 2^nd in Metropolitan)

Next Game: ***TRAP GAME ALERT*** Thursday 2/27 vs. Arizona (20-34-7, 46 Points, 6^th in Pacific)

--Mike Kane
https://twitter.com/ThatMikeKane
crossposted from https://rangers5thline.wordpress.com/

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About Last Night – Rangers 6, Islanders 5

Rangers 6, Islanders 5

Holy. Shit.

This was a wildly entertaining game and if you missed it, I’m sorry.

Normally 6-5 is a poor game with bad defense and goaltending but this was simply just a showcase of 2 very talented teams who didn’t give up. If this ends up being a playoff series, Jesus take the wheel.

THE GOOD:

Halak is Moral – The biggest reason the Islanders were previously 3-0 against the Rangers this season has been the outstanding play of Jaroslav Halak. In every previous matchup, Halak has played out of his mind. The biggest takeaway from this game is showing that Brooklyn can be beat. The Rangers show they can score goal, it was beating Halak, whose been lights out previously, that made it mean more.

No Overtime – Winning this game in regulation was key. The Metropolitan division now looks like this:

Look at all those……….games in hand.

Heart – 2-0, 3-1 and 5-3. 3 times the Rangers were down 2 goals and all 3 times they came back. Heart and unwillingness(2 Legit) to quit can carry a team a long way.

Ryan McDonagh – 2 goals and aside from a bad turnover almost leading to an Islanders shorthanded breakaway and allowing Ryan Strome in front of the net for one of his goals, he had a nice game. This is the Mac Truck we need every night.

Kevin Klein – GW Goal, another assist, fantastic penalty killing and he’s becoming a solid looking Top 4 defenseman. To think that Michael Del Zotto was the only thing given up for him; that plus a $2.9 million cap hit until he’s a UFA in 2018 and this might be the most overlooked move the team has made. It’s also time to think about putting him in McDonagh’s spot on the PP line. At least give it a try AV.

Martin St. Louis – The slump is (hopefully) over. Can’t think of a better time to break a 16 game goal scoring drought that with the game tying goal against a rival. “Sometimes when you don’t score you think you’ll never score again,” St. Louis said. “You get one and you can get going.” Well said. Keep it going.

Offense – Not much needs to be said, it just keeps going. 22 goals on the 4 game road trip. You can’t ask more than that.

Fans – Where were the Islanders fans the last 15 years? The atmosphere, and noise level in the coliseum last night gave this game a playoff feel and I loved every minute of it.

THE NOT SO GOOD:

Cam Talbot – This is a stretch but he gave up a couple easy ones. Could’ve had the Boychuk goal since there was no one in front but that was a helluva shot. His biggest save was on Casey Cizikas’ breakaway in the 1st period. That would’ve given the Isles a 3-0 early lead and probably would’ve put the game away. The Goalbuster wasn’t great but it was enough. That being said, he’s 5-1-1 in Lundqvist’s absence.

Power Play – The Islanders have the 30th ranked penalty kill in the league. That’s dead last for those keeping track. Call it a lack of penalties and Halak actually making his best saves of the night while the Rangers were on the PP but the possession and passing were spot on and made the NYI PK look like youth hockey level; but the puck didn’t get in the damn net.

I’m grasping at straws with the negatives. How much bad stuff can you find about a team currently on a 4 game winning streak all on the road and has only lost 7 times since December 8th? Not a whole lot right now.

Next Game: Thursday 2/19/15 vs. Vancouver.

Mike Kane

https://twitter.com/ThatMikeKane

https://www.facebook.com/Rangers5thLine

https://twitter.com/Rangers5thLine

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About Last Night: Rangers 6, Avalanche 3

Rangers 6, Avalanche 3. Yay wins!!!

Here’s a recap:

The Good:

Goals (No shit) – They’ve been getting lots of them. 5 against Toronto, 6 against Colorado, Nash still leads the league with 34 goals and the Rangers are in the Top 10 in goals scored. It’s nice to see the puck going into the net. Keep it up.

Mats Zuccarello – Looks like AV gets through to his players. He simply said when asked about Zucc shooting more, “Yes”. He seems to have listened. After just 5 goals all season prior to Tuesday, he has 3 in his last 2. With Zucc in a contract year again, goals equal money. So Keep…Shooting. Please and thank you.

Penalty Kill – It was stellar last night. Anytime you kill off a lengthy 5 on 3 it’s impressive. When you kill it off when the line includes Jarome Iginla, Ryan O’Reilly, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, well that’s just amazing. To add a goal right off the kill just as momentum was shifting toward Colorado, that’s how good offensive teams play good offense……don’t worry, I also hate myself for typing those words in that order into a really shitty Frank Caliendo joke.

Cam Talbot – His record is now 3-1-1 since Lundqvist went out with the sprained blood vessel. You can’t ask for much better than that. He’s making great saves when called upon and has looked better than some NHL starters……looking at you Mike Smith (Rangers vs. Arizona on Saturday night). This is the first time in Lundqvist’s NHL career he’s been out for an extended period of time but with Cam in net, the Rangers look to be just fine. Don’t ever take having a guy like Hank for granted. If his injury happened a few years ago how screwed would this team be? The answer is very.

All that being said, this is perfect audition for him. Goalbuster is under contract for next season but after that you WILL get teams that will want him as the starter. Not looking forward to playing against this guy in a couple years. #InCamWeTrust

The Not So Good:

Defensive Positioning – If there’s one thing everybody’s used to, it’s that no matter how good the defense plays, Lundqvist or Talbot will constantly be left out to dry. Whether it’s McDonagh or Girardi or John Moore or Hunwick, the opponent will get clear shots simply from d-men playing too far up, poorly turning the puck over or simply puck watching. It’s the biggest thing that needs to be cleaned up in my opinion about this team and it’s going to hold them back against the top teams in the playoffs if it continues.

Martin St. Louis – St. Louis will be 40 years old in June and he has certainly looked like it as of late. With just 1 assist since the All-Star Break he looking like he’s closer to a trip to the press box than back to the 1st or 2nd line. Maybe a week or two off with help him get his legs back.

Tanner Glass – Does he have nudes of AV or Glen Sather? I’m not sure how he stays in the lineup. He’s literally the worse.

Call anyone up. Literally anyone up from Hartford.

Overall a win is a win. 2 points on the road is always nice. Just clean it up a bit.

Next game is @Arizona on Saturday night at 8pm.

Mike Kane

https://twitter.com/ThatMikeKane

https://www.facebook.com/Rangers5thLine

https://twitter.com/Rangers5thLine

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