How The New York Rangers And Ryan Callahan Are Performing Thus Far

They just have to get their forecheck going and re-familiarize themselves with each other. Plus last year a bunch of that line’s “hotness” was due to Dubi starting off on fire, I think he was close to the top of the goals chart for a bit.

They haven’t gotten too many points but they look close to lighting it up, especially with AA being visibly stronger on the boards.

I’m not really worried about them at all. Another thing to consider when looking at all of our forwards is that they all know they need to watch out for their D with Staal and Sauer out so that extra effort needed to get going is being used to defend more than usual.

Plus, it’s 5 games.

McDonaugh and Erixon seem like clones to me. Somehow they’re way farther ahead defensively then they are offensively, when as prospects they’re praised for their offensive skill so there’s a couple monsters there. And MDZ might be the Victor Cruz of the Rangers, for every good thing there is an equal and opposite nipplehead thing.

I like the potential in this team. Beating Vancouver and Calgary without Staal and Sauer is a big deal to me. Once at least one of those guys get back that pushes a turd like Witwicky or Eminger out of the lineup.

Richards and Gabby are building well, tho they just don’t seem on the same page yet but that’s understandable. I like that line but there still seems to be something missing. I dunno if its another skill guy or someone who’s more defensive minded.

Hank seems to be getting better. I didn’t know that was possible, but it just seems his positioning is perfect on every play.

There is a lot to consider when you look at what the pack line is doing… remember they do get a lot of defensive matchups where they are playing against another teams top line, also they don’t have the luxury of 2 shutdown defensive pairings which means their role of back checking is more heavily relied upon… once we start getting our d-men back this line with be able to start pushing the pace offensively…

Zucc making a big statement.

Whale up 5-0…no Bourque in line up. No Avery.

 I think his game has changed from the first two games. He was hitting everything, whether it was moving or not. Then he seemed to have been injured, I think it was the third game? I am sure he was told to slow down with the checking. He had to slow down. He would not have made it through twenty games playing like that without serious injury. He has been playing well and has been in the middle of a lot of good plays.
 Dubi has been playing well. He appears to be one of the only Rangers who brings the puck from coast to coast. During the Calgary game, he gave himself a few good scoring chances just by carrying the puck from one end to the other.
 AA has been playing very well also. You can’t say enough about how much stronger he has been on the puck.
With all that is going on, lets not over analyze things. We are doing ok, without 2 of our top defensemen. This is where playing the system is important. Yes, we can score more goals, but we will also have to give up more goals. That is the system, at least until we get healthy on the blueline. With a rook, replacements, and a defenseman trying to find his way, we are doing well.
What is our GA/G? A big 2.00(Including an EN). We have only been scored upon 5 times in 5 games at even strength, good for third in the league at ES. All this with a busted defense. Just think when this engine is firing on all cylinders. So drink a beer, chill out, and enjoy the weekend.

When they’re missing 2 of their top-4 D, expect the forwards to be more willing to backcheck (and less willing to get a deep forecheck going unless they’re 100% sure they’ll retrieve the puck). This isn’t due to a lack of effort, but a logical expenditure of energy. Considering the penalty trouble they’ve been getting into, you can be sure the Pack Line is thinking defense first. Once we get one of our D back (or stop taking so many fucking penalties), the Pack Line will get more offensive zone starts. They’ll also get more 5v5 and 5v4 time as well, knowing they won’t be needed as much for the PK.

We are missing 2 of our top 4 D, and when that happens the coach is going to rely on the teams best defensive forwards to focus more on defense.

This is exactly whats happening. Also, because we haven’t played a home game Torts hasn’t been able to manipulate the lineups, which is a huge dead that no one seems to talk about.

Add on to that the amount of penalties we have been taken. If Dubi/Cally/AA didn’t have to kill so many penalties, they would be able to play more of an offensive game.

I have no worries with that line.