A Win is a Win is a Win is a Win…
Phew, the Rangers certainly dodged that bullet. Playing a team that was spiraling out of control having lost nine straight, a win tonight was ABSOLUTELY VITAL for the Rangers moving forward.
And they did win, maybe not as convincingly as you would have liked, but right now “style points” are out the window and the only points that matter are the ones in the standings.
Now don’t get me wrong, there were certainly some good signs tonight:
- The third line continued to look good scoring both goals and creating countless chances. It looks like this trio is finally starting to lock in.
- The return of Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan was great to see (it was also great to see someone finally putting pucks on net).
- The King was solid, not spectacular, but he did what he had to do.
- The penalty kill was fantastic (although they again were called upon WAY too much).
So those were the positives. But don’t feel too good if your a Rangers fan right now because boy was there a lot to be bothered by in tonights game:
- Tom Renney again gave the fourth-line third-line minutes. Ryan Hollweg and Colton Orr both got 12:16 minutes and Blair Betts got just under 15. No player on the third-line even got nine minutes of time, despite again being the best and hardest working line on the ice. The third line contributed two-goals and a combined for a +6 on the night. The HBO line contributed a bad penalty and no offense again. How Renney can justify playing Ryan Hollweg for over 12 minutes and not even give Brandon Dubinsky 6:30 is beyond me and is flat our ridiculous.
- Renney again didn’t have the courage to send a message to his team and bench his “captain” when he played another lackluster game and was a detriment on the ice. Jagr took two more lazy penalties and was the culprit on the Sabres lone goal. If you watch the replay you will see Jagr, upon losing the puck at the Buffalo blueline, glide back and allow an odd man rush for the Sabres. He gave an absolutely embarrasing effort on that backcheck and made a half-hearted attempt at the last minute to catch up to Pominville. But J.J. doesn’t miss a beat and is rewarded with nearly 20 minutes on the ice. No accountability=no change. It’s that simple.
- The Rangers again gave the opposition man-advantages immediately following Rangers goals. The Blueshirts went up 1-0 at the 6:15 mark of the first and went on the penalty-kill just over two minutes later. They then went up 2-1 at the 9:42 mark of the second period, only two one up themselves from earlier in the game and go down 2 men just over a minute later. That 5 on 3 disadvantage was their fifth in the last four games…absolutely unacceptable.
- The Rangers power play was again more of a disadvantage then their penalty kill. They couldn’t capitilize on any of the man-up opportunities given and gave up countless numbers of odd-man rushes against in the process. I’d be willing to venture a guess that Buffalo got their best chances when they were down a man.
But in the end they were able to pull this one out, just don’t be fooled. Against a half decent team we would be talking about another terrible loss. But as I said in the title, a win is a win is a win is a win and at this point that’s all that matters. Maybe the Rangers can gain traction from this and get going. I guess we’ll see this weekend.
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Tags: Avery, Betts, Dubinsky, Hollweg, Ice Time, Jagr, Lundqvist, Orr, Penalty Kill, Power Play, Renney, Shanahan, Steven Gelbs
6 Responses
Ryan Mueller January 17th at 10:29 am
I didnt get to see the game but its a much needed win and hopefully they can keep up the positive attitude and lundqvist will provide use great goal tending. The penalties just have to stop, they just give up stupid penalties that could really come back to haunt them.
Inferno January 17th at 3:01 pm
to be fair on jagr, the 2 calls were crap, neither were actual penalties. and the play in question with the backcheck (and i could be wrong, but im going off of what i remember), jagr was already on for a full extended shift of almost a minute, a minute and a half. backchecking after playing a full shift, and having 2 hurt feet, isnt exactly the easiest thing to do. also a tiny bit of blame should probably go to scotty gomez for the terrible pass that got picked off resulting in that play, AND him inexcusable attacking a man that was already covered when he got back into position, rather than take the man who was flying in on the side he had just vacated.
again, that particular play isnt 100% cut and dry to be jagrs fault.
Steven January 17th at 3:12 pm
Inferno, I’m going to have to disagree with your post. The first call was a bit questionable, but the second call while maybe a little soft was the rule. His stick was parallel to the ice and put into the midsection of the opponent. Could it have been avoided…absolutely. When it comes to the goal, I realize he was at the end of the shift and I would have no problem if he were moving his legs and just flat out got outskated. That wasn’t the case. Instead, Jagr barely made an effort and that is the unacceptable part.
Inferno January 17th at 4:03 pm
his stick was parallel to the ice, and he gave the guy a tap with it, he didnt actually hook/interefere/obstruct the guys movement.
i think people get too caught up with, well if its parallel its a penalty. i dont agree with that line of thinking, i think in order for someone to be called on a hook, they actually need to hook the guy, or do something to impede his progress.
could it have been avoided? of course.
is it a penalty we see called sometimes? yes.
but is it an actual penalty? no.
i think too often we are all wrapped up in accepting what we see as the norm. i just dont care for soft calls like that. i knew it was going to be called, but i also know that wasnt a penalty.
Steven January 17th at 4:14 pm
We’re in complete agreement on the fact that those calls are absolutely ridiculous. However, they will be called and EVERYBODY knows that is the rule. So whether or not it should be a penalty is a completely different debate. Jagr has to know that it may be called and that by putting his stick up there he is risking a penalty. And really what’s the best that could have come from him putting his stick where he did. He’s not stealing the puck that way so doing what he did is lazy and unnecessary.
Inferno January 17th at 9:16 pm
i can live with that. we all knew it was going to be called, even if it was a horrible call, and he should have known not to do it….but to me, i cant super-kill a guy for doing something that is called a penalty, but is not against the rules…..if that makes any sense lol.