Rangers Recap: Rangers MIA in Loss to Lightning
by Nick Montemagno on Nov 24, 2010 11:34 PM EST
in New York Rangers Recaps
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PrintNot much to say about tonight’s 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning other than that the Rangers did not compete in this game until the final few minutes of the third period. They gave goaltender Henrik Lundqvist absolutely no help, defensively they were a mess and there barely was any offense whatsoever. Give the Lightning credit, because they did play a solid game this evening, but the Blueshirts, at the very least, could have showed some fight. They did not do that until there was under five minutes left in regulation, which was far too late.
The beginning of the first period had a nice pace to it until the Lightning were put on their first powerplay of the game at 7:06, which was when things started to go downhill for New York. After what was originally a sharp angle shot by Steven Stamkos, three Tampa players crowded Lundqvist’s crease and forced him to make some sprawling stops, but he could not get a pad on Ryan Malone’s wrister. Leading 1-0, the Lightning increased their lead later in the first when Malone scored his second of the period, also on the powerplay. On both goals the Rangers were guilty of not clearing the crease.
Things only got worse in the second. First it was Stamkos scoring his 21st of the season on a 3-on-1 with St. Louis and Downie. Just six minutes later Brett Clark would notch a powerplay tally and following that came Victor Hedman’s lofter from the point that eluded Lundqvist. With the score being 5-0 at that point, John Tortorella originally had Martin Biron going in for Henrik, but then changed his mind. This was probably for the better since you do not want Biron being subject to the poor defensive play by the Blueshirts.
The Rangers tried coming back in the third period, but simply ran out of time. Steve Eminger started the rally with his first as a Ranger at 3:58. Then Brian Boyle capitalized shorthanded by burying his tenth goal of the year. And finally, before the final buzzer rang, Derek Stepan’s one-timer on the powerplay would cut the Lightning’s lead to 5-3, which ended up being tonight’s final score.
Continue reading after the jump....
Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t bad, in fact he played quite well in my opinion. Sure, he allowed five goals, but four of them were not his fault. Not to mention he had a rough night physically as well, taking abuse from Bolts forwards crashing the net hard. He received an unsportsmanlike minor for diving in the second period when meanwhile it was Malone that knocked him into the net. Malone was pushed by Girardi, but the extra shove to Lundqvist’s chest was unnecessary, as was the diving call. Henrik is never one to fake like that. Ever.
Derek Stepan was one of the few players in white to actually play well tonight. His point scoring streak is now at five games and he has a total of five goals on the season. Like I have been saying, this kid is blossoming right before our eyes and it is very fun to watch. No doubt Tortorella loves what he is seeing from the rookie while skating between Frolov and Gaborik on the first line.
The defense in this game was horrendous for New York. Torts was fuming over their inability to clear the crease, and also at the lack of discipline. Some of those calls were questionable, but the bottom line is that you cannot afford to take such a large number of penalties against a skilled club like the Lightning. It cost the Rangers big time tonight.
The Rangers will be off for Thanksgiving tomorrow, but will pick up on Friday when they visit the Florida Panthers. A big bounce back effort will be needed there because this team should desperately want to finish the month of November strong. They have played too well over the past few weeks to ruin it against teams like the Panthers.
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Every time you start to get optimistic about the Rangers, they get obliterated by a better team. Philly, Colorado, Tampa – these games really bring you back down to earth and show you the distance we have to travel to be a contender.
I’m getting whiplash with two good games followed by an asskicking like this.
Biron deserves the starting job
After this terrible performance by Lundqvist, I think its about time we trade his ass while he still has some value.
by The Last Shall Become First on Nov 25, 2010 12:06 AM EST reply actions
That's absolute BS
He wouldn’t have let in 5 goals if it weren’t for the pond hockey defense in front of him. Anytime he plays, the team ignores what happens behind their blue line and expects Hank to clean everything up. The two games before this he was genuinely bad, but you can’t pin this one on him.
"Mes que un club"
"You're a pro or you're a noob. That's life"
by Scratch and Snif on Nov 25, 2010 12:13 AM EST up reply actions
Wow because you watched the game…..Fail Fail Fail
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
Hank can’t stop a 3 on zero many times or on the PP when he stopped the first and second shots with Malone standing on his crease poking at the puck, you could have 2 goalies on the ice and there would of still been 4 goals tonight. Hard to blame Hank when his team didn’t show u tonight. I am sure there are Hank defenders even when he is to blame, I am the first one to call him on letting in a weak goal or being out of position but tonight had little to do with Lunqvist.
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
You're an effing idiot
Proudly suffering as a Ranger fan.
"C'mon, vagina is my 3rd favorite hole." -Drama
I would rebut that, but I dont think logic applies so I will save the keystrokes.
by Michael Gleich on Nov 25, 2010 1:53 AM EST up reply actions
this is never a smart move
i remember last season there was one guy here who called Hank “unclutch” and Jim had to ban him just to save his life and douse the torches and pitchforks
by Kevin Power on Nov 25, 2010 10:09 AM EST up reply actions
You gotta play a diamond not a box against that pp, you cant let Stamkos have that much space on the offside and it keeps St Louis from threading passes through the seam.
They had a really strange setup on the powerplay, it was like a 1 3 1 with St Louis at the point…. And its freaking dangerous
The problem with playing a diamond, is when the puck gets on net, theres only one defender immediately able to clear the crease and if he doesn’t chances are the puck is going to go in. But that happened to us anyway so whatever lol.
by CrazyRangerFan on Nov 25, 2010 10:45 AM EST up reply actions
Trading Hank is a horrible idea
Biron is a good backup but he wont be able to be brilliant for a full season let him be solid playing while Hank gets out of this funk.
I also feel we played our pk wrong. We let St Louis just feed passes to either circle with no pressure in the lanes.
We played like crap after that first penalty. It seemed we started trying to win one for torts, then we decided to give up for the rest of the first and the second. In the third we turned a new leaf and started playing but by that time Im pretty sure tampa was only trying to get Malone a hat trick and didnt care about much else.
I thought I was going to smash the tv when I seen the abuse hank was taking and no one helping him. Then Duby went and boarded one of the culprits, I approve of that honestly but I wish it was boogey and not Duby. Duby doesnt need to go in the box or get suspensions he is to valuable and that is why we have boogey to take the fall on something like that. Only good news is after we started throwing some large and possibly questionable hits, hank stopped getting ran into.
I thought we did better then the Lanche game atleast we came back and played a full period with some success on a spotty goaltender.
Cally looked kind of off to me he wasnt attacking as much I thought and wasnt infront of the net as much either, wonder if he is somewhat hurt from that cross check to the head.
I like that Duby was playing very physical since he wasnt able to generate offense, atleast he did something productive. I also dont agree with Avery going after that guy who hit the rat. Its cool he stood up for even that teammate but it was a clean hit there should not have been any retaliation to a clean play.
Anyone hear Tort’s post game? I thought he was done calling players out in the media? Not that he is wrong I agree with him- he said there is a group of players playing and a group is not, I wonder if the players who are not playing (in his eyes) go past Frolov and Gabby or include the likes of Ec and Avery? They need to clear the freaking front of the net on D
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
if you missed the press conference is is here.
My only issue with the conference was he didnt call out Staal and Girardi by name for their crap games as well.
To answer your query I think it goes to guys like MDZ as well as he is not producing offensively and still have defensive clunkers, but yes Avery, EC, but especially Gabs and Fro.
by Michael Gleich on Nov 25, 2010 1:51 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah I didn’t see that at bab when I posted, I am okay with him not saying anything about Girardi because he has been great, just a bad game (I hope) while Fro/Gabby have not shown up for the last number of games and its a distrubing pattern. Who would of thought a 1/4 into the season we would all be saying thank god for Brian Boyle?..lol
In an Ideal world I would have all ten fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.
i would agree but Torts specifically mentioned tonight and if you are going to do that then you name all the stars who didnt show tonight. Girardi and Staal have played well most games of late while as you said Fro and Gab have not, also AA has not the last 5 games.
by Michael Gleich on Nov 25, 2010 2:07 AM EST up reply actions
I disagree
Gaborik was nonexistent lately and I see no problem that Torts specifically mentioned him. A player with that much talent must show more.
I don’t see Frolov as bad as everyone else seems to. He plays well defensively and he’s great at protecting the puck, he reminds me a bit of Jagr in those situations. I agree that his offensive numbers are not what we all hoped for but part of the problem imo is that he doesn’t get the puck where he needs it to score goals. Frolov isn’t Gaborik who can make a goal out of nothing. I’m sure thought that Frolov’s numbers will get better.
Hey, on the bright side we won the 3rd 3-0. … That’s really all I’ve got for positives from this game.
Favre 4 Ever
I Believe In Chris Drury
right we won a period after the opposition didnt care anymore and took the foot off the gas
by Michael Gleich on Nov 25, 2010 1:52 AM EST up reply actions
And Stepan scored
So that was nice. And everyone tried their very best too, so there is that.
In Hank we trust.
Everyone, from what I could tell, only tried their best for the last 20 minutes. By then Tampa let up, their sole purpose was to set Malone up at every opportunity. They out outworked and outclassed the first 40, and that by all means isn’t a good game.
How about Boyle? I’m scared of him putting up a 30-15-45 line this season (from the third line), who knows what he’ll ask for, and if he can maintain his current pace. It’s interesting how players can step their game up come contract years…
On another note, Stamkos getting 50 in 50 is very possible this season. It sucks that he doesn’t play in a bigger market, he might actually get respect from not just the avid hockey fan.
Frustrating...
I just keep hoping that the offense for them finally comes around this year and the defense/goaltending has an off-year. Plus…Hank on my fantasy team ain’t doin me any favors. Sorry, had to throw that selfish note out there. Anyone still concerned about Hank/the defense? Will Drury make a difference at all defensively?
Im going to say Henrik played an excellent game, and NONE of those goals were his fault. I could see people saying the Hedman goal is but he was screened pretty hard. Stepan continues to impress lately. The only two good things to come out of tonight.
All I can say is, holy crap Brian Boyle. I’m sure he’ll come back to reality at some point, but just an amazing surge for him.
by NTB on Nov 25, 2010 3:18 AM EST via mobile reply actions
If someone told me during the offseason
That Boyle was making the team I’d laugh and shake my head dismissively.
If that person told me he’d have 10 goals before November is finished I would have run away from that person, for surely those would have been the words of the criminally insane.
In Hank we trust.
Gotta give him credit
He worked his tail off this offseason to get to where he is. Hopefully, that inspires some other guys to do the same in the offseason. Boyle always had the potential, I think alot of it was just figuring out where he fits in. The kid was a former 1st rounder, who didn’t have the offense to hang to hang at the top of the order anymore. He’s picked up his skating, and gotten more comfortable in a defensive roll, but behind it all, he still has the offense and the shot that got him drafted, and he’s able to capitalize when the opportunity presents itself. I think the most telling stat about Boyle’s success is so many goals and so few assists. His improved defense is creating opportunites from opponents mistakes, and his improved skating is allowing him to use the shot he’s always had to capitalize on them.
by BuckarooClub on Nov 26, 2010 10:32 AM EST up reply actions
I remember L.A. fans banging on about him and how he is going to be sorely missed, I think we fell hook line and sinker for their Redden. It just does not seem work with him and gaborik.
All we seemed to be doing last night was dumping the puck and getting beat to it, it was embarrasing to watch. And what was with leaving Malone/hall or in fact tampa player that wanted to camp out untouched in front of the net all night long? make them pay for the ice ffs.
by bludgeon213uk on Nov 25, 2010 9:28 AM EST up reply actions
It might sound crazy, but putting Avery on the first line might not be the worst idea. By doing this we keep the Battery line intact, and give Avery an opportunity to show he’s still got what it takes (instead of being able to use his lack of ice time as an excuse). His forecheck is great, he works hard in the corners, and can open a little ice for Stepan and Gaborik to work their magic.
If this doesn’t work, they could always move Dubinsky up, or plug Prospal in there once he’s healthy.
The few times Avery played with Gaborik last year I thought it worked well. Sometimes he’s such a distraction to other players that they forget about Gaborik for a brief second. Unfortunately, I think Avery is in Torts doghouse too often to get significant first line time though so we may not get our wish.
We can be thankful
that we only play TB three more times this season. I’m going to put this one on the coaching staff. Yeah, I know, we didn’t play well, but we couldn’t handle their speed, and needed to at least for this game, play more defensively. Unless you take care of the little things in your own end, the rest is a moot point. An adjustment needed to be made, the forecheck wasn’t working, and the defense just wasn’t there. I’d rather lose this one 1 or 2 to nothing than the clustertruck that was the first two periods.
by Stewapet on Nov 25, 2010 7:59 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
I agree 100%
Torts never HELPS get our offense going by switching up our gameplan. switch to a 2-1-2 and create some pressure. Drop 2 forwards low to try and bail out the d and use a box +1 to try and spring Gabby or Dubi – it seems like we play BETTER with only 4 guys in the defensive zone anyway.
by BuckarooClub on Nov 26, 2010 10:35 AM EST up reply actions
Sure
Put I think sometimes we’re thinking too much about what’s going to happen to the puck to the puck AFTER we get it then just thumping the guy and creating pressure. Maybe Torts needs to tell guys just to get in there, play the body, and keep the puck in the offensive zone, rather then worrying about winning the puck and scoring. Not that we’d do that all game, but just enough to change the pace of things a bit. Sometimes it’s easier to score when you’re not trying so so hard. Sometimes just the IDEA that something is changing in our attack can help. I worry that the idea of always shifting players puts MORE pressure on the individual players, and they tighten up, rather then coming up with a way to loosen the guys up to try to get the puck in.
by BuckarooClub on Nov 26, 2010 1:29 PM EST up reply actions
hey look at the bright side
after every shoot yourself in the foot game, the rangers have bounced back with a solid performance the next game, and with the panthers coming up its a prime opponent to have one of those games
Since we are mixing and matching
Id like to see big boyle playing with gabby for atleast powerplays. He is a big body that goes infront of the net and can score goals down low or cycle out to the point and bomb shots in. He is defensively responsible and has gotten faster so he can come back in defense if something happens. I really think we need to utilize Boyle more then just our third line superstar. I think big Boyle should be given that opportunity to try his power out with gabby atleast on the pp. Our pp has been lousy and none of our d-men have a really big shot, the kind of shot that makes people not block it for fear of breaking something. Boyle has a stronger wrister then any of our D-men and I think he can throw some booming slappers, also he seems to actually hit the net with his shots.
Honestly girardi and staal couldnt move malone who is 6’4", and girardi was cross checking the shit out of him to get him out of the way. Can you imagine smaller d-men trying to move 6’7" Boyle out of the crease his size and skill there would do us wonders like big buf did in chicago.
I wouldnt mind giving Boyle a look on the first line if Stepan is having an off game. He isnt a liability and torts has confidence in him since he played that line against stamkos even strength and they didnt do badly. Having his hulking presence can make space for gabby. I would like to see duby playing left wing if we are mixing up the first line though. Duby-Boyle-Gabby could be a spark. Planting Boyle infront of the goalie and having duby and gabby try and shoot from the circles. Only problem with that is it cuts up our two producing lines to form a possibly effective first line.
Boyle on the PP makes a ton of sense. That’s why we haven’t seen it yet.
I’d like to see Frolov-Stepan-Boyle-Gaborik-Girardi personally (Girardi over MDZ because not only does he shoot more, but he gets it through when he does). Let MDZ-Rozsival (when he returns) play with D-AA-C.
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by George E. Ays on Nov 25, 2010 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
Stepan
I am glad he found his game again.
Rangers FTW!
by BleedsRangerBlue on Nov 25, 2010 3:52 PM EST reply actions
King Henrik sucks!! trade him!--*sarcasm alert!
Boyle on the PP makes too much sense
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