But you're right, it's just not acceptable. And unfortunately, I completely agree with Jones. The bigger the games get, the more the guy shrinks.
It just drives me crazy watching a guy that size play such a passive game so often. go out there and impose your fucking will and make something happen.
It's one thing to have shut down defensemen follow you around for an entire series but it's not even that. There's just no excuse.
The guy doesn't seem to have the fire other players like Ovechkin, Perry, Lundqvist, have this time of year. You never really see him get involved in the post-whistle scrums or get too fired up. He should be playing like the Nash we saw in Columbus a couple years ago and he's not.
more troubling to me if they played really well and got blown out 6-2. Bottom line is they beat themselves. They took stupid penalties, turned the puck over with fluky sloppy plays, and failed to take advantage of golden opportunities from Lightning/Bishop mistakes.
They did everything they could to lose this game. Even with all the terrible play. They had a chance to win this game at the start of the 3rd period. I can't see them repeating this type of performance.
I like Nash a lot - but the production is simply unacceptable. He plays the game the 'right way' (200 feet, hard worker, etc.), but he simply has to produce. He's generated chances and hasn't converted. It's fucking infuriating.
It's not like he's just unlucky either (although that shooting % probably has some bad luck). First half of the season he was crossing in front of the net mouth to score goals, using his massive frame to get goalies moving. Cant remember the last time he did that.
It almost looks like he plays the game not to get hurt. If that makes sense.
You just never see that reckless abandon from him that you see from other guys like Ovechkin. Ovechkin was emptying his entire tank on every shift. I very seldom get that impression of Nash.
Don't screw around with Tampa. If the Rangers play smart, they can beat them as they did in Game 1. If they lose their focus and take stupid (or non-existent) penalties like they did last night, they are going to get smoked since they don't seem to have an answer for the Tampa PP.
Which is a bad idea in any case, you ought to spend it pummeling one of their top 6 forwards through the boards and not on a sloppy/high/lazy stick infraction
is it appeared to me to be an instant replay of pretty much all 3 regular season games. I thought we "hit our stride" since then, added some pieces (Yandle... gulp), etc... but now not so sure.
A really disconcerting game. Yes, just one game and yes we committed a lot of stupid mistakes you'd think wont be repeated.
But through 2 games my takeaway is they convert their grade-A opportunities and we continue to struggle to do so.
As far as Nash - we're stuck. Guys like this get you to the postseason and there's no Stamkos on the market anyway... for the life of me I dont understand why he can't be doing at the very least what Kreider has been able to do. When you're not scoring, you need to start getting some dirty goals to get you going and the guy just wont throw his big body around. It's depressing.
Nash completely disappears in the playoffs. It's disgraceful. Â
He has not been impactful at all. You can't hang your hat on "he does other things" when you make $7.8 mil and are the highest played player on a team in a hard cap era. You can find a 100 guys who try hard, hit and kill penalties but don't score for a tenth of that cost. Look at these Goals per game numbers for reg season and playoffs. Nash and Kreider have each played in 55 playoff games. Kreider has 17 goals, Nash 7. Even Dave Andreychuk (remember AnderCHOKE) scored at twice the rate as Nash in the playoffs:
Goals per Game
Player Reg Seas Playoff Difference % Change
Rick Nash 0.44 0.13 (0.31) -71.07%
Dave Andrychuk 0.39 0.27 (0.12) -31.94%
Mike Gartner 0.49 0.35 (0.14) -28.07%
John Tonelli 0.32 0.23 (0.08) -26.44%
Brett Hull 0.58 0.51 (0.07) -12.68%
Guy LaFleur 0.50 0.45 (0.05) -9.38%
Rod Brind'Amour0.30 0.32 0.02 5.31%
Claude Lemieux 0.31 0.34 0.03 9.60%
Mark Messier 0.40 0.46 0.06 15.47%
Esa Tikkanen 0.28 0.32 0.04 15.94%
Chris Kreider 0.24 0.31 0.07 28.79%
And Martin St. Louis is a liability. He can't skate anymore Â
but after a nice flurry to start the postseason, he's not assisting on goals now either.
Career regular season = 0.81 points/game
Career postseason = 0.45 points/game
People talk about how he does the little things so well... but maybe registering a single point in the Kings series last year changes the outcome of that series?
Hell if he splits the difference to 0.65.. still well below regular season average... that's 11 extra goals he's scored or helped on over the past 3 years (most in the past 2 years). Considering how many one goal games we play....
But if there's one thing I'm certain about its that we'll dump this guy in a year or two and he'll pull a Gaborik with someone else. You just know its going to happen.
Anyway, its 1-1 ... i'm just not loving our chances with MSL and Nash playing like this against an opponent with this much firepower. Maybe something will click, but man could we use Zuccs right now to give us 3 legit scoring lines.
I don't know what people who were saying Rangers in 5 were thinking.
Rangers were sloppy as hell for most of this game, and it was pretty tightly contested until the wheels came off in the third. Honestly, the 3 on 5 SH goal kind of screwed us from the start.
I have a good feeling that this team will respond well. Not to say that they'll score goals - they won't - but I think they can get back to another 2-1 win in TB.
As for Nash, it is what it is at this point. There's no way to fix it during this postseason. We just need to hope Zucc can come back in a few games and give us a spark. We need it.
I'm going to preface this by saying that I know there isn't much of a trade market for Nash... but hypothetically, if the value was right, I'd trade him.
Speaking of trades... Hockey is a tough sport to gauge trade value, because there is so much emphasis and importance on chemistry and how players play together. However, is there a chance in hell we could get Taylor Hall or MNH from Edmonton for Cam, a 1st, and a third piece (maybe someone like Hagelin)... and would you do it (depending on the third piece). Not sure I would if the third piece was Hagelin, definitely wouldn't it if it was Miller.. but it'd be nice to get one of them in here. Granted, we have no idea if they will disappear in the playoffs like Nash does, but Nash is just totally ineffective int he playoffs.
If he has even a slightly below average (for his standards) series, the Caps series doesn't go 7.
I'm not worried about the series on the whole. I didn't feel like we were overpowered last night, I felt like we just played a terribly sloppy and undisciplined game. Which, is obviously not typical of this team.
Just clean it up and make sure we get a win in their building.
Aside - does this FINALLY get Marty the hell out of the lineup? What's it going to take?
AV will not sit Marty...the only forward we have to replace him is Ryan Bourque and AV is not gonna plug an untested rookie into the ECF in place of a veteran like MSL, even though said veteran is playing like absolute garbage.
The best we can hope for is him getting dropped to the fourth line and taken off the PP....but even that is asking too much.
And to think we were having discussions early in the year whether we wanted to keep Marty or Hags.....
What exactly will Ryan Bourque or Oscar Lindberg do that is a downgrade from MSL's current performance? Miss open nets by a wider margin? Cough the puck up even faster? Fall down more?
but do they have awesome salt and pepper breards? Â
He won't throw guys like Borque or Lindberg into this fire but I do think if Zuccarello plays again this series, Marty is the one who's place he should take rather than Sheppard.
Speaking of trades... Hockey is a tough sport to gauge trade value, because there is so much emphasis and importance on chemistry and how players play together. However, is there a chance in hell we could get Taylor Hall or MNH from Edmonton for Cam, a 1st, and a third piece (maybe someone like Hagelin)...
I think Cam is a great trading chip. Like you mentioned, chemistry is really important and Hagelin, IMO, has really worked hard, been more physical than I ever thought he would be and creates opportunity. I thought he was gone but I can't see losing him. He's a huge part of the chemistry IMO.
I'd float Cam and see what come back. St. Louis' numbers are coming off the books unless Slats has another moment and maybe one of these defensemen get moved.
As far as Nash, unless something changes in these playoffs, I think he' in for a rough ride come next year. The fans won't forget this one.
that you take away from this game is that we have to stay out of the penalty box. If we commit numerous dumb penalties, we're going to lose. If we stay out of the box for the most part, there's zero reason we can't win this series.
They basically had 4 PPG goals last night (3 plus 1 about 2 seconds after one expired), had a short handed goal because of a complete fuck up by our guys, and another goal because Staal tripped over his own 2 feet.
Play 5 on 5 for the most part and stop giving them clean breakaways because of our own fuck ups in their zone and the Rangers win this series.
to be overly loyal to a veteran who is viewed as a team leader and "A" to this team... over unproven rookies.
The fact that MSL / Dan Boyle / Glass are in our lineup instead of Stralman / Brian Boyle / (player X free agent), with first round pick still in hand, is on Sather, not AV.
time to make Johnson eat the ice a few times if he wants to hang out near the net. If we're going to take a penalty, let's do it on a play like that where that midget thinks twice about going in there
good player, dont get me wrong... but an undrafted kid... now 10 playoff goals in 15 games.
Our leading scorer has 6 - Kreider's been great lately, dont get me wrong.. but his +/- is still 0 at this point believe it or not.
Looking at +/-... i know can be misleading stat at times, but some eye openers.
1) with last night's loss, in the playoffs we are now just 28 GF / 27 GA
2) Staal is minus-6 ! I know he's been paired against top lines for some of this postseason, but that is still far worse than i would have thought.
3) MSL as shitty as he's played is still +1, with one fewer point (6) than Nash (7)
4) Hayes - this was our fear... he's had some big moments this year and is just a kid, but still -2 this postseason with just 4 points. This was the concern - having a 3rd line C with so much inexperience, poor on the dot, etc.
I understand not wanting to take St. Louis out of the lineup Â
just can't accept that NAsh is not a big time playoff goal scorer. He gets his assists and he plays very sound hockey but he's not gonna score many goals. Move the fuck on already. He's still a plus player and helps his line beat the other team's top line.
Can we find something else to hammer on about? Even after wins it's always Nash didn't score...OK we get it...move the fuck on.
there's a great deal of luck involved with playoff goal scoring. And it's a lot harder to score goals in the playoffs.
People keep putting NAsh in the same cpmpany of MSL. That's just not fair at all. Nash has played well nearly every night.
"Nash not scoring a million goals is Unacceptable" ?? Well...that's just ridiculous. IF he was playing lke dog shit it would be unacceptable. Basically Nash is a HR hitter who doesn't hit HRs in the playoffs. He's turns into a solid singles hitter.
Unacceptable or not it is what it is. At least the guy is playing well and is a threat to score. He usually ends up in the plus side and plays sound defensive hockey.
I just don't get why fans insist on railing on and on about Nash. It's not shocking to see a goal scorer slow down this time of year. I swear some would prefer NAsh to score 3 times the goals he has now and they wouldn't even notice if the guy was -5 for the postseason. You know I am right...
just can't accept that NAsh is not a big time playoff goal scorer. He gets his assists and he plays very sound hockey but he's not gonna score many goals. Move the fuck on already. He's still a plus player and helps his line beat the other team's top line.
Can we find something else to hammer on about? Even after wins it's always Nash didn't score...OK we get it...move the fuck on.
He has 3 assists in the last 10 games. It's hard to just "accept" that from a guy who is supposed to be your best player and had a 42 goal season. The PIT series was one thing because he was producing points but now he's really not even doing that.
It's not acceptable and he deserves the criticism. I gave the guy every excuse in the book but I'm all out of them now. The guy just isn't getting it done.
If Nash scored at even half his regular season rate it would be a huge Â
to be overly loyal to a veteran who is viewed as a team leader and "A" to this team... over unproven rookies.
The fact that MSL / Dan Boyle / Glass are in our lineup instead of Stralman / Brian Boyle / (player X free agent), with first round pick still in hand, is on Sather, not AV.
I really don't miss Brian Boyle, do you? Solid player, always gave it his all. Don't think we're missing anything that he brought though. Maybe an extra faceoff guy, that's it.
Sure, Sather has taken his chances here and there. And we're yet to see the final results. But they are in the conference final again and I still think they're going to win this series. Just seems an odd time to be doing the Sather complaining thing again, not just referring to you either. Glass is playing his role perfectly fine in the playoffs too, to be honest.
We don't get to the Final last year without that MSL trade either. Keep that in mind.
I haven't been putting Nash with MSL and have been a huge defender of Nash's overall play.
No one's asking for a million goals from Nash - I don't have unrealistic expectations. But the guy isn't converting prime scoring chances and it's hurting us. The breakaway in game 7 against Washington, the couple of chances last night. He's generating those opportunities, but not converting. It's killer.
there's a great deal of luck involved with playoff goal scoring. And it's a lot harder to score goals in the playoffs.
People keep putting NAsh in the same cpmpany of MSL. That's just not fair at all. Nash has played well nearly every night.
"Nash not scoring a million goals is Unacceptable" ?? Well...that's just ridiculous. IF he was playing lke dog shit it would be unacceptable. Basically Nash is a HR hitter who doesn't hit HRs in the playoffs. He's turns into a solid singles hitter.
Unacceptable or not it is what it is. At least the guy is playing well and is a threat to score. He usually ends up in the plus side and plays sound defensive hockey.
I just don't get why fans insist on railing on and on about Nash. It's not shocking to see a goal scorer slow down this time of year. I swear some would prefer NAsh to score 3 times the goals he has now and they wouldn't even notice if the guy was -5 for the postseason. You know I am right...
Slow down? Slowing down would be 2/3 or 3/4 of normal production. He has a 71% drop off in goals per game from reg season to playoffs for his career. That is unacceptable. Dave Andrechuck was crucified in Toronto and he had a 32% drop from reg season to playoffs. Mike Gartner a 28% drop and he was called a choker. What do you call someone with a 71% drop from reg season to playoff production?
djm.... well, his own coach AV called him out after the game too Â
“There is no doubt their top players had a very strong game, and a couple of our guys didn’t have their best game,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “Without a doubt [Johnson] took his game to another level. We need our top guys to do the same.”
And Nash is +3 this postseason. MSL is +1. You are overrating his effectiveness this postseason.
People have gotten on Brassard lately. He's leading the Rangers at +5 along with McD, another whipping boy lately.
Nash is 2nd on the team in points -7
So the guy is killing penalties. And well. He's laying body checks all night long and he's 2nd in points, 2nd in plus minus yet all I hear is Nash chokes. It's false. He's doing his job. He could pot a few more...but his overall play is a positive.
RE: I understand not wanting to take St. Louis out of the lineup Â
But fucking stick him with Glass and Sheppard. Miller has proven more in the playoffs this year than St. Louis has.
And take Marty off of the PP.
I think that first part would be a bad idea. JT can work on that 4th line because he'll throw the body around. If you're gonna put Marty with Glass/Sheppard then you might as well take him out of the lineup. He'll be completely useless on the 4th line.
His line with Moore and Hags worked in game 1, really well. I wouldn't abandon that yet.
It's one game in a series. We're frustrated because it's another missed opportunity in a game 2, I get that. But there were a lot of fluky things that happened last night. Tampa still isn't doing much at 5 on 5.
after a game like that the thing you are itching Â
but the lazy stick infraction penalties have got to stop. Hooks, trips, high sticks, etc. Stuff you get caught doing when you don't keep your feet moving. Gotta stop. Brassard is a consistent offender, especially in the offensive zone.
Their powerplay is deadly. I'll take my chances 5v5 against them.
RE: RE: I understand not wanting to take St. Louis out of the lineup Â
But fucking stick him with Glass and Sheppard. Miller has proven more in the playoffs this year than St. Louis has.
And take Marty off of the PP.
I think that first part would be a bad idea. JT can work on that 4th line because he'll throw the body around. If you're gonna put Marty with Glass/Sheppard then you might as well take him out of the lineup. He'll be completely useless on the 4th line.
His line with Moore and Hags worked in game 1, really well. I wouldn't abandon that yet.
It's one game in a series. We're frustrated because it's another missed opportunity in a game 2, I get that. But there were a lot of fluky things that happened last night. Tampa still isn't doing much at 5 on 5.
If it was up to me, St. Louis would be out of the lineup. He's a liability out there. However, AV won't do that, so the next best thing would be reduced ice time on the fourth line.
And Miller seemed to have good chemistry with Hayes.
RE: RE: I understand not wanting to take St. Louis out of the lineup Â
I think that first part would be a bad idea. JT can work on that 4th line because he'll throw the body around. If you're gonna put Marty with Glass/Sheppard then you might as well take him out of the lineup. He'll be completely useless on the 4th line.
Yeah, if he's not playing on a scoring line, he really shouldn't play at all. I don't think AV will scratch him ala Richards in the Bruins series, but I really wouldn't want to see him on the 4th line.
If we have to keep bringing up how well our 8 million dollar man is "killing penalties", it means something is wrong.
That's not what he's getting paid for and we didn't win the Presidents Trophy because of Rick Nash's defensive play.
More than half of his 7 points came in the first series. He's barely produced any offense at all since. He's not converting on chances we watched him convert on all year.
We can win a Cup if Nash elevates his game. If he keeps shrinking like this, it's going to be difficult.
He's 3rd actually. Stepan at 10 and Brassard at 9. And people get on Brassard because he's committing a lot of stupid penalties - so while that doesnt hurt his personal +/-... it hurts the team.
Look we all just want to win a damn cup - right now there's no difference between this franchise and what San Jose and Vancouver accomplished last decade. Just win one - I'm not greedy, i'm not ever mistaking this group for a dynasty. But just get Hank his one.
And that means scoring goals - because guess what, it's a fucking miracle we're still alive having scored just 2 or fewer goals in 11 of 14 games now.
It just drives me crazy watching a guy that size play such a passive game so often. go out there and impose your fucking will and make something happen.
It's one thing to have shut down defensemen follow you around for an entire series but it's not even that. There's just no excuse.
They did everything they could to lose this game. Even with all the terrible play. They had a chance to win this game at the start of the 3rd period. I can't see them repeating this type of performance.
It's not like he's just unlucky either (although that shooting % probably has some bad luck). First half of the season he was crossing in front of the net mouth to score goals, using his massive frame to get goalies moving. Cant remember the last time he did that.
You just never see that reckless abandon from him that you see from other guys like Ovechkin. Ovechkin was emptying his entire tank on every shift. I very seldom get that impression of Nash.
A really disconcerting game. Yes, just one game and yes we committed a lot of stupid mistakes you'd think wont be repeated.
But through 2 games my takeaway is they convert their grade-A opportunities and we continue to struggle to do so.
As far as Nash - we're stuck. Guys like this get you to the postseason and there's no Stamkos on the market anyway... for the life of me I dont understand why he can't be doing at the very least what Kreider has been able to do. When you're not scoring, you need to start getting some dirty goals to get you going and the guy just wont throw his big body around. It's depressing.
Goals per Game
Player Reg Seas Playoff Difference % Change
Rick Nash 0.44 0.13 (0.31) -71.07%
Dave Andrychuk 0.39 0.27 (0.12) -31.94%
Mike Gartner 0.49 0.35 (0.14) -28.07%
John Tonelli 0.32 0.23 (0.08) -26.44%
Brett Hull 0.58 0.51 (0.07) -12.68%
Guy LaFleur 0.50 0.45 (0.05) -9.38%
Rod Brind'Amour0.30 0.32 0.02 5.31%
Claude Lemieux 0.31 0.34 0.03 9.60%
Mark Messier 0.40 0.46 0.06 15.47%
Esa Tikkanen 0.28 0.32 0.04 15.94%
Chris Kreider 0.24 0.31 0.07 28.79%
Career regular season = 0.81 points/game
Career postseason = 0.45 points/game
People talk about how he does the little things so well... but maybe registering a single point in the Kings series last year changes the outcome of that series?
Hell if he splits the difference to 0.65.. still well below regular season average... that's 11 extra goals he's scored or helped on over the past 3 years (most in the past 2 years). Considering how many one goal games we play....
But if there's one thing I'm certain about its that we'll dump this guy in a year or two and he'll pull a Gaborik with someone else. You just know its going to happen.
Anyway, its 1-1 ... i'm just not loving our chances with MSL and Nash playing like this against an opponent with this much firepower. Maybe something will click, but man could we use Zuccs right now to give us 3 legit scoring lines.
Rangers were sloppy as hell for most of this game, and it was pretty tightly contested until the wheels came off in the third. Honestly, the 3 on 5 SH goal kind of screwed us from the start.
I have a good feeling that this team will respond well. Not to say that they'll score goals - they won't - but I think they can get back to another 2-1 win in TB.
As for Nash, it is what it is at this point. There's no way to fix it during this postseason. We just need to hope Zucc can come back in a few games and give us a spark. We need it.
I'm going to preface this by saying that I know there isn't much of a trade market for Nash... but hypothetically, if the value was right, I'd trade him.
Speaking of trades... Hockey is a tough sport to gauge trade value, because there is so much emphasis and importance on chemistry and how players play together. However, is there a chance in hell we could get Taylor Hall or MNH from Edmonton for Cam, a 1st, and a third piece (maybe someone like Hagelin)... and would you do it (depending on the third piece). Not sure I would if the third piece was Hagelin, definitely wouldn't it if it was Miller.. but it'd be nice to get one of them in here. Granted, we have no idea if they will disappear in the playoffs like Nash does, but Nash is just totally ineffective int he playoffs.
If he has even a slightly below average (for his standards) series, the Caps series doesn't go 7.
Just clean it up and make sure we get a win in their building.
Aside - does this FINALLY get Marty the hell out of the lineup? What's it going to take?
Aside - does this FINALLY get Marty the hell out of the lineup? What's it going to take?
AV will not sit Marty...the only forward we have to replace him is Ryan Bourque and AV is not gonna plug an untested rookie into the ECF in place of a veteran like MSL, even though said veteran is playing like absolute garbage.
The best we can hope for is him getting dropped to the fourth line and taken off the PP....but even that is asking too much.
And to think we were having discussions early in the year whether we wanted to keep Marty or Hags.....
Speaking of trades... Hockey is a tough sport to gauge trade value, because there is so much emphasis and importance on chemistry and how players play together. However, is there a chance in hell we could get Taylor Hall or MNH from Edmonton for Cam, a 1st, and a third piece (maybe someone like Hagelin)...
I think Cam is a great trading chip. Like you mentioned, chemistry is really important and Hagelin, IMO, has really worked hard, been more physical than I ever thought he would be and creates opportunity. I thought he was gone but I can't see losing him. He's a huge part of the chemistry IMO.
I'd float Cam and see what come back. St. Louis' numbers are coming off the books unless Slats has another moment and maybe one of these defensemen get moved.
As far as Nash, unless something changes in these playoffs, I think he' in for a rough ride come next year. The fans won't forget this one.
They basically had 4 PPG goals last night (3 plus 1 about 2 seconds after one expired), had a short handed goal because of a complete fuck up by our guys, and another goal because Staal tripped over his own 2 feet.
Play 5 on 5 for the most part and stop giving them clean breakaways because of our own fuck ups in their zone and the Rangers win this series.
The fact that MSL / Dan Boyle / Glass are in our lineup instead of Stralman / Brian Boyle / (player X free agent), with first round pick still in hand, is on Sather, not AV.
Our leading scorer has 6 - Kreider's been great lately, dont get me wrong.. but his +/- is still 0 at this point believe it or not.
Looking at +/-... i know can be misleading stat at times, but some eye openers.
1) with last night's loss, in the playoffs we are now just 28 GF / 27 GA
2) Staal is minus-6 ! I know he's been paired against top lines for some of this postseason, but that is still far worse than i would have thought.
3) MSL as shitty as he's played is still +1, with one fewer point (6) than Nash (7)
4) Hayes - this was our fear... he's had some big moments this year and is just a kid, but still -2 this postseason with just 4 points. This was the concern - having a 3rd line C with so much inexperience, poor on the dot, etc.
And take Marty off of the PP.
Link - ( New Window )
Can we find something else to hammer on about? Even after wins it's always Nash didn't score...OK we get it...move the fuck on.
He doesn't need to be a top-flight player - second line production would do.
People keep putting NAsh in the same cpmpany of MSL. That's just not fair at all. Nash has played well nearly every night.
"Nash not scoring a million goals is Unacceptable" ?? Well...that's just ridiculous. IF he was playing lke dog shit it would be unacceptable. Basically Nash is a HR hitter who doesn't hit HRs in the playoffs. He's turns into a solid singles hitter.
Unacceptable or not it is what it is. At least the guy is playing well and is a threat to score. He usually ends up in the plus side and plays sound defensive hockey.
I just don't get why fans insist on railing on and on about Nash. It's not shocking to see a goal scorer slow down this time of year. I swear some would prefer NAsh to score 3 times the goals he has now and they wouldn't even notice if the guy was -5 for the postseason. You know I am right...
Can we find something else to hammer on about? Even after wins it's always Nash didn't score...OK we get it...move the fuck on.
He has 3 assists in the last 10 games. It's hard to just "accept" that from a guy who is supposed to be your best player and had a 42 goal season. The PIT series was one thing because he was producing points but now he's really not even doing that.
It's not acceptable and he deserves the criticism. I gave the guy every excuse in the book but I'm all out of them now. The guy just isn't getting it done.
The fact that MSL / Dan Boyle / Glass are in our lineup instead of Stralman / Brian Boyle / (player X free agent), with first round pick still in hand, is on Sather, not AV.
I really don't miss Brian Boyle, do you? Solid player, always gave it his all. Don't think we're missing anything that he brought though. Maybe an extra faceoff guy, that's it.
Sure, Sather has taken his chances here and there. And we're yet to see the final results. But they are in the conference final again and I still think they're going to win this series. Just seems an odd time to be doing the Sather complaining thing again, not just referring to you either. Glass is playing his role perfectly fine in the playoffs too, to be honest.
We don't get to the Final last year without that MSL trade either. Keep that in mind.
No one's asking for a million goals from Nash - I don't have unrealistic expectations. But the guy isn't converting prime scoring chances and it's hurting us. The breakaway in game 7 against Washington, the couple of chances last night. He's generating those opportunities, but not converting. It's killer.
People keep putting NAsh in the same cpmpany of MSL. That's just not fair at all. Nash has played well nearly every night.
"Nash not scoring a million goals is Unacceptable" ?? Well...that's just ridiculous. IF he was playing lke dog shit it would be unacceptable. Basically Nash is a HR hitter who doesn't hit HRs in the playoffs. He's turns into a solid singles hitter.
Unacceptable or not it is what it is. At least the guy is playing well and is a threat to score. He usually ends up in the plus side and plays sound defensive hockey.
I just don't get why fans insist on railing on and on about Nash. It's not shocking to see a goal scorer slow down this time of year. I swear some would prefer NAsh to score 3 times the goals he has now and they wouldn't even notice if the guy was -5 for the postseason. You know I am right...
Slow down? Slowing down would be 2/3 or 3/4 of normal production. He has a 71% drop off in goals per game from reg season to playoffs for his career. That is unacceptable. Dave Andrechuck was crucified in Toronto and he had a 32% drop from reg season to playoffs. Mike Gartner a 28% drop and he was called a choker. What do you call someone with a 71% drop from reg season to playoff production?
“There is no doubt their top players had a very strong game, and a couple of our guys didn’t have their best game,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “Without a doubt [Johnson] took his game to another level. We need our top guys to do the same.”
And Nash is +3 this postseason. MSL is +1. You are overrating his effectiveness this postseason.
People have gotten on Brassard lately. He's leading the Rangers at +5 along with McD, another whipping boy lately.
Nash is 2nd on the team in points -7
So the guy is killing penalties. And well. He's laying body checks all night long and he's 2nd in points, 2nd in plus minus yet all I hear is Nash chokes. It's false. He's doing his job. He could pot a few more...but his overall play is a positive.
And take Marty off of the PP.
I think that first part would be a bad idea. JT can work on that 4th line because he'll throw the body around. If you're gonna put Marty with Glass/Sheppard then you might as well take him out of the lineup. He'll be completely useless on the 4th line.
His line with Moore and Hags worked in game 1, really well. I wouldn't abandon that yet.
It's one game in a series. We're frustrated because it's another missed opportunity in a game 2, I get that. But there were a lot of fluky things that happened last night. Tampa still isn't doing much at 5 on 5.
Rangers come out strong and correct this blip. Rangers want a 5v5 game.
Rangers come out strong and correct this blip. Rangers want a 5v5 game.
Please tell me you pick TB in 5 now?
Whatever it's a free country. It's just getting old. We are 7 wins away from a cup just get home.
Their powerplay is deadly. I'll take my chances 5v5 against them.
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But fucking stick him with Glass and Sheppard. Miller has proven more in the playoffs this year than St. Louis has.
And take Marty off of the PP.
I think that first part would be a bad idea. JT can work on that 4th line because he'll throw the body around. If you're gonna put Marty with Glass/Sheppard then you might as well take him out of the lineup. He'll be completely useless on the 4th line.
His line with Moore and Hags worked in game 1, really well. I wouldn't abandon that yet.
It's one game in a series. We're frustrated because it's another missed opportunity in a game 2, I get that. But there were a lot of fluky things that happened last night. Tampa still isn't doing much at 5 on 5.
If it was up to me, St. Louis would be out of the lineup. He's a liability out there. However, AV won't do that, so the next best thing would be reduced ice time on the fourth line.
And Miller seemed to have good chemistry with Hayes.
Yeah, if he's not playing on a scoring line, he really shouldn't play at all. I don't think AV will scratch him ala Richards in the Bruins series, but I really wouldn't want to see him on the 4th line.
That's not what he's getting paid for and we didn't win the Presidents Trophy because of Rick Nash's defensive play.
More than half of his 7 points came in the first series. He's barely produced any offense at all since. He's not converting on chances we watched him convert on all year.
We can win a Cup if Nash elevates his game. If he keeps shrinking like this, it's going to be difficult.
Nash is 2nd on the team in points -7
He's 3rd actually. Stepan at 10 and Brassard at 9. And people get on Brassard because he's committing a lot of stupid penalties - so while that doesnt hurt his personal +/-... it hurts the team.
Look we all just want to win a damn cup - right now there's no difference between this franchise and what San Jose and Vancouver accomplished last decade. Just win one - I'm not greedy, i'm not ever mistaking this group for a dynasty. But just get Hank his one.
And that means scoring goals - because guess what, it's a fucking miracle we're still alive having scored just 2 or fewer goals in 11 of 14 games now.