NFT: San Jose Sharks @ New York Rangers Game Thread

He's hockey through and through

SJ is playing very well and we need points badly.

Don't like that.

Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Rick Nash
Mats Zuccarello-Derick Brassard-Marty St. Louis
Carl Hagelin-Dominic Moore-Lee Stempniak
Tanner Glass-Chris Mueller-Ryan Malone
Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Kevin Klein
John Moore-Matt Hunwick

Can't get much closer than that.

By sweeping the puck off the goal line.

Again.

will wonders never cease?

At least one NY team is getting things done tonight.

Cause it doesn't look like the giants will be inspiring much hope this season

*

Wish I could enjoy it, but I still have a sour taste in my mouth over the fucking Giants

Hopefully, the first of many for him for us



Any updates on Girardi and Klein?

Nice win; they took it to SJ. We are back to .500 too.

of all my teams, this is the only team I have even a sliver of hope will have a parade at season's end.

Hence i'm not as bummed about Big Blue losing today as you guys are. You are surprised?

Congrats to Hank -- that shootout against Carolina got him on a little roll here. unfortunately we only play 4 games in the next 14 days so he wont be able to carry momentum, but at least it gets us closer to having Stepan and poor man's Boyle back.

Happy to see Henry w his first shutout and solid play all around. Expected them to take this one since SJ is on the tail end of their East Coast swing especially in back to back games.

Didn't have huge expectations today but the Giants game still sucked. Pleasantly surprised by the Rangers. At least slightly salvaged my day. Hopefully this gets us on track.

If Nash keeps bringing it at worst we are back in the ECF. Nice job guys.

Kreider too. Boy, did they cycle well and maintain puck control.

Would much rather talk about this one.

My favorite part was that they won..

and then not play him?

In comment 11930698 Matt M. said:

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and then not play him?

They can't send him down so if AV doesn't want him to play, what is there to do? While the Duke has done nothing really to warrant a healthy scratch, if AV continues to decide to keep him in the press box, they might as well send him back to the Q for further development.

He's smart with the puck and knows how to use his size along the boards. That Kreider - Hayes - Nash line pretty much controlled the puck at will in the second period.

Hayes has been really impressive. Glad he finally netted one.

I know SJ was coming off a back-to-back, but it's nice to beat a good team - especially in the way we just did. Henrik looks really good - in the past two he's only given up one deflected goal.

McDonagh also looks a lot better. He was really sloppy the first few games.

With Nash winning the Rocket Richard, Henrik winning the Vezina, Hayes winning the Calder, and McDonagh winning the Norris, it's up in the air as to who will win the Hart this season.

That was MSL's best game of the season by far. It's nice that he wanted to pitch in by playing center but it clearly isn't something he can do. Hunwick played a solid game, which was nice to see.

And not pouting in the locker room like he did in TB, but he was really struggling. I think fans underestimate how much more difficult center is (not you, fans in general) which is why second line guys like Brassard get such large contracts.

He doesn't look out of place at center. There will be some growing pains (got a long way to go on faceoffs), but I can see why they put him in the middle.

He looks like a guy who can net 20-25 goals (not this season necessarily, but down the line).

With Hayes, Kreider, Stepan, Buchnevich, and Duclair, our top six is looking good for the future. I think Miller's a player, too.

And a real physical presence. If they had a player like that last season, they'd be the champs right now.

I have not yet seen last night's game as I was suffering through the Giants nightmare, but my concern with him in the first few games he played this year was his finishing ability was really far away from what it needs to be. But, I definitely see the potential.

He looked like he always wanted to set someone else up. He had a few chances on two-on-ones in prior games where he just held the puck way too long. He looked more decisive last night.

I think the goals will come for Hayes, he's getting quality shots.

BTW - Nash is shooting at 30+%. That'll come down, but he looks so much different than the past two seasons.

after the concussion last year. It's just night and day between the latter part of last season and this season. He's driving to the net hard these days instead of floating around the perimeter.

has the agility of a small finesse guy. He had 5 hits last night. This could be next to Sather's steal of McDonagh, the best move he has made

In comment 11930973 Greg from LI said:

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after the concussion last year. It's just night and day between the latter part of last season and this season. He's driving to the net hard these days instead of floating around the perimeter.

Yeah, it's really exciting to watch. I didn't like the trade at the time even though I loved watching Nash in Columbus.

And his stick handling looks so much better - he kept losing the fucking puck in the playoffs last season. Drove me nuts.

often the first one back on a change of possession

In comment 11930973 Greg from LI said:

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after the concussion last year. It's just night and day between the latter part of last season and this season. He's driving to the net hard these days instead of floating around the perimeter.

The Finals was only a few months ago so logically this doesnt make sense. He's probably just playing with more confidence right now and getting some breaks (e.g, defenders dont throw their stick at his wide open shots and magically deflect the puck over the net). I hope he keeps it up but obviously if we'd gotten this production less than 4 months ago we'd all have enjoyed a parade down Wall Street.

after that debacle on the football field yesterday

Nice to see the boys play a complete game against one of the best teams in the west...who gives a fuck if they were tired or whatever

And I was thinking...imagine if the Rangers got Steps back too...keep healing, kid...

So you don't think that 3+ months can allow a player time to fully recover from a concussion? I gotta say, I find that to be an odd comment.

In comment 11931027 Greg from LI said:

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So you don't think that 3+ months can allow a player time to fully recover from a concussion? I gotta say, I find that to be an odd comment.

not only that, but without getting hit every day and feeling better, it gives you the confidence that it is behind you,which he probably did not have last year.

The worst.

and we are sitting here talking about the players performance 3 months after said Finals... yeah, i find this talk about "fully recovered now" to be a retroactive attempt to explain something.

As deej has said often, his physical play picked up through the postseason last year. He's just playing with more confidence now and getting a little puck luck too. Not facing Jonathon Quick helps too.

I dont think its more complicated than that.

And fuck Brett and his mediocre 3-3 record (just 2 ROW). Look up mediocrity in an encyclopedia (if those even exist anymore) and you'll see Brett's ugly picture.

Mook choked on a dick the night I passed the puck.

missing their best players (to the extent they have any good players), and you couldnt even deliver us a ROW.

I'll just assume like MSL, McD, Hank... you are still rounding into regular season shape, still a little hungover from last year's run.

He was a great third liner.

I don't know what 'clicked'. But he looks different. I've never had a concussion because I'm not a pussy, but I've heard it takes awhile.

In comment 11931155 MetsAreBack said:

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missing their best players (to the extent they have any good players), and you couldnt even deliver us a ROW. I'll just assume like MSL, McD, Hank... you are still rounding into regular season shape, still a little hungover from last year's run.

Exactly.

I also drafted Lundqvist in my fantasy league, so that probably contributed.

In comment 11931162 BrettNYG10 said:

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In comment 11931155 MetsAreBack said: Quote: missing their best players (to the extent they have any good players), and you couldnt even deliver us a ROW. I'll just assume like MSL, McD, Hank... you are still rounding into regular season shape, still a little hungover from last year's run. Exactly. I also drafted Lundqvist in my fantasy league, so that probably contributed.

And the fact that you never hugged him

So you know what that means? Thor would suit up if Girardi is out...Klein would probably move to the first pairing...and...Thor might play on the second pairing with Staal? And...yuck

it's 3+ months of not having to be on the ice every day and actually being able to relax and get yourself right both mentally and physically.