For those of you who dont know, I reside in Atlanta, and while I could have gone to the game, but decided not to at the last minute. In hindsight I am glad I didnt go because this would have been heartbreaking to stomach live. Rangers outplayed the Thrashers so badly its not even funny. They had the better chances, and everything that could have gone wrong, did. Henrik played awesome yet again, the kid gives up 2 goals and takes the loss for something like the 8th time this year. Thats a sickening stat.

But for the silverlining look at things, you had to be happy with the noticiablity of Dubinsky and Callahan. While Callahan played a bit more of a passive game than what I would have liked, he still was involved, and thats what you want to see. Dubinsky looked great out there, although I was shocked to see him dropped by Dupuis on a good clean hit. Like I have said before, Brandon still could use some time in the minors to develop certain things in his game, but he has impressed the heck outta me, even to the point where I dont mind him finishing up the season here. The shame of it all is you can pretty much expect the Pack to lose a lot of games from here on out because of lineup depletion, not that it matters in the big picture, but playoff experience, of any kind, is useful.

Jaromir Jagr looks like hes going to miss scoring 30 goals for the first time since the 90-91 season (thats off the top of my head, it could be wrong but I think i’m right here). Jagr just hasnt looked himself, hes passing when he should be shooting, and hes not hitting the spots like he did last year. It happens, I think Jagr needs to regroup next year and come out guns-a-blazing.

One has to wonder what this team will look like next year. We have a lot of free agent opportunities, but some of these kids might be worthy of those spots, not free agents.

Guys, don’t feel disappointed if we don’t make the playoffs this year, I think the Rangers have shown some resiliency, and much more importantly, their kids (Tyutin, Prucha, Henrik, Girardi, Pock, Liffiton, Callahan, Dubinsky, etc) have got some decent looks at the majors, and some of them look like they are keepers, and some of them look like they are stars in the making.

I feel upbeat all of a sudden, its amazing what typing your thoughts out can do for ya!

Here are the updated Projections since all the relevant games are already done:

How this works:

Basically what I do, is to take the points a team has managed till now, divide it by the games played, then multiply it by 82. That should accurately project what the team should finish like, unless there is an extreme streak one way or the other. I will no longer be including the points per game column because lets face it, you don’t care how many points per game!

As you can see,according to tonights calculations, I project the Rangers as NOT MAKING the playoffs. Therefore using these numbers we can project what the Rangers would have to go over the remaining 11 games in order to secure the projected 90 points needed to secure the final playoff spot:

-Inferno

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I’m sure, by now, you all know what I hate most of all in the NHL. It is diving/embellishment/classlessness. Jon Sim certainly did a great job there tonight. Did you see the penalty he drew? Almost marginal contact there, he throws his head back like he caught an elbow to the face, then looked like he was going to die, then looked over to the ref, saw his hand up, and suddenly all the faux pain was gone.

I hate that, I hate it when Avery does it, I hate it when ANYBODY does it. Dont embellish, it cheapens the game.

On the plus side, we didnt blow the lead at 2-0, just 1-0. It’s ok though, I thought we played a very spirited game, the youth influx has certainly helped that. These kids dont stop skating. By the way, I’m one of those, keep Dubinsky in the minors till he’s ready kinda guy, but boy oh boy, this kid is going to be something special. He throws players aside like they are rag dolls, then skates with VERY powerful strides. Once he learns to play within his own body, hes going to be a legitimate force. I’m thinking Simon Gagnesque.

-Inferno

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Sure, the Rangers scored a goal, but this period was all about Henrik. He made 2 remarkable saves, and he also cost the team by causing 2 penalty calls. Youre probably asking yourself…Wha?! Simple, did you notice the 2, very very questionable calls came just moments after Henrik barked at the ref for not blowing his whistle? Its no co-inky-dink i’ll tell ya that. Still, some amazing penalty killing and wham, Rangers are up 1-0. One can only hope they go up 2-0. Sure, it may give you a heart attack, it may gave me a stroke, but the fact of the matter is, its better to be up 2-0 than down 2-0…..right?

err…

-Inferno

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How this works:

Basically what I do, is to take the points a team has managed till now, divide it by the games played, then multiply it by 82. That should accurately project what the team should finish like, unless there is an extreme streak one way or the other. I will no longer be including the points per game column because lets face it, you don’t care how many points per game!

As you can see,according to tonights calculations, I project the Rangers as NOT MAKING the playoffs. Therefore using these numbers we can project what the Rangers would have to go over the remaining 12 games in order to secure the projected 92 points needed to secure the final playoff spot:

-Inferno

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Probably be a bit abbreviated since I need to get a few movies back to blockbuster before it closes. Anyway, it boggles the mind just how many own goals this team has had this year. I’m going to do a bit of investigating to see if I can find a website that shows which team has the most pucks go in off of their own players, but I would have to believe the Rangers are by far and away the most. Not only that but I bet their differential between the amount of own goals they have, and the amount of own goals theyve been the beneficiary of is extremely lopsided.

Still though, I did not feel the team played bad, but clearly they ran out of gas. Not only playing with several banged up players (Jagr, Straka, Mara, etc) but like I mentioned in my previous post, they also have lost Rachunek, likely for the rest of the year.

It is staggering the amount of injuries this defense has taken, lets take into consideration that Darius Kasparitis did NOT recover from his injuries last year, nor, apparently, did Sandis Ozolinsh, so the list goes something like:

I honestly dont know how many teams can afford to lose 4 starting defenseman to injuries, but somehow the Rangers have managed to not only survive, but to play very well defensively. But the minutes are going to catch up to them, its just a fact of life. Guys like Rozsival and Malik who are typically 2nd or 3rd pairing defenseman (going by their skill level) are now playing close to 30 minutes a night. Dan Girardi who is a rookie only playing in his 21st CAREER NHL game is getting 2nd pairing minutes. The kid is good folks, but hes a (steady) 3rd pairing defenseman, nothing more. Still though, take solace in the effort level, it was there tonight, as was the ever important “playing smart” they just got some bad bounces. It happens. Weve still got plenty of games to get our playoff spot. Projections later tonight/early tomorrow but I expect they show us out of the playoffs at the moment.

-Inferno

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This isn’t the first time Jed has flubbed a pass or a clearing attempt or failed to get “all” of a shot. It happens so frequently I’m not sure why it hasnt been resolved yet. Ortmeyer needs new sticks. It just comes down to that. The kid consistently shoots over the puck, and has to adjust for the awkwardness of that by bending down to one knee when he shoots. Its a strange thing because if he just gets a stick more suited for his “touch” with the puck, I think it would be resolved.

I wasnt expecting a win in this one to be honest, I sort of have this road map of what I think the Rangers will do to get into the playoffs and this was one of my few losses that I picked on the schedule. Getting anything here would be a major steal if you ask me. So lets not completely blow it by at least picking up 1 points.

BTW, whats up with the walking wounded? Add Rachunek to the list of sprained MCLers, he will likely be out 3-4 weeks as well. Speaking of the walking wounded, did you guys catch Brendan Shanahan mentioning that he was skating into boards on purpose to test the concussion. Gotta love the guy, hes just so damn likable its crazy.

-Inferno

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So heres the funny thing. I thought the Senators actually played a better period overall except for 1, very very very important facet of the game. They played just horrendous defense right in front of their net. Did you see the overhead replay that was zoomed out on the 2nd Nylander goal? Count the amount of Senators within 3 feet of the puck who stood still watching the play. I counted 3. When you have a loose puck, 2 feet from the goal mouth, and 3 players sitting around watching the play instead of getting their butts to the front of the net and crosschecking the crap out of the Blue Jersey players, youve got grounds for benchings galore. Several plays the Rangers had 2 and 3 men in front of the net, and the Senators just didnt try to move them out. They allowed them to park themselves there. While there is of course interference rules on the Rangers side, you NEVER see the Rangers parking themselves there without taking at least 2 or 3 crosschecks to the back. The problem today, the players werent between the Rangers and the goal, they were between the Rangers and OUR goal, looking to trap men behind the play. The trouble with playing like that is 2 fold. 1)If you dont score on your chances, you are up the well known creek. 2)If you allow the players that positioning, IF the puck gets there, you need to fight around them to get to the puck.

Now watch how the Rangers played in front of their own net. With the exception of the first shift for the 4th line (where they got caught on the ice for nearly 2 minutes, the bulk of it in their zone) the Rangers did a MARVELOUS job of keeping themselves between the opposing players, and the net. You of course sacrifice some offensive chances by doing this with 3 men down low continually, but you also save your own butts.

This is why the Rangers have been winning as of late. Their commitment to keeping the puck out of their zone. Now if they can just keep netting goals to make sure they get off the dreaded 2 goal lead, they should be ok.

Lastly, anyone else notice how the “Shoot The Puck” mantra seems to have sparked the Rangers?

-Inferno

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How this works:

Basically what I do, is to take the points a team has managed till now, divide it by the games played, then multiply it by 82. That should accurately project what the team should finish like, unless there is an extreme streak one way or the other. I will no longer be including the points per game column because lets face it, you don’t care how many points per game!

As you can see,according to tonights calculations, I project the Rangers as MAKING the playoffs. Therefore using these numbers we can project what the Rangers would have to go over the remaining 13 games in order to secure the projected 91 points needed to secure the final playoff spot:

-Inferno

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Wanna know why people always say New York hockey fans are the most knowledgeable in the game? Well when 18,200 people all collectively shout “SHOOT THE PUCK” repeatedly, then you should have a pretty good idea why. Regardless the Rangers were so fortunate to get out of this with 2 points. Its frankly a testament to how well Henrik Lundqvist played in this one.

So how good has Henrik Lundqvist been? In his last 6 games (the game against St. Louis Valiquette played) the Rangers have scored a combined 15 goals. Thats only 2.5 goals per game ladies and germs, and he has gone 4-0-2 in those games. Frankly thats just amazing. Want to know what is frightening though? Since this calender year began Henrik Lundqvist has failed to win 7 games where he has given up 2 goals or less. Think on that for a minute. We’re talking a period of time that encompasses 28 games. So in 25% of that time Henrik has put up spectacular numbers AND LOST. IF the Rangers had managed to pick up 2 points in 5 of those games they would be sitting comfortably with 84 points and in 5th place (2 of those games the Rangers managed to pick up 1 point).

Lets take it a step further. Let’s consider games in which our goalie (Henrik, Weekes, or Valiquette) has given up 3 goals or less since Christmas. In that span which encompasses 32 games our goaltending has given up 3 goals or less in an amazing 27 games. During that span the Rangers are a shocking 16-12-4. Blame the offense, not the defense if we miss the playoffs.

Tough to stomach isnt it? Which is why I will take these 2 points and bank them. Although I usually have this “give the points back” mentality when we play poorly or stupidly, tonight I will make no such gesture. Rangers are again, as of now, in the playoffs. Ill definitely get the projections done tonight, sorry about last night folks. Also when I get some time I will try to write an asp script to automatically generate the projections, but I dont have the time to do it. If someone does have the time and would like to do it for me, give me a PM over at the HFBoards my screen name there is inferno272.

-Inferno

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Well, I could see that coming a mile away. As the game moves on, and as the Rangers continue to play the Hurricanes style of game the Hurricanes will continue to put more pressure on. Really its because of Lundqvist that we are even tied in this one. The Rangers arent slowing down the tempo, and arent controlling the puck in the offensive zone for any length of time. What you would ideally want is for the Rangers to hold on to the puck for 30 seconds or so, generating 1 or 2 shots, then force the Canes to dump and change. But whats happening is when the Rangers get a chance they are trying it off the rush. When you try off the rush and dont score (particularly if you shoot wide) the other team gets the puck, you have men trapped, and they have odd man rushes against. The only saving grace is the Rangers neutral zone play is VERY good today.

I dont expect the Rangers to even pick up a point (unless Henrik is stands on his head, or Grahame continues to flub pucks).

BTW, for the play in question, I think it was in, but not definitive. Hence, no goal. Good call.

-Inferno

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