The Caps are like the Flyers of the late 70's/mid 80's. Chippy as hell and unapologetic about it. Ken Linseman would fit right in with them.
I don’t care if they’re playing the Charlestown Chiefs. That was the worst second period I’ve ever seen.
Not really seeing how much Kane moves the needle this season. Rangers still haven’t figured out how to jigger their forward lines and integrating Tarasenko hasn’t gone very smoothly. We seem to keep adding pieces to help Panarin, who’s soft as a roll of toilet paper. Let’s get guys who compliment Zibanegad, far and away the best player on the team. And unless the Bruins are involved in a plane crash, it’s not going to matter anyway.
Panarin's the problem. It's hard to see at any level but it's true. The team takes his personality and playstyle to heart and so we get a soft Euro style hockey that breaks down when it is challenged physically on the ice. Trouba and Panarin are like Fire and Ice.
The problem is consistent defensive breakdowns at the blue line. Turnover after turnover. Odd man rush after odd man rush. Miller and Trouba need to be broken up.
Obviously the Rangers defensive problems revolve around having too many talented defensemen and playing too many of them.
They didn’t want to risk him getting hurt because they sent him down to the AHL after the game for cap accrual so they can fit Kane under the cap. They did the same with Carpenter last night. He served the 5 minute major, then got off the ice immediately. You can’t send someone down if they get hurt in the game. Every roster move the Rangers are making over the last week, and up to this Thursday, are all to make cap room for Patrick Kane.
I was against trading for Patrick Kane. I am not against trading for Patrick Kane if I am giving up a bag of pucks.
Rangers look like they're loaded for bear now. The question is who is going to bring the bear spray to the party? I've never seen this much top 9 talent at one time and I'd been watching since '72. However it's a very soft top 9 at this point. Kreider, Lafreniere and Tarasenko are as close as the Rangers get to physical play. Not sure that's going to be enough against teams like TB and Boston.
I feel like the Rangers can match skill OR physicality, but they struggle against teams that have both skill and physicality ala the Bruins and Caps. I don’t have any evidence to support this claim other than just what I see. This team seems to flip a switch to match one of those two elements, but can’t match both.
