237 thoughts on “Rangers vs. Wild…Let’s Rumble!”

  25. This game is important not because of the standing, but rather for team’s self confidence and reassurance of playing ability after embarrassing previous horror show.

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  37. Lol re beat wide not being in the line up. Kid has some secondary assists from the team’s unreal shooting percentage early in the season and the same number of goals as mcilrath does for the panthers and it’s a travesty….puhlease.
    –
    Who’s going to be the D man whipping boy? No one is paired with anchor skjel.

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  70. Again, who played yesterday night and travel? Rangers deflated again, faster than pricked balloon. This team is one big, psychological mess, ready for collective shrink.

    Liked by 1 person

  79. I don’t care how good AV is supposed to be this team shadows his personality weak! This team has no fire! Without elite talent Rangers will remain the same year after year!

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  80. Pirri is good for one thing. Standing in the right hand circle and shooting on the power play. Otherwise he is a waste of a roster spot.

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  90. I think this fragility is fallout from the “goalie controversy” and from the Unrepudiated hit on Lundqvist a coupe of games ago.

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  111. I wonder when the rangers will have the opportunity to buy out lundqvist’s contract. Sather traded away 1st and 2nd round picks so the farm is mediocre. Sather left a mess for Gorton.

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  116. Those 2 lost games are really bad in more ways than one.
    1.Rangers’ friendly fire and self destroying continues.
    2.Even regardless of his scoring, this team is not the same without Nash. Just different in a bad way. He IS important.
    3. We are learning that our team is extremely vulnerable psychologically. Where is previous, heralded resilience?
    4. You can’t win long run with bunch of average, with few slightly above average and few below, ball less and thin-skinned players.
    Boy-e-e-e-e-e!

    Liked by 2 people

  118. If there isn’t a closed door mtg after this game this team is in even deeper trouble than we imagine. A team w/ 2 days rest against a team that played last night. Wow. 5th in Metro looks optimistic!

    Liked by 1 person

  170. a couple more dreck losses like this and AV’s ass will be squarely on the hot seat.

    I remember Carp wondering if AV woukd make it past Christmas during the summer if the team underperformed….

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  176. Wow Olga your comparing Pearl Harbor to a badly beaten NY Rangers team? Come on! After Pearl Harbor we pulled up our boot straps and showed the world true elite talent! This team has no boot straps to pull up or elite talent. And besides the way they are playing tanking probably is not necessary we have strainers for goalies!

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  178. Besides, the US was in far worse shape after Pearl Harbor than the Rangers are after back to back losses. The Rangers are 4th overall and can still improve this year. They can get their injured players back, Hanka can return to form, Gorton can make trades at the deadline…

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  180. I agree Olga I don’t want to give up either, but this scenario is played out year after year! They are just not good enough and as a fan I’m just frustrated.

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  181. There’s always a lot of ifs, EV. And I’m frustrated too, but they aren’t doing so bad as to chuck ’em in the dustbin at this point. See me again for another opinion in April. If you need a guaranteed winner, root for the Harlem Globetrotters.

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  195. Torts Jackets have now won 12 consecutive games. Hard not to respect what Torts is doing for a team that was a bottom feeder last year. Amazing. No other words.

    Bobrovsky will go into the Christmas break with a 21-5-2 record, a 1.87 goals-against-average and a .935 save percentage. Best goalie in the league?

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  201. Good morning Fellow Boneheads Happy Christmas Eve. CCCP it is amazing what good goal tending will do! Well I was thinking this morning, imagine that me thinking, that it sure would be wonderful if we all get to celebrate a Stanley Cup win together on this blog. How fabulous would that be? Thanks Carp for making this blog great, with are help of course, and thanks Doodie for all you’ve done to keep it going. Oh and many thanks to all the guest reviewers for chipping in alone the way! You guys can only imagine how much this blog means to me being isolated done here in St Pete! Enjoy the Holidays than it’s back to more frustration with this clown show! Who knows maybe this year inspite of the odds against it happening we will finally get our Miracle!

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  202. CCCP,
    I agree, jut was time to fire Torts (I was a Torts guy). Unless he was going to pull a Coughlin (Giants coach with very similar personalities), and change his ways. That was very doubtful since it has taken him till this year to do so.

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  203. It’ll be a Christmas miracle if you guys stop your whining

    Saying “this team as currently constructed can’t win a cup” on December 23 is the same as saying “I’m off my meds and everything is blurry and nothing good ever happens to me so I’m gonna read into something that may not be there”

    Liked by 1 person

  204. 14 goals against in two games isn’t a goalie issue per say. Yes, Lundqvist is turning in an unsatisfactory season thus far but there’s something to be said for possession numbers and a defense that had overachieved up until now.
    I won’t let this loss ruin my Christmas

    Liked by 1 person

  205. James,
    It’s a snowball effect. Hank give up a soft goal after the team got him the lead. It’s a natural key down. The Wild score two quick ones in the second, Rangers get one back, and Hank gives one right back. It’s a goalie issue that caused the D issue. We have said this too many times this season, this game was on Hank!

    Liked by 1 person

  207. Good morning, boneheads!
    Happy Christmas Eve!
    You can’t win with a subpar goaltending ( this one is on Hank, I agree) 2 second lines, one fourth, and another one that belongs in the minors. Try not to lose too much ground until the troops are back, and until Hank gets his game back. And I have no doubts he will. Hopefully he is at his best in March this year. By that time nobody will remember these two atrocious games.

    Liked by 1 person

  208. Agree with Olga that a fair amount (not all) of core blame goes to Sather and the NMC/big ticket contracts. Not only limiting on the next GM but limiting on the coach too. Imagine a game he sits G/Staal/HL – thats like.. almost 20M of contracts not playing. I’m sure he has all the respect in the world for them but privately wishes he had other choices.

    Really a trifecta the past few games – bad goal tending, weak defense and little help from the forwards. Also firmly convinced giving C to #27 instead of Nash was a mistake

    Liked by 3 people

  209. Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t imagine either Donuts or Nash seriously getting in a teammate’s face for sloppy or indifferent play. Hard, too, to imagine hearing either of their voices over the din of a locker room. We need a leader and it wouldn’t shock me that if we ever got one, #27 would gladly give up the C and concentrate on his own game without all the other responsibilities.

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  211. Torts changing his ways? HA HA! What a funny anecdote! Like when he changed his ways when he went to Vancouver? Tho, haven’t heard much about any of his antics this year. Yet. He’s got himself a very good young team to coach and he’s doing pretty damn good so far. Top PP%, top 3 GF, 30th in goals against! Top goaltending! Not pucking bad!

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  214. And another thing. Columbus? Scotty Hartnell with a hat trick. Let’s see how long that lasts. Along with other things in Columbus. They’re good this year, no doubt. Let’s see how far they go come April.

    Liked by 1 person

  217. Only got to see extended highlights from last night, and it sure looks like the first line was a first line. But, wow, the lousy goaltending the last two, even St. Raanta.

    Liked by 1 person

  219. Beezle

    Why would he sit Staal except to give him a breather from time to time. As he should for other defensemen especially Klein and Girardi

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  220. Woof! is right! I will say this though: in the losses to the Pens and Wild the team was going up against two fairly hot teams. Pens were 7-1-2 when they creamed us and we know how many the Wild had won. Prust sayin’!

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  223. Torts hasn’t changed anything. He just happens to be on a winning streak, so that becomes the narrative.

    and BTW, all these teams that have won 11 in a row, or whatever, that’s what it took to chase down the Rangers in the standings. Think it’s more likely that the Rangers play better than this than any of those teams, especially Columbus and Philly, continue to play at anything close to this pace.

    and I repeat, a really good team is going to finish Fifth Metro, and any team that is fourth or fifth ought to be tanking big time the final week of the season.

    Liked by 3 people

  226. Thanks, Carp, for the breath of fresh, logical air. It is analogous to the gorgeous second movement of Bach’s double violin concerto–as Albert Schweitzer described it, a something-I can’t-remember between two violent-other-things. Now back to the ledge commentary.

    Liked by 1 person

  228. Carp

    It’s better to finish 4th then 5th IF Pittsburgh or the division winner has more points than Montreal. In this case the 4th team would move into the Atlantic bracket

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  234. Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah to all RR2 boneheads.
    I personally loavthe this new playoff format. (Tanks Buttman)
    Is there a chance the league can go back to 1 thru 8 seeding, after expansion ?
    I’m sure they can spin it as a means to erase their mistake while saving face.

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  236. Yes,happy Xmas and happy Hanukkah to all. A happy Boxing Day to everyone as well if I don’t pass thru between now and then.
    –
    Thanks doodie for making this possible and thanks carp for bringing us all together to begin with!
    –
    Be safe and enjoy everyone!
    –
    Joyeux Noël

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