Rangers Vs. Red Wings: Morning Thoughts
Some morning notes to prepare you for tonight's matchup against the Red Wings.
- If a team was ever in need of a win, it's probably the New York Rangers. The one big fence that is seemingly holding the hoards of fans from flinging themselves from the nearest cliff is the fact that the Rangers have yet to play a home game this season. That won't change tonight, but a win will up the Rangers' record to 3-6 and make Opening Night at the Garden a little less panicky.
- The problem? The Rangers are still very, very injured, and the Red Wings are not the New Jersey Devils or the Philadelphia Flyers. This matchup is going to be very difficult, especially with the injuries.
- Regardless of whether it's Henrik Lundqvist or Cam Talbot who gets the start -- as of this writing it looks like it will be Talbot -- the Rangers offense needs to score goals. Talbot held the Flyers to two goals on Thursday and the Rangers lost 2-1 -- admittedly getting some horrific luck when officials ruled J.T. Miller's goal to be no good because he "kicked" the puck into the net. I've talked about how in the beginning of the year the Rangers' offense looked much more competent on the ice. As the injuries have piled up, there's been less and less cohesiveness when it comes to the offensive zone. That's been one of the Rangers biggest problems.
- A stat you don't want to see? Rangers are -19 in the goal differential category. Woof.
- As of this point I'm not sure if Alain Vigneault is going to insert Mats Zuccarello again, but hopefully he does. I think Zuccarello brings exactly what the Rangers need right now (some offensive creativity) and even struggling as bad as he has been this year he's a better option than Brandon Mashinter in that department.
- Chris Kreider and Miller looked really good in my opinion on Thursday. Kreider, I thought, was a little more active than Miller was for the most part. He had a couple of glorious chances, but didn't convert. Miller did some good things throughout the game as looked fine. Their speed helped change things up a little bit, too. Which is good, the Rangers need all the help they can get.
Thoughts?
