You’re kidding yourself, absolutely kidding yourself if you think tonight was a turnaround game. I’m sorry to be the one to be all negative here, but this was yet another poorly played game by the boys in blue. The string continues, and it isn’t a good sign. Yes, the Rangers managed 3 power play goals, and 2 short handed goals, but they were absolutely horrific in the neutral zone and in their own zone. A few days ago I said the Rangers should ramp up their pressure in the offensive zone, and they did a bit of that today, and yes, they skated back hard, and yes they more or less played as 5 men up and down the ice, but what they didn’t do is cover zones very well at all. Often times there were 2 and 3 men going behind the net to pressure one or 2 men, leaving vicious snipers like Lecavalier and St. Louis all alone in front of the net, or there abouts. Luckily most of the time the puck didn’t find it’s way to these open men, but this was a serious problem none the less. That is just one of many instances where the Rangers completely forgot about a player in a prime time scoring location. Think I am being too negative? Re-watch the game and keep your eye away from the puck. See how many times the Rangers absolutely forget about a man right in front of the net, or in the slot, or off to the side, with no person to defend for at least 15 feet.
Henrik Lundqvist didn’t have to be good. He didn’t have to be great. He had to be frigging spectacular tonight…again. You have to be worried about this guys, it’s a very big problem. I know the common thinking is, well, this is what this guy is paid for, to be the rock between the pipes. But that isn’t the point. The U.S.A. has the worlds largest stock piles of nuclear weapons, but it is used as a last resort. Having one of the greatest goalies in the universe right now between the pipes is great, but he should only have to bail you out like 2 or 3 times a night, at most. Right now he is bailing this team out 5 to 10 times a period, which is simply inexcusable. The Rangers are not giving up the simple, Marty Brodeur shots. They are giving up the holy moly, what the hell are the doing type shots. Right in front of the net, breakaways, partial breakaways, two on one’s, three on twos, short handed breakaways, crash the net scrambles, and one timers from the slot. Brodeur has to stop like one or 2 of those every week. Henrik is having to stop 5 to 10 of them a period. That has to stop. Now.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely do not want this team to go into so defensive shell. That is ridiculous, and you know how much I hate the super defensive systems. On the contrary, the Rangers need to put MORE pressure on the puck in the neutral zone, and in the offensive zone. They need to cause more turnovers, they need to put more pressure on the men with the puck, and need to cut down the separation between themselves and the opposing players. They are giving the guys too much time, and space to do whatever they want, particularly in the defensive zone.
The amazing thing is, they do EXACTLY what I talk about on the penalty kill. They are super aggressive and get to the men with the puck in half a second and steal the puck and dump it down. Imagine if they played that way in all 3 zones, and then rushed the puck back up the ice.
Do you get what I am talking about now? PRESSURE. PRESSURE. PRESSURE!!!! Just like the Penalty Kill, I want to see more pressure on the puck carrier, I want to see them hold the line much better in the defensive zone, and I want to see the team play as 5 man complete units in all 3 zones. Oh yeah, and they need to be better with their coverage.
Hence the title of this write up. It was a good game, in that they did some of the things I want, but they didn’t execute it near well enough for my liking. A better step in that pressure direction, but one they need to take even further. Ramp up the pressure till you force a cough up, never stop, and force the opposition to make fast plays to beat you. If it happens, then so be it, that is why you have Henrik between the pipes.
Getting back to the game itself, offensively there were some good plays by the Rangers on the rush, particularly Zherdevs beauty of a pass to Ryan Callahan for the one-timer. Similarly Gomez set up Drury for a one timer, both were on the power play. So, is the moral of the story to rush the puck up the ice and take one timers? No, the moral of the story is, you have to hit the frigging net with your shots when you come down the rush like that. Why? Because if you miss the net, on a hard one timer, and you have 3 guys rushing in on the play, odds are your rocket of a shot is going to come out the other side and lead to a rush heading the other way. I love plays like that, but only when the shot goes on net. In a weird way it really is a high risk, high reward kind of play because of the aforementioned scenario.
Finally, I wanted to talk about Mike Smith, and what he tried to pull out there. That was nothing less than bush league garbage. There is nothing wrong with swatting a player when he gets in your crease, or is making contact with you, but Smith was slashing and cross checking Voros no matter where he was, all over the ice. It shouldn’t warrant a suspension, but what it should warrant is the refs keeping an eye on him. They need to circulate a list of goalies who do that, because Smith isn’t the only one.
See you all on Saturday as we get to see AO, and the scary as all hell Caps.