Rangers Recap: Capitals 4 Rangers 3

we kicked butt haha.

and brashear even had a goal.

moving anisimov off the third line would be a big mistake. he earned that spot.

i really like prospal on the wing on the first line. him dubi and gaborik played well together today.

i think grachev is sent down because theres really no openings on the first 3 lines and theres no point of putting him on the fourth. hes only 19, and id rather him have a very good year in the ahl first.

and putting him in would just take anisimov out, which isnt doing anything for us. anisimov has shown us hes nhl ready. grachev has shown he has a lot of talent, but i think he needs 1 more year in the minors.

after todays game i think the roster should be this.

prospal dubi gaborik
higgins drury kotaik
avery anisimov callahan
brashear boyle voros
+lisin

staal gilroy
girardi MDZ
redden roszival
+semenov

lundqvist
valiquete

i agree that the prospal – dubi – gabby line was excellent in the 3rd in chemistry moving and cycling the puck and creating chances or penalties.

putting them together should move artem back up where he belongs on the 3rd line. the only issue right now is that boyle hasnt played well, but he doesnt really have to be that great as the 4th line center.

Watching the first two periods was pitiful. The Rangers were 3-4 steps behind the Capitals on every play. Countless turnovers, sleep-skating, no moment in their own zone, it was atrocious. The Rangers gave Varlamov a huge boost in the Calder race, (heck they practically gave him the trophy) as there was no offense to be found. Bettman was on the scene awaiting the trophy ceremony. The Rangers must’ve gotten caught in traffic because I still think there was a pee-wee hockey team out skating.

Then the third period started. The Rangers arrived in the building. Regarding my above statement, the players decided, “you know what? I’ll actually try…”, and scored three goals. With some offense from the Rangers, Bettman put the Calder trophy back in it’s case and left. There were limited (if any) turnovers in their own zone. The players took the cardboard defenders off the ice and played defense themselves, and the pee-wee team was sent home early. It was a dominating period.

If the Rangers played like they did in the third in the first two periods, they most likely would’ve won. Washington took advantage of the extremely poor, lackluster play, and scored 4 goals in 40 min. Lundqvist did everything he could with what the team gave him (seriously what did he have?). Vally played well in the third. The first two periods were so bad Jim, i don’t know if you read the open thread, but it turned into a football discussion.

I don’t know what else to say. There were some bright spots, but they were all overshadowed by the effortless play and numerous turnovers in the neutral and own zone. Among those that didn’t play at all: Rozsival, who had by far his worst outing in my opinion, and Semenov, who in my opinion looked more sluggish than others at times. Among those who played well: The line of Dubi, Prospal, and Gaborik, was sharp in the third, Callahan was one of the best, if not thee best forward through two, Grachev and Anisimov each scored beauties and Brashear ripped a slapshot home for the third goal. Everyone’s game elevated in the third, so I guess it’s unfair to single out only a few.

So in conclusion, yeah, good call with the Giants game Jim.

well, all I can say is that while the timing sucked, they have played fairly well overall in the preseason, and were due for a stinker. Finally the games are for real in a few days

I have a feeling that MDZ will go back to junior for one more year.

I do agree on Grachev, he is playing well for a 19 year old, but there is no space for him on the roster and Anisimov should get the spot over Grachev due to pro experience in AHL, age and performance (I think he has played better than Grachev). Next year Grachev will definitely make it and will be a lot better, more experienced and stronger. The future looks bright :)

My take on the Rangers lines for right now is MDZ and Gilroy are locked in for the team. Torts said he wanted a 7 D-men and he has 7. With Avery injured and Boyle not playing up to par, Anisimov has a lock on his position. Depending on what Torts does with Prospal and Dubi for centers or wingmen I would say Grachev stays with the team until Avery comes back. Sending Voros and Boyle back to Hartford. Roszival to me doesn’t look like he wants to be in a NY Rangers jersey anymore with his play. Thats just my take though. Redden will have a great year, he’s playing a lot better than he was last year. Maybe if we make a trade with Avangard Omsk for Babchuck and Jagr for Roszival, Voros and Sanguenetti … we could do some damage. On the real, it’s not looking good for Sangs though, him and Sauer are said to be shopped around later on for not fitting Torts defensive system.

we did mess with sangs a bit..

now… id really prefer prospal on dubis wing along with gaborik..

those three played well..

im pretty sure we knew grachev would be sent down. its good for him to be honest. hes going to get stronger and faster and smarter, and next year hell be on the team playing with anisimov and gaborik ;)

we have enough depth that we do not need to rush him and we can give him another year to further develop his game.

so here are our lines. with grachev being sent down im almost positive prospal stays on the wing. if we move him to center, lisin gets put on the third and anisimov the fourth, which is not a good move. anisimov has played very well and he has earned his third line spot.

im pretty sure this is our lineup now.

prospal dubinsky gaborik
higgins drury kotalik
avery anisimov callahan
brashear boyle voros
lisin

lisin will step in for avery until he is healthy. remember, voros can also play center. so if boyle doesnt perform we can always stick voros at center with lisin on his wing. and then on defense.

staal gilroy
girardi mdz
r and r
semenov

i think were being a little too hard on girardi.. if he struggles in the season its one thing, but for 2 years hes been one of our top 2 defensemen. a few not so good preseason games doesnt bother me in the least bit. now to r and r. obviously neither is worth the money their getting, but we cant look at their performance based on their salary.

preseason is not a true indicator, but from what ive seen:

redden has been gone enough that he wont hurt the team. he maybe wont help it out to much but i dont think hell really hurt it either.

roszival on the other hand will. he has looked god awful in the preseason. i think he had 3 assists for the opposite teams already. hes bringing the team down and unless he improves on his performance i think torts will either trade him or send him down.
im hoping that we can ship him off somewhere for a 4th round pick to clear some cap space so we can resign staal and girardi next season.