181 thoughts on “Clean Slate, Grab It”

  2. I hope the Rangers keep the same 19 for game 3. That they coughed up two as a result of poor plays by two good defenders (AV’s not going to swap out McD or Girardi) is no great reason for the Glass treatment, though maybe he’ll want to see if Glass can help make the Sens forecheck pay a slightly steeper price? Whatever it takes, though, for AV and staff to feel good about rolling 4 lines, is fine with me.

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  3. If he is not going to play Buch but will play Glass put him in. If they both are going to get 5 minutes it’s not worth talking about. Don’t understand shortening the bench with a 2 goal lead in the third. Play everybody short shifts and keep them fresh. He was playing scared and may have to live with that all summer. Blowing third period leads in the playoffs seems to be AV’s mo. Lindberg has been good defensively and the 4th line has consistently generated offensive zone time. No excuse not to have them out there late in the game.

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  4. “He was playing scared and may have to live with that all summer.”
    – he basically admitted this along with quote of not going with the kids. He chokes at big moments. Horrible coaching.

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  7. Sorry about the delayed response, but I had to get away from all things Rangers after that debacle. It is not a good sign with all those two goal leads the have slipped through the Rangers feelings the last couple years, although blowing a 2-0 first period lead ain’t quite the same as Saturday night. Only person who doesn’t share any blame in that game is Raanta because he didn’t play. Plenty of blame for all 19 skaters and all three coaches behind the bench.

    I can understand shortening the bench in the closing minutes of the third period when you are up two goals, but AV shut it down way too early. I can’t figure out how Miller earned a spot in the top nine considering how bad he has been in the playoffs, especially with the dumb penalties.

    The only plus is that Kreider might be on the verge of regaining his THE status. He drove the puck to the net and found his way in front to screen Anderson. Rangers definitely need to do that more and they might even want to let him handle the puck. He might be worse than LQ because Hank handles the puck as a last resort, Anderson thinks he is Uncle Daddy.

    Also, could someone lie to Rick Nash and tell him that we are really playing the Montreal Canadiens and not the Ottawa Senators 🙂

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  9. saturday game just completely gutted me. to think this team led by that clown coach believed they played well is mind boggling. I actually thought if they held on you never critique a win. thats how bad I thought they were from being on their heels all 1st period, to the inability to manage the puck, the countless stupid icings they take, and a pp that is horrifying to watch. this game goes on my dvd of games I will be buried with.

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  19. A new post coming up notification would have been nice…butt munchers

    Repost

    Morning jackwagons;)
    Thanks for the interesting musings last night all who participated.
    –
    Back to the current series…this series is still very winnable for the rangers imo. Just need to get back to the way they played the last 3 games of mtl series and better coaching décédions.
    –
    I also think this team can beat the pens!

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  21. Vézina goalies not looking so good (although I thought talbot deserved the nod over price who spent a third of the season playing poorly to get his coach fired) in the playoffs.

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  23. Tam, Henk, Price are only as good as their D. Earlers D cough up a big one last night. Really bad play around crease. Tam gave up ones he would want back as they all do but jeez that 1st period.

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  24. It all comes down to the centers; can Haze and Step make the plays to get this team going on both sides. Both have been inconsistent…to be kind.
    .
    Amazing that Sens are doing this against the leagues top 6 defenders…

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  30. I didn’t think Pionk was going to come out. Another nice signing by the Rangers to make up for the lack of draft picks over the years. He isn’t too big (5-11/180) and needs some work on his defensive work, but he is the type of d-man AV likes – he can move the puck and join the rush. From what i have read, Pionk does play bigger than he is.

    I found this on nhl.com from March 6, 2017:

    ” The right-shot defenseman is a 21-year-old sophomore. He’s tied for 10th among NCAA defensemen with 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 34 games and is a plus-18.

    Starman said Pionk’s best quality is his slap shot, which he said was reminiscent of Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber.

    “He’s a legitimate threat to score every time he’s on the ice, that’s how good his shot is,” Starman said. “He’s good in his own zone. But when you watch him, what stands out is how good his shot is, and he can score with it. He’s got a Shea Weber quality to him with the shot. Just got a missile.” “

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  46. Gorton and company stay busy signing guys to make up for lost draft picks and a pretty bare cupboard based on Hartford’s performance this year. Now some of them just have to pan out. He leaves AV to worry about what happens on the ice. I like what he is doing.

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  49. Carp- I didn’t hear you on FAN last night, so I didn’t hear the mispronunciation of your name. I’m a little embarrassed to say that, until I heard you pronounce your own name, I used to think it was pronounced Carpin-yellow. Kind of like Yemelin. I added a “Y”. Sorry. : )

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  59. Pionk – sounds like a Vietnamese solder’s name.
    Anyway, Torts was too emotional with really short fuse, antagonizing some (broad spectrum), AV has lack of emotions in any situation, endless patience for mistakes making players, media’s soft-spoken darling and seemingly “nice guy”. Isn’t it a time to try and find someone on the middle of psychological character.

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  65. Poink Arse – we know how ‘tough’ those college boys turn out to be…look slike he heasn’t grown since Bantam. Take the righty with a boomer though.

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  78. Malkin interfered with Oshie before goal basically checked him without the puck no call. Wonder why there are so many comebacks this year …. refs don’t have the balls to make the right call

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  87. I’m still never going to understand why no one in the Rangers has been targeting Karlsson’s heel. There’s no code against that apparently according to the former players turned analysts on NHL network. Maybe JV told them to be nice. Wouldn’t that be a surprise.

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  92. Washington collapsed. Then they went in the lockerroom, composed themselves and went out and won anyway.

    Kind of like when you give up a tying goal to Zelepukin with 7.7 seconds left.

    This is what Cerney wrote about it in May, 1994.
    “Several veterans spoke – most notably Messier and Kevin Lowe — and a calm confidence was restored. There would be no anger. There would be no panic. Instead the Rangers would remain steadfast to their game plan and aggressively chase victory.”

    You know the rest.

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  95. Slava Malamud @SlavaMalamud
    Kovalchuk would likely prefer to stay in NYC or wind up in Florida. Wife and 4 kids are a major factor. It will be sign-and-trade, though.

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  96. This Malamud guy is a character… he is Russian speaking dude (from Moldova, I think) and he hates everything Russian (based on his non-sport writings and tweets, anyway) even though he reports on everything that has to do with Russian sports. He also, absolutely HATES Ovechkin and the Caps.

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  102. …the Path is set for… Ottawa.

    Seriously, I can’t even look at the Pen-Caps until we show some results in getting back in this series.

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  107. I just don’t hate the pens. Certainly don’t love them, but no where near the distaste for them like the lightning, flyers, isles, or devils.

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  108. Niskanen was caught under the new penalty rule, thou shalt not as much as breathe on the chosen one in the vicinity of the goal.

    To be fair it was a hard slash by Ovie but no different to what we’ve been seeing all season when our guys were getting in behind the defense

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  116. Crosby gets hurt. Are they just going to cancel the rest of the playoff tournament and give him the Cup?

    Wick- the leagues treatment of the Pens organization is biased. I think that’s why most fans of rival teams really can’t stand them. That and jealousy. Like Sully I can tell you I’d rather not share my opinion of the Pens 🙂 but I sure love beating them

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  117. Just watched the Cindy hit. Am I the only one who thinks that didn’t even deserve a penalty? There was stuff 10x worse in the Habs series that were not called and really were penalties. Oy vey. Sorry if Cindy’s noggin is a hurtin but its a contact sport.

    The Ledge Wisdom (TM) is that AV is bland and unemotional. I would want confirmation of what he says and does in private before agreeing. Will be interesting to see what moves he makes for tonight. Does he send Hated upstairs for a game? The good JT has been few and far between since the playoffs started but looks like he left his brain in a locker at Penn Station. Also think if we are going to go down, would rather be with Staal and DeKlein than Hold’em and Fold’em. Think Buch probably stays in after a scolding.

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  123. Thought last night was an enjoyable hockey game. 2 NYR rivals beating each other up in the POs prior to a ‘potential’ meeting in the next round. Perfect.

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  125. Av’s excuses on sitting the young guys and Smith getting lost on the bench was egregious incompetence by a Pro Coach. Tried to hold on and play his ‘guys’ and it bit him in the arse big time.

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  131. I agree on the niskanen in game call and that should be the end of it imo.
    –
    Have no problem with the ovi slash and like the way the playoffs are called. Wish the officials would call the regular season the same way. Better action and flow.

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  133. I have no issue with the penalty given to Niskanen excepting that if it was another player from another team that was the victim, it is a 2:00 penalty. It was nasty but unintentional. I also don’t have a problem with Glass playing instead of Buchnevich tonight. I do have a problem with the coach when he staples players to be bench in favor of players who are worse, or into an overtime when everyone is tired. I think they win tonight, and they could win the series. But Ottawais not a pushover and plays the kind of game that the Rangers often lose at home.

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  138. If Glass plays tonight I’m convinced AV is the perfect example of the famous Einstein quote!
    Wicky, James G, I hate the pens for this reason. They were on the way to being a doomed franchised, couldn’t put people in the seats. Doesn’t matter what anyone says or has evidence to back up a legit draft, I still believed buttman fixed the 2005 draft to land Cindy in pitt. in turn saving the franchise. Don’t know how it was done but it was. That and that obnoxious chant “let’s go pens” with that stinking horn makes me puke! The rest, azzlanders, debbies, the filth, and lighting in that order. The only advantage to caps & pens beating each other up goes to Ottawa. Rangers are toast!

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  143. Glass hasn’t played poorly and I don’t mind him in the lineup what I mind is that Buchnevich is the last name on a long list of culprits that haven’t been good enough the first two games.

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  145. It’s just stupid now btw. If it were any other player niskanen hit it wouldn’t be more than a “hey did you see that hit last night? Wow.” But because it’s 87 it’s a major tragedy throughout the league.

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  149. Problem is even I know we’re a better team top to bottom then sens. Lising this series be bad. We all figure we would get blown out in 5 next round.

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  155. Glass over Buchnevich? Nothing to get too excited or mad about there. It is the in-game decisions that will make difference if it comes down to that.

    Another loss will pretty much put a toe-tag on this year. I hope this one is a laugher. I had to immediately leave the house and think of other things after the last game.

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  156. Carp- I never thought that shot by Ovechkin that broke Klein’s arm was an accident.

    I feel the same way about his hit on Fast and what he did to Werensky.

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  157. Not true Carp I was the one who said no more 3-3 after 6 against the Habs. Rangers Win series 4-2. But I guess you have a point. But being a fan for 47 yrs. I have got reason to feel the way I do.

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  158. I’m probably going to be in the minority here but I actually thought Ovechkin’s chop was worse than the Niskanen hit. He clearly laid a two-hander on him I also think there’s probably a good chance Crosby tried to sell it after he felt the slash and unfortunately the flopping left him vulnerable. He’s just too good a skater to go down like that.

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  174. @coos – not suggesting making a statement with JT so much as getting someone in there who won’t turn the puck over ever shift? As to Glass, I’m ok if they put him in, Buch is still very much a work in progress.

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  175. Shouldn’t be ANY odd man rushes tonight. The D can jump into the rush, but then the last forward has to cover. Can’t let anyone get behind the last guy back.

    Defenders in front of Hank need to clear out the slot and let Hank see the shot.

    LGR!!

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