Perspective: Rangers clipped 2-1 by Kings
by Rob L on Feb 3, 2010 1:50 AM EST
in New York Rangers Recaps
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What I watched tonight entertained me. Granted, the Rangers were beat on plays that could have been stopped; but at the same time both Los Angeles Kings goals could and should be on TSN's top 10 later. It's late, and although I'm in college I have an exam tomorrow that needs my attention; I'm going to pump out as many thoughts on the game as I can. As for a quick recap of the game, I would say it was a wide-open game. The Refs stayed out of the way and let the two teams play. It was a back and forth game with both teams pressuring and creating chances, but in the end I would say the Kings capitalized. Onto some thoughts:
Note 1: I'm gonna start with Jokinen - then you can stop reading
- Let's just over-analyze one game with Olli "the Sex Panther" Jokinen (per Matchsticks and Gasoline). I thought it was a little disappointing in the end. He was all over the ice, but it seemed like everyone was looking for him and the Kings just shut him down. I still don't think he should be on a line with Gaborik so that teams have to spread their defense a little when they play the Rangers. Jokinen needs to play against 2nd and 3rd lines, not top-line matchups. He needs players that are worried about defense, because Jokinen's defense isn't something to brag about. That's the end of the rant, still need to see him on the 2nd line.
- If I'm John Tortorella, I am trying to keep the mood up. Pressure was applied and kept for periods of time, and in the end Henrik Lundqvist had another great game. Tortorella mentioned today on the interview that the team was focusing on their defensive game in order to create pressure. Chances are created out of pressure more times than not; so just keep working.
- Let's not forget to mention that L.A. is on a seven (7 - for those of you still awake) game win streak; five (5) of them coming on the road. The team is cookin' and Kovy might be headed their way. Get out while you still can Rangers.
- Curtain call for Henrik Lundqvist. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he just takes Sweden back to the finals. All I hope is that he plays team USA in the final and Drury scores on him off a one-timer from Callahan upstairs. He is unbeatable with everything but the glove. Cut out the odd-man rushes, NYR.
- As I'm always hinting let's keep one eye on the future and take a look ahead on the calendar. Capitals at Rangers Thursday night. The Caps beat the Bruins tonight 4-1 for their ELEVENTH (11) straight win. Should the Rangers forfeit now or give it one more try as the under-dog? Let's see what this team is made of on Thursday. Note 2: I'll be in class, taking an exam. Lovely.
In the end, February should end up going like this: should have been better, could have been a lot worse. Time will only tell. Great game to watch if you're a hockey fan.
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I have to disagree about Jokinen.
first goal he seemed lost and let them skate in for the breakaway. second goal he turned the puck over. idk, he was disappointing in my book.
prust on the other hand….the garden is going to love him
Jokinen was OK, but obviously he’s not the answer to the team’s offensive woes. But we knew that already. Hopefully the money that we won’t be paying Kotalik will go towards some badly needed offensive assistance. We just cannot get the puck through the neutral zone on anything approaching a regular basis, and the power play remains atrocious.
For this loss I blame Torts
This game was even till that SHG by Kopitar and with no defensmen on the back end during that PP was a horrible decision. How does he have five forwards and no D-man in there. I understand that Del Zotto got called for tripping and the delay of game by Greene caused both men to go to the box. But still where is Gilroy?, Rozsival? or Staal? On the freaken bench because Torts wants to be cute and hopes the Kings don’t get lucky.
You can blame Jokinen for being lost all you want about tracking back, but when you have no D-Man on the back line that can hustle backwards right away and at least force a pass so Henrik can face the other shooter or force a bad angle shot, that SHG doesn’t happen.
You want to blame Jokinen for the turnover on the second goal, that’s fine. But sadly the first goal looms large on Torts because this should’ve been a scoreless game after two periods then we have a 1-1 tie thru three. Lost an important point on the Kopitar SHG. After that it’s anyone’s game.
Yes it’s a moral victory for the Rangers because they did play well. And yes Rob Luker you are also correct. Jokinen should be the second line center. Erik Christensen should’ve been with Gaborik & Prospal on the top line. Because that goal should’ve been the equalizer, not to pull one back.
Prust is awesome and I’m glad he’s here.
But once again, I blame Torts for this loss in LA tonight.
I agree. It was a stupid move. It’s not like MDZ is their only defenseman. Torts overcoaches, with constantly changing lines, and I think that partially explains the total lack of offensive flow.
I agree with Tort over coaching. Gaby was ice cold then he breaks out and gets a goal one game. The next game a hat trick. Then he’s on a new line? come on!
No defender when it is 0-0 on the PP was stupid if you were down… one, or better two then fine.
TORTS
I am starting to get very very weary of Torts. I think he is over coaching also. He is to blame for this loss. I almost jumped out of my bed when I heard they had 5 forwards out there.
Lisin should be in the lineup. Voros should not be since we have Prust now [Who is a very fast skater]. The line juggling is too much. He needs to stick with the same lines or no chemistry is going to be built.
OUCH MY ELBOW HURTS!
Olli and Vinny had chemistry but Olli did not with Gabby. Dubi, EC and Gabby had chemistry and produced while together during Vinny’s injury so i would play:
Dubi-EC-Gabby
Prospal-Olli-Cally
but Torts wont separate vinny and gabby so best to hope for
Prospal -EC-Gabby
Dubi-Olli-Cally
Agree
I agree with your 1st set of line combos, but the 2nd set wouldn’t be bad either, Torts is driving my crazy with the lines. How can you expect chemistry to happen if they change every other shift? I would mind seeing:
Dubi-EC-Gabby
Prospal-Olli-Cally
Drury- AA – Avery
Prustt- Boyle- Lisin/Voros
Love these lines...
But torts has to break up Vinny n gabs and I don’t think he’s gonna do that on a consistan basis…and as far as Olli goes it’s his first game that sh goal of course was partially his fault but cmon this guy got thrown to the wolves and is playing the point in replace of kotalik on a struggling pp..can’t take too much from this game but he did have good chemistry with vp so that’s a good look hopefully things get better….or worse and we get the number 1 pick!!!!
by klh2009 on Feb 3, 2010 11:50 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
PRUUUUST !!!!! PRUUUST!!!!!
Told you this guy was what this deal will be remembered for. Can’t wait till he hits the Garden ice. Saw his interview between 1 and 2 (taped the rest of game that was as late as I could hang in there) and he is gassed to be here and we should be jacked up that we got him.
I was not impressed by Olli’s play. He was terrible defensively!! His first 4-5 shifts he wouldn’t back check, the closest he came to the defensive side was at the defensive blue line and no further. I too agree that he shouldn’t be on the top line, EC is better there and him Gabby and Prospal have something going. I think he is better suited for the 2nd line with Dubi and Cal. Drury is best suited for the 3rd line and not the 4th line, I thought that was a kick in the face. Stupid call by Torts on the power play having 5 forwards out, that SHG would have never happened if Olli had taken the puck handler (Kopitar) because Drury was back checking towards the off winger and if the pass had come through Drury was there. But then again much of the blame for games as of late could be placed on Torts, he needs to stop changing the lines every 30sec and let them have some time to play it out. They need the time to build the chemistry that other teams have, but we all know Torts will never do that. Well Thursday will be another ASS KICKING, with the CAPS rolling like they are. But I’m sure everyone will be all excited if the team actually wins, highly unlikely though…
Drury is an embarrassment
Chris Drury, Ranger captain, is as done as a player can be in this league. He has no heart, fading ability, and no instinct whatsoever for anything offensively. They played a good team last night and matched up well in most areas….the one overmatched player happens to be the highest-paid player on the team. How can this organization rationalize what has happened to his game? Drury deserves to be scratched or sent to the minors, but the Rangers will never allow Torts to do this to him.
Buy him out; there’s not a bigger problem on this team He sucks on the power play, can’t play defense, can’t skate, and due to his concussion problems, he can no longer hit anyone either.
Matt Gilroy was disgracefully bad last night; Dan Girardi was awful too. Most nights I feel sorry for Marc Staal—he’s the only good player the Rangers have on defense.
Prole art threat.
How do you pick out Drury in that game as the weak link?
Also, fading skills, yes. But questioning his heart just means to me that you aren’t watching the games.
by Lunkwill Fook on Feb 3, 2010 12:00 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t know… he’s good on the PK. After see his interview at the AVs game… it looked like the first time he showed any emotion or energy, but unfortuntaley it was to plug the Pizza joint hime and his buddies are opening in Fairfield CT.
I think his heart is in Pizza!
How does this guy have heart? Because he occasionally blocks shots? In 3 years on the team I don’t think any Ranger has had more pucks go off him into the net….he is a disgrace. He is invisible. He has no presence on the ice, and is mailing it in for this team.
I have watched nearly every game that Drury has played for the Rangers. He is a shell of the player he was in Buffalo and simply can’t skate like he used to. His rib/wrist injuries have robbed him of his shot, and his concussions have deprived him of his ability to play offense in the tough places on the ice. In that respect, he is similar to Eric Lindros when he played for the Rangers….except Lindros actually put the fucking puck in the net.
Lastly, your captain shouldn’t be a 4th-liner, or praised exclusively for PK duty. If so that means Blair Betts was an NHL captain……
Prole art threat.
by greifi griffie on Feb 3, 2010 5:19 PM EST up reply actions
I only watched the 2nd period, but that felt like enough. This team isn’t really any different with Olli than without him, still a fundamentally flawed team.
Jokinen looks like he might just manage to be Kotalik with potentially more ES scoring….putting him on the point on his 1st game with a new team w/o practicing at all was an epic fail of a decision, and they got burned because of it. 5 forwards as a whole was bad, but Jokinen being on the point was what really killed it.
Dubi getting a 4th line shift was funny, I’m hoping it was because of the extended special teams where everyone else had just seen ice time, but with Torts you never know what he’ll pick off the top of the deck to send out there.
Thanks to a bit of scheduling luck, this team may just nosedive immediately after a “buyers” trade, and maybe that can end the insanity that is trying to save this team this year.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
OOoooooo!!
Something new, and different…
BlueshirtBanter - beating up reporters at bus stops since 1994
same old crap
the rangers still look liike the rangers they were beat to the puck teams are finging it easy to shut down a team with third line players and one star player giradi wrist shot is getting oldand gets beat alot trade him redd and blowsitall cant do anything with the puck they get outworked all game cant get it out of the zone dubi a third line center at best trade him avery has to go cali love the guy but that dump and chase down the boards is all he can do a good fit with talanted players but not with this team hope they lose the rest of the season maybe we can get a good pick and sather gets fired cause if we do make the playoff big if we are a joke of a team to play
Has Torts always been so fast to switch lines?
Is this just his style? Has he ever settled in on set lines or is this just a function of the Rangers lack of scoring?
Patience
Patience probably isn’t in Tort’s commonly used vocab.
Blueshirt Banter - End the Sather Era
US Soccer - The Yanks Are Coming
Red Sox Fan behind Enemy lines.
Historically he uses “pairs” and rotates a 3rd player depending on who’s hot, who’s not, matchups, or maybe phases of the moon in relation to the declination of the rings of Saturn.
When there’s a lack of scoring involved, it only gets worse – which is what we’ve been seeing since late October – and will continue to see for the foreseeable future.
Until someone figures out that the at least half of the defensemen on this time are ill-suited to the system, and need to go, nothing will change. When you spend more than 1/2 the even-strength time in your own zone, you aren’t going to have chances to win games.
BlueshirtBanter - beating up reporters at bus stops since 1994
by dbmaven on Feb 3, 2010 10:35 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
- at least half the defensemen on this team *
BlueshirtBanter - beating up reporters at bus stops since 1994
I was afraid that was the answer. So Asimov having a good night and then being forgotton and EC being benched for a Missed assignment and Avery all over the place is the norm in Torts world. Ain’t buying.
by christopherm on Feb 3, 2010 10:40 AM EST up reply actions
Torts Do Us All a Favor
And just leave the team, Torts is by far the worst coach the NYR has ever had, even worse than Muckler or Trottier. As for Chris Hig…I mean Olli Jokinen, he was about as useless as they come last night.
And on a side note, I notice that everytime we play a Western team (Blues, Avs, Kings) they wear their alternate jersey, what happened to our alternate Statue of Liberty jersey? I don’t care if it’s the white or the blue or if we pull a Mighty Ducks and use four jerseys but I miss the Liberty jerseys
by The Last Shall Become First on Feb 3, 2010 11:26 AM EST reply actions
i disagree...
ok, i’m going to take some heat on this one. i definitely noticed a tangible difference in having ollie here. i feel like he offered some stability in the offensive zone and created a number of creative opportunities. i saw someone who has the ability to be a playmaker coming out of the corner and crossing the blue line. the mistakes he made can easily be chaulked up to him adapting to the ranger system and his new linemates. i agree with everyone that he had no business being on the point in his first game on the squad. that, i place on torts, as you all have noted. the kings are hot and they play by jumping on any weaknesses…so, yes, ollie got pinched. i also agree with everyone that, aside from the power play, he belongs on the second line and not with gabby. if there’s one thing we learned from last night that might be it. i’ve always liked the way gabby and EC work together but where would that leave duby? third line? someone help me on this.
as for prust, you all are getting fired up because he likes to fight and agitate, which is cool. we all love that and he does make us a more annoying team while giving us someone to protect our squad. but he won’t score. period. even though he was in the action, i wasn’t so impressed with his chaos factor…unlike Ollie, who made some really creative choices when he gained (yep, gained) possession, prust seems not to know what to do when he has the puck. very weak and inaccurate shot. if he gets a lot of ice time in a month all he’ll be doing is making the garden feel like the Roman Colosseum, which will be fun, but we won’t be winning any more games. he’s a fifth liner.
of course, i’m usually wrong about all this stuff and the odds are he’ll make me look foolish like i did when i slammed avery…hope so.
see you guys,
d
creative chances!!!!!! ?????
What game were you watching?
by RangerFan5 on Feb 3, 2010 2:34 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Only caught the 3rd period
But they looked very sloppy as a whole. Passes were not crisp, guys were having trouble controlling the puck. The Kings looked like they defended the dump-in superbly. Not really a big fan of Jokinen. He makes some good plays, but doesnt immediately go after the puck when he loses it like a Callahan or Dubinsky would do.
Scratching Lisin is a head scratcher. Do we really need Voros for “toughness?” He was working well with AA.
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Both goals scored were shot over Lundqvist’s glove. He saves everything, and gives up 2 or fewer almost every game. Then you look and see how the opponent scored, and it’s always high glove.
It was a good game, and Lundqvist played great don’t get me wrong. I think he needs to practice high glove side more.
"Jaromir Jagr.... it's a POWER PLAY GOAL!"
- Sam Rosen
"Marian Gaborik.... it's a POWER PLAY GOAL!"
-Sam Rosen
It's ollis first god damn game!!!
Give this guy a chance geez half of you complaining about olli lack of d skill on the point and no backchecking…cmon that torts problem he has to realize that a foward on the point only works with consistant pressure on the pp so the pk can’t break out..hence look at the caps on the pp pressure the full 2 mins. I watched the game and I’m not delusional he back checked (not like dury or cally) but he did backcheck. He doesn’t need to go as hard on his d side of his game bc that’s not what keeps him in this league it’s his offensive skills unlike cally n drury. This guy has more skill than Kots and higgy combined he hits the net makes good moves and decisions. It’s his firs damn game he had no chemistry like cmon he’s playing for a struggling offensive team he’s no going to come out and score 5 goals hisfirst game without practice. He shoots he hits the net and that rite there is more than what higgy and kots do, so i don’t know what the point of bashing joks when he’s clearly and upgrade..
by klh2009 on Feb 3, 2010 1:05 PM EST via mobile reply actions
I'm sick on Henrick
I’m sick of everyone hyping up King Henrick as a great goalie when in fact he is just decent. We actually might have won some of those two goal games if we had Broduer. I would personally trade Hank for Kovy any day of the week. Man I would drive Hank and Staal to Atlanta for Kovy.
by The Last Shall Become First on Feb 3, 2010 5:32 PM EST reply actions
LOL!!
and who’s the Giants goalie? Do they get back Hedberg in this incredible deal and send them Gaborik too?
You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there
by FreeBradshaw on Feb 3, 2010 11:27 PM EST up reply actions
wow Giants...
**Rangers.
You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there
by FreeBradshaw on Feb 3, 2010 11:27 PM EST up reply actions
To "The Last Shall Become First" ARE YOU THAT STUPID!
You should be thanking Henrik for keeping the Rangers in these games because he is the only one along with Gaborik, Prospal, Del Zotto, Gilroy, Staal, Dubi, Callahan who is showing heart, passion and the f’en drive to win for the NY Rangers.
There is no way in hell you trade your top Goaltender for an over priced and over hyped forward that will go back to Russia for the money he is seeking. Chad Johnson is not ready to be the full time goalie and I bet you want Vally to come back up here as well.
I’m not happy the Rangers are not doing well either, but I’m not going to type a half cocked crap post just to assume that Henrik is over hyped. Henrik is one of the top 5 goaltenders in the league. His problem is that his teammates either allow the opposition to run him over, or never show up in these games and he gets shelled for no reason.
Pay attention and learn something. Henrik is not the problem, Sather is.
Sorry there Last Shall.
Work at night, angry at a co-worker and other things on my mind.
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