The New York Rangers (36-33-10) lost to the Buffalo Sabres (44-25-10) by the score of 5-2, tonight. For a recap and box score go to Yahoo! Sports and newyorkrangers.com.
...well Rangers fans there is officially no room for error. The Rangers are going to have to win out for any chance of getting in.
...if the Rangers had any thoughts of winning tonight they needed a sparkling performance from Lundqvist and obviously didn't get it. Torts will get criticized for pulling "The King" too early (which he did), but I really don't think it mattered.
...while it's been nice to see some secondary scoring, the Rangers big boys needed to show up tonight and they didn't. Gaborik (0 points, -2), Prospal (0 points, -3) and Christensen (o points, -2).
...tough night for Girardi. I don't see him back next season.
...i'm going to get criticized for saying this, but I'm seeing a little bit of Adam Graves in Prust. Grinder not known for lighting the lamp coming from Alberta to New York and finding his scoring touch. Hey you never know.
...Miller's save on Gaborik in the second was the turning point of the game. Gaborik scores there and it's totally different game. Miller came to play. Lundqvist did not.
...Philly (86 pts.) wins, Montreal (87 pts.) loses in OT and Atlanta (81 pts.) loses. Rangers (82 pts.) need to win out including home and home against Flyers to overtake Philly. However, Boston's (85 pts.) schedule (Buf, Car, @Wash) makes them a more likely team for the Rangers to climb over. Blueshirts have a game in hand on Philly and Montreal. Full standings here.
...if you're angry with this loss you haven't been watching this team this season. There is no way anyone can honestly say they thought the Rangers were good enought to beat this Sabres team. Buffalo isn't Tampa, Florida or the Islanders.
...Toronto at MSG tomorrow.
12 comments:
I agree with all of your comments, except the criticism of Torts pulling Lundqvist. He was letting in garbage goals and just had that hangdog look he gets. I didn't think Auld was bad.
The defense was awful.
Lundqvist - for all his talents - has yet to earn the title 'clutch.' He has a way of letting in backbreaking goals in key spots in big games - last year's postseason, the Olympics, and several games this year.
But they have to fix this defense over the summer. And they have to remember next season that ALL the games are crucial - not showing up for 7-10 games this year (mostly with the Higgins/Kotalik group) is inexcusable and had they taken points in half those games, we'd be in.
The defense on this team is embarrassing and utterly atrocious..even from forwards. Great, Cally and Drury block shots, ok.
Pulling Lundqvist was ok...that's why you have a backup goalie you can trust...
A few things:
-I think Girardi will be back and while far from spectacular is servicable - at lest relative to some other options back there
-I completely agree with Joe R....Hank, for as much as I love him, has not been a clutch goaltender. JoeR said it best with his knack for letting up soft backbreakers.
-Prust? Graves? I like the kid but come on man...Graves?!....Prust?
I won't compare him to Adam Graves just yet, but I hope they hold on to Prust.
Season pretty much on the line against the Leafs.
If we can beat the Leafs tomorrow then we have a very good chance of getting in atleast 8th. If we can beat the Leafs and Philly twice we have a shot of making 7th seed. Boston has a much tougher schedule than us and they have been playing just as poorly as us. I agree with all the Lundqvist comments. I do also have to say Gaborik is not clutch either. He is not even close to an Ovie or Crosby or Parise type player. He will put up a lot of points during the season but I never count on him to purely win it for the Rangers. Rangers still need that foward that can make an individual play to turn the game around in a big game.
Am I the only one that doesnt want to see this team make the playoffs? Rather than us being trashed by WAS in five games I would like a pick. I would even consider to use that pick in a deal to get rid of Roszi's contract (nobody will ever take Redden) and the latter I would just bury in the minors. We have some solid D in Hartford that can be developed in a season or two. I would give the team a chance to re-build and get a new core at the back with Staal, MDZ, Gilroy, Sangs, Heikkinen...
Now when it comes to Hank not being clutch I must disagree with you all. How many times has he bailed this team out? Night in and night out he's there and almost single handedly keeps the team alive in many games. OK that doesn't make him "clutch" maybe but I've been following him since he played here in Sweden and he has performed well in mentally tough situations. The thing is tho' that most of the NYR season is a "mentally tough situation" and sometimes the guy just needs a break, he's human.
My opinion has been that the team needs rebuilding at managment level and I certainly hope that Moose will become GM one day...
ANOTHER sleepless night with the Leafs coming in then... I'm going to have to move to the states. Staying up 'til 4AM to watch them is killing me...
"if you're angry with this loss you haven't been watching this team this season."
Couldn't be more right and I absolutly hate the fairweather fans that were telling me, "tied for 8th!!!" or "we're gonna make the playoffs"
If anyone has seen this team all year they should know THAT WE ARE NOT GOOD!!!!!!
Always have to root to get into the playoffs, but a high draft pick would be nice, and burying Redden would be better.
Even if we loose to Toronto tomorrow, if we sweep the home and home against Philly we're in but we're in!!!!!
Do I want to be in? Thats the question Ranger fans need to confront. Another possible 7 games, or a draft pick to add to Kreider, Stepan, and Bourque along with Dooby, Staal, Cally, and Del Zotto.
Personally, and I'm going to the game of Friday, I hope they break my heart and don't make the playoffs on the last game of the season. I want the pick, I want new managment, I want the youth, and I want a foundation to build on NYR hockey; similar to that of the Blackhawks.
What is the difference between a first round whooping vs. a possible piece of the puzzle.
The difference is being able to accept that this team is not good!
I knew I was going to take some heat on the Prust/Graves comment. When Prust scored it just took me back to when Graves, not known for scoring, all of a sudden became a goal scorer.
I am by no means saying Prust's jersey will be hanging from the rafters, but it seems that he has found whatever was missing in Calgary here in New York.
And that's not something that normally happens with the Rangers.
To leapfrog Philly in the last 3 games, we don't necessarily need to win out, but we do need to beat Philly twice either way(provided Boston doesn't tank and picks up more than 3 points). We also need to win at least one of those final games in regulation. Two OT victories won't cut it. If we beat Toronto tonight, then we can afford to win game in OT against Philly and still finisih 8 ahead of them. If we lose tonight, then we have to win both of final games in regulation.
Boston could also tank, and finish with 88 points or fewer. In the event they finish 1-2-0 with 87 points, and we go 2-0-1, then we finish 8th behind Philly with 87 because of the wins tiebreaker. In the event they finish with 88 points, then we get in with 3 wins and the tiebreaker.
those are essentially the 4 scenarios
That said, if they lose tonight, there is really no probability they rally for two wins against Philly. Boston will probably pick up more than 2 points over their final 3 games as well.
As a lot of people have commented, this is all kind of irrelevant. The Rangers are a mess and don't deserve to be in the playoffs. They are probably better served top to bottom by missing out.
"The way their defense jumped in, it caused confusion," said Dan Girardi. "I thought the effort was there for the most part, but I don't really know what happened."
Look at this quote from Giardi by the way. I don't understand how you play a team 3/4 times and are still confused by the way they play. You are a pro, you have access to videotape, they are a team known to counterattack with at least 4 players up the ice. The effort was not there, and, it's pretty obvious what happened. The defense, in particular you and Redden, failed in their responsibility. It's funny. last night, the best Rangers defenseman out there was probably Ericcson
I agree with that last paragraph about not being able to beat the Sabres. The problem is that this team has lost too many winnable games to lower tier teams during the regular season & that is why we are in this mess. This is also the end result of not having a solid backup for Henrik all year, where did we all think that train was heading,anyway? As far as the D is concerned, it's the same basic unit that Renney had so I don't think swapping out Girardi is the answer. It's not like we can sign 6 Nik Lidstroms for 1.5 mil/year.
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