NFT: Game 3: New York Rangers @ Tampa Bay Lightning Game Thread

I think we come out crisp tonight. I think Henrik is solid tonight .

Super long game and Chicago won to tie the series.

As far as the Rangers, absolutely have to win one in Tampa here at minimum. Get it out of the way tonight so that Friday is slightly less tense and hang onto home ice.

I suspect the Rangers will be much more disciplined tonight. Hopefully the refs actually let the teams play a little bit.

#LGR

Nash better start scoring actual points soon

Get back to being a disciplined team. And as AV said in Pittsburgh, "the big boys need to show up in their big boy pants"

Not cast.

Rangers just have to be way better tonight. Just checking: does anyone else think, as I do, that the Ducks' players are simply gigantic compared to the Blackhawks' players? (Sometimes looks flat-out unfair, men against boys, they are so huge. Even so, Chicago showed yesterday, in an extremely long, tough game, that it's grit and talent that can make the difference.)

The fucking blade of his stick on the ice at all times

(Meant "Anaheim.")

They play a heavier, more physical game. Chicago is built more like the Rangers are with their strength being their skill and ability to skate. We're deeper defensively (deeper in general, really) and have a better goaltender but the Hawks have better top end talent.

In comment 12293952 bigbluegc said:

Quote:

Nash better start scoring actual points soon

MSL seems the bigger concern. Nash has turned into Brian Boyle, but MSL seems like a double-agent sabotaging from the inside.

.

In comment 12293965 schabadoo said:

Quote:

In comment 12293952 bigbluegc said: Quote: Nash better start scoring actual points soon MSL seems the bigger concern. Nash has turned into Brian Boyle, but MSL seems like a double-agent sabotaging from the inside.

I agree. I joked that he was re-living his glory days and was once again the best player on the ice for the Lightning the other night.

That went out last game and I think we win tonight. Stay out of the box. No more sloppy turnovers. We are still the better team. This team is resilient and I like that McD called the team out after last game. Come back sharp tonight and take back home-ice advantage.

In comment 12293953 Victor in CT said:

Quote:

Get back to being a disciplined team. And as AV said in Pittsburgh, "the big boys need to show up in their big boy pants"

does this mean Marty is benched?

#LFGR

Bench the short people.

In comment 12293971 BrettNYG10 said:

Quote:

I joked that he was re-living his glory days and was once again the best player on the ice for the Lightning the other night.

Don't quit your day job. Crickets, bro.


Still feel like the Beard should be getting more burn this postseason, but i'll guess we'll give Brettsky -yet- another shot tonight.

In comment 12293976 Ron Johnson said:

Quote:

In comment 12293953 Victor in CT said: Quote: Get back to being a disciplined team. And as AV said in Pittsburgh, "the big boys need to show up in their big boy pants" does this mean Marty is benched? #LFGR

One can only hope

.

.

In comment 12294016 MetsAreBack said:

Quote:

In comment 12293971 BrettNYG10 said: Quote: I joked that he was re-living his glory days and was once again the best player on the ice for the Lightning the other night. Don't quit your day job. Crickets, bro. Still feel like the Beard should be getting more burn this postseason, but i'll guess we'll give Brettsky -yet- another shot tonight.

Logged on to BBI at 8 this morning all amped for the morning skate and Brettsky was already out on the ice


Say what you want...but the kid is dedicated

as game twos have been brutal, so we've got that going for us.

In comment 12294100 Greg from LI said:

Quote:

as game twos have been brutal, so we've got that going for us.

which is nice

and the recognition of it afterwards leads to a well played game 3.

Time for Nash to score. I don't have a lot of hope for Marty, guy is 40 years old. But it's still there for Nash physically. Now is the time.

Washington - Loss
Pittsburgh - Win

2014:
Pittsburgh - Loss
Philly - Win

2013: not applicable

2012:
NJ - Win
Washington - 3OT Win (by the way, Duncan Keith played 50 minutes last night ... holy shit)
Ottawa - Win


So 5-2... not too shabby. None of us wants a must win game Friday on the road against a team we have to be struggling for confidence against at this point (1-9 vs Bishop) - tonight is huge.

when series is 2-0 or 0-2 after two games.

So 7-6 overall since 2011 in game 3.

All of which is obviously irrelevant as far as tonight goes. We need to pot 4 - i dont care who scores, but obviously its tough to improve offense efficiency without your best players contributing.

AV called them out after game 2 - said Johnson & TB's big boys have elevated their games... ours need to now too. And that includes some of our "offensive Defensemen" in that too (looking at you, Yandle).

We can win if we only score 2-3 times. Just stay out of the box.

Tampa really doesn't scare me 5v5.

Don't give them a bunch of power plays and the Rangers should win.

when it comes to the 5x5.. Cooper can get the matchups he wants now and their crowd (helped by all the audio help Tampa likes to pump in) will give them energy.

Maybe we can win 3-2 or something.... but i really, really doubt we can win 2-1 again against a team with this much firepower. When you give the PPs and odd man rushes... they bury them.

Clap Clap ClapClapClap!!!

Heading to Tampa as soon as my son gets off the bus. Cant wait to see his face when I tell him what we're doing tonight!

for a different hockey team.

I feel the Rangers come out like a mad hornet tonight and get an early lead. they will steamroll the Lightning.

Hopefully for their sake astronaut man doesn't get close to Henrik, he got in Price's head.

in the NY Post today. If Nash doesn't start scoring Rangers are done. I tend to agree with that.

In comment 12294312 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

for a different hockey team. I feel the Rangers come out like a mad hornet tonight and get an early lead. they will steamroll the Lightning. Hopefully for their sake astronaut man doesn't get close to Henrik, he got in Price's head.

Just bet my entire net worth on the Lightning tonight. Thanks for getting me rich, pj, but fuck you for ruining my hockey team!

The Rangers just aren't going to steamroll anyone ever in these playoffs. If they win, it'll be by 1 goal again.

but gambling is illegal at BBI and I never slice.

Seriously, I'll wager on the game and give you a goal, not being a douche. I think the Rangers win this one (and might not lose again this series).

The only question I have is astronaut man/woman.

I think the Rangers will win too. I just know it won't be by more than a goal.

3-2.

Yeah, I said it.

In comment 12294340 bluesince56 said:

Quote:

in the NY Post today. If Nash doesn't start scoring Rangers are done. I tend to agree with that.

When I wrote here a month ago that he should have called out Nash instead of Kreider I was crucified by nearly everyone. Even emailed that thought to Larry. It's a little fucking late, the guy is a proven playoff flop. 7 goals in 55 career games. Dave Anderchuck was called Anderchoke for years and he scored at twice the per game rate of Nash, and at 68% of his own regular season pace. Mike Keenan said he couldn't win with Mike Gartner who scored at 72% of his regular season rate. Nash scores at 29% of his regular season pace.

Oh no, I jinxed the Lightning...

In comment 12294363 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

but gambling is illegal at BBI and I never slice. Seriously, I'll wager on the game and give you a goal, not being a douche. I think the Rangers win this one (and might not lose again this series). The only question I have is astronaut man/woman.

Lol - there were three times in my life I was close to betting on my team but decided against it - 2011 when the Giants lost to the Redskins and were at almost 100-1 odds for the Super Bowl, last year when the Rangers were down 3-1 to the Penguins, and this year when down 3-1 to the Caps. I don't know why I didn't pull the trigger then since I expected losses in those scenarios and I perceived the risk/reward as asymmetrical in my favor, but I certainly don't bet on my team when I actually think they'll win - it only exacerbates the damage.

So no, go fuck yourself, pj.

I also don't really believe in jinxes/superstitions, etc.

and have won without Nash scoring, but it isn't ideal. What I don't get is that he gets 1-2 breakaways or semi-breakaways every game and just can't finish.

Nash does a lot of the little things to help, though. I'm not seeing any of that out of MSL right now.

If Nash doesn't score, but he's working for the puck, we still have Stepan, Kreider and Brassard who have stepped up.

But a Nash goal would be damn nice!

if they call penalties everytime a TB player goes to the ice and ignore when Rangers have the puck and get tripped, it will be extremely difficult to win. Their PP is clicking right now.

I never bet on my team.

Every year my company has business event in Vegas and I bet every year on the Patriots to win the SB. Finally paid off.

I would never bet on my team unless it was a hedge.

I don't believe in jinxes either, but I do get a little superstitious (or a little stitous as Eli says)

In comment 12294381 FatMan in Charlotte said:

Quote:

if they call penalties everytime a TB player goes to the ice and ignore when Rangers have the puck and get tripped, it will be extremely difficult to win. Their PP is clicking right now.

I feel like the refs call tripping every time a player goes down in general, regardless of whether they were actually tripped. I know the plays happen at high speed but it seems like the refs drop the ball on those calls a lot.

In comment 12294380 FatMan in Charlotte said:

Quote:

and have won without Nash scoring, but it isn't ideal. What I don't get is that he gets 1-2 breakaways or semi-breakaways every game and just can't finish. Nash does a lot of the little things to help, though. I'm not seeing any of that out of MSL right now. If Nash doesn't score, but he's working for the puck, we still have Stepan, Kreider and Brassard who have stepped up. But a Nash goal would be damn nice!

It's just annoying because they're chances we watched him convert on all year long but as soon as he gets those same ones in the playoffs, he can never bury it.

Rick Nash with a clear path to the goalie was almost an automatic goal throughout most of the regular season. Now? It's a sure bet he will get stopped.

the tripping calls. What I don't like is the lack of consistency. The Rangers have been called for a few penalties when guys have gone down with little or no contact while a Ranger driving to the net was taken down with no call.

Also, the Rangers being tripped on the boards is getting almost comical.

I remember Nash hitting the side of the net last year in an empty net situation. If he can't score that, then breakaways are the equivalent of Lundquist getting a G!

I don't know the guy personally so I'm not going to pretend I know what's going on in his head but I wish I knew what the problem was. Like.. is the guy just so nervous on the big stage all of a sudden that he has no confidence? It has been too long for it to be just a coincidence. I don't know what explanation there really is.

I guess there are guys who rise to the occasion and are at their best in big spots and then there are guys like Nash.. who don't seem to ever embrace the big moment and deliver. He seems like a guy who would never trust himself to come through with a goal with everything on the line. But what the hell do I know.

Same types of plays, missing empty nets, the only difference being that the stakes are higher, what else can you call it? It's not like he's St. Louis where he's pushing 40 and is done. He stopped scoring around game 65, just when the money starts to be seen on the table. Again.