The overwhelming thoughts by just about every poster, and Sam and Joe was that the Rangers played a horrendous period. If you’ve been to my site before, you know I’m the first person to kill the team when they arent doing something right, but this time, I think it was the Kevin Weekes residual effect that hurt them.
It looked like the Rangers were so scared of being trapped in the offensive zone, and were so intent on playing defense, that they did everything wrong that you could possibly do. They were turning the puck over, they were refusing to send men deep to retrieve it, they weren’t pressuring the breakout play, and because all 5 men were actively in the defensive zone, there was no 1-pass outlet to get the puck out of the zone, it either had to be skated out, or had to be 2-passed out.
I know Vally did a helluva job in that period, but only 3 or 4 were really good saves, the rest were mediocre shots that he made look really great by whipping his glove hand out, or by not making a clean initial save. I dont want to sound like im killing the guy, since I really am only one of 2 or 3 people on this planet who felt Vally was under appreciated, and definitely could be an NHL backup goalie, but lets call it like we see it. He played great, and the Rangers were trying their hardest to protect the guy.
It happens, I think things will open up a lot for these guys in the 2nd, especially with the first goal out of the way.
