He’s a 4th line player and a shooter. I just don’t think he fits on that first line; Kreider and Mika need someone to facilitate. Definitely don’t think he’s a bad player by any means.
Rangers just need to avoid going into a shell in the 3rd. Play it even up and 1 goal will take the game for sure.
So I don't know what this means in the big picture but the Rangers definitely have the 'Canes aggravated at this point. It's not like the 'Canes are young and foolish, far from it, but this doesn't look good for them.
I’m shocked: where was the Carolina forecheck? They let the Rangers cross the blue line with relative ease! if they abandon the forecheck, the Rangers win this series in six games.
The team that was forechecking tonight was the Rangers. It was amazing to watch. Everybody had their stick out on the puck handler and no stupid penalties in the process.
I was in meetings until 10:30 tonight and couldn't watch. Did someone fuck that Domi prick up good or what?
Vatrano never makes me complain regarding his play; he is what he is, a fourth liner. I’m not sure why he’s on the first, I just personally don’t think he fits that line. He had a nice game and the Rangers came out with a W. All that matters.
Domi and Reeves tangled at the end but no punches thrown. Domi was poking Reeves in the face with his glove *after* the officials were in between them. Two games in a row the 'Canes were chippy at the end after losing. Not a good look - the look of a team that is grasping and frustrated. Totally different than the first two games. It looks like a 2-2 series but I think the Rangers have the upper hand, even needing to win one down there somehow.
I think maybe Gallant has him out there with Z and Kreider because he's a two-way player who grinds. The third guy on that line just needs to do his job.
i just ignore all posts that talk about line-changes second guessing professional nhl coaches... bulletin boards know better. riggggggghht....
Seems like it would be more valuable at home than disadvantageous on the road. This assuming you have built your team to match well against the opponents. If Brind'Amour is actually that good a technician in terms of matchups he shouldn't be having the difficulty on the road that the 'Canes are having right now. I think I'm going to go with the pace that Carolina sets is hard to maintain and it really helps to have the crowd and the adrenaline rocking in your favor. This argues that if the Rangers can manage a couple of early goals against the 'Canes they will deflate some and be unable to keep up the frenetic forechecking that marked the first 2 games of the series. That's what happened last night as near as I can tell.
That's a very good point: Does implementing such an aggressive forecheck wear down the team that is actually implementing it?
It has to have some effect. That kind of forecheck requires tight continuous skating essentially for the entire shift because when you have the puck you're in 100% go mode and when the opponent has the puck, well you're in 100% go mode. Do that for any period of time and you're going to deplete your glycogen reserves and be relying on blood glycogen to keep up the pace. Brind'Amour probably is as good as any NHL coach at evening out the shifts - with his top lines a minute under the average TOI and his bottom lines a couple of minutes better than the average for bottom lines. His defensemen are also averaged out a bit more than the Rangers. He likely does this because he knows the style of play Carolina uses is very demanding on the legs. As we've observed it's a very effective smothering style of play but it appears that Carolina can't keep it up on the road against a good team. The question is whether or not they can keep it up late in the season at home against a good team.
The Canes consistently deployed the Staal line against the Mika line and Staal abused them so I think it’s valuable, but it wouldn’t make or break a game IMO
I'm as guilty of this as anyone: We can complain about the Kappos and the Vitranos and the Stromes and the Troubas all we want, but the truth is when guys like Kreider and Zibanijad and Fox and Panrin score, this team will win games. The winning box scores prove this.
