Game #20 Preview
First Screen Viewing
Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens – 6pm
The Leafs have broken their impossible losing streak to the Habs earlier in the year, but they’re coming for a regulation win and to jab a thumb in the eye of the floundering Canadiens. The Leafs can’t seem to lose without Auston Matthews, because obviously he’s a dirty, glory-boy Yank who doesn’t really care about the cause. And if you think this won’t be the narrative coming out of Toronto before too long, you clearly haven’t been an NHL fan very long. The Canadiens are going to be fine, they’re doing just about everything right except getting saves from anyone who’s not Charlie Lindgren. Still, a loss here and Montreal might sink into the St. Lawrence.
Second Screen Viewing
Oilers v. Stars – 1pm
Fair amount of afternoon hockey for you today, and this is the pick of the litter. The Oilers are still trying to put it together, and so are the Stars, which were both givens when this season started. Still, given the offensive talent on show here you’d think this one could get up and down. And anything that gets up and down with Run CMD out there is worth watching.
Other Games
Flames vs. Flyers – Noon
Coyotes vs. Senators – 1pm
Devils vs. Jets – 2pm
Panthers vs. Kings – 3pm
Hurricanes vs. Sabres – 6pm
Islanders vs. Lightning – 6pm
Wild vs. Capitals – 6:30
Avalanche vs. Predators – 7pm
Blues vs. Canucks – 9pm
Bruins vs. Sharks – 9:30
A couple times a week, I put myself through a ritual that makes me feel all the things. It provides joy and excitement, while also putting a mythical flaming dagger right into my chest cavity. It makes me pump my fist, and then direct that fist right into my own teeth/balls, whatever I’m feeling at the moment.
It’s watching Teuvo Teravainen play.
Maybe you’ve noticed, maybe you haven’t. Our Special Boy, our Finn of Dragons, our Turbo Targaryn, is lighting it up in Raleigh. He’s got 15 points in 17 games. Some of that is piling up eight points in his last four games, but it’s been ridiculous. He’s carrying a +5.0 relative Corsi-percentage on the best Corsi team in the league. He’s got a +3.8 relative xGF% on one of the better ones in the NHL.
But numbers don’t really tell the story. You have to watch him, Sebastien Aho, and Jordan Staal. Staal has 15 points in 17 games as well, the post points-per-game he’s ever had in his career. Teuvo and Aho on some shifts just look like they’re playing a different sport.
It’s amazing what happens when you just let a young player do what he does best. Those whipped passes without looking that Teuvo only got to flash here on occasion, where the puck is only on his stick for a blink before he’s finding someone on the other side of the ice, are heavily featured. He’s added a shooting-mentality at times, which the Hawks could never get through to him, though they pretty much asked him to sacrifice everything else to do so. The little fucker even scored on a slapshot against the Stars to kick off his natural hat trick on Monday.
It’s pleasure you usually have to pay for, mixed with pain… you usually have to pay for. Because it shouldn’t be happening there. When Stan Bowman’s run comes to an end, no matter when, losing Teuvo Teravainen for nothing, merely to clear Bryan Bickell’s contract, might end up his biggest mistake. What would he look like on a line with Alex DeBrincat right now? What would the whole forward corps look like with Teuvo’s skills and flexibility?
It shouldn’t be this way. It’s a huge indictment on the way the Hawks used to run (still do?) that someone’s souring on Teuvo could become an organization-wide feeling. This is a player who took over a Stanley Cup Final game at the age of 20 in the 3rd period. He kick-started a near-miracle comeback in Anaheim in Game 5. His line came up with three of the biggest goals in that run in ’15–the winners in Games 1 and 5 in the Final and the OT winner in Game 4 against the Ducks.
And yet the Hawks could only see what wasn’t there. He wasn’t big enough, even though his hands and mind would have compensated in the middle. He didn’t shoot enough or forecheck hard enough, even though his vision would have made him the clear second-best playmaker on the team, behind only one of the league’s best in Patrick Kane.
Stan and Q will never suffer for it, as all they have to do is point at their three banners. And even if they’d kept Teuvo, after this latest contract is up he might have been too expensive then.
This is the NHL they want. Where if you make the mistake of paying someone like Brent Seabrook, you lose Teuvo and the chance to have Panarin and Saad together and/or Stephen Johns or Nick Leddy. That doesn’t make Stan an idiot. It just makes him not perfect.
I try to just enjoy Teuvo without any of the context. But it’s impossible. Some ex’s never escape your mind. You always wonder…
First Screen Viewing
Stars v. Lighting – 6:30
Yeah, I should probably pick the Devils and the Maple Leafs, but as we saw Sunday the Devils are made up of a bunch of kids stacked on each other’s shoulders to fake being adults. So screw it. It’s a homecoming of sorts for THE BISHOP! as we still wait for the unholy force that everyone told us the Stars will be. They’ll see what looks to be the best team in the league, though the Bolts have ridden the percentages a touch. Still, they’re one of the more fun teams in the league to watch, and the Stars would be if they weren’t coached by Jabba The Hitch. With Klingberg and Lindell and crew, they could really go. And with Bishop being a disappointment so far, this could also turn into the Lightning putting up a touchdown.
Second Screen Viewing
Devils vs. Maple Leafs – 6pm
Fine, I’ll put it here. I don’t know what the Devils are doing it with. I’m guessing it’s just trying harder than teams not paying attention fully because y’know, it’s the Devils. They should have everyone’s attention now.
Other Games
Hurricanes vs. Islanders – 6pm
Coyotes vs. Canadiens – 6pm
Penguins vs. Senators – 6:30
Predators vs. Wild – 7pm
Flyers vs. Jets – 7pm
Capitals vs. Avalanche – 8pm
Blues vs. Oilers – 8pm
Knights vs. Canucks – 9pm
Bruins vs. Kings – 9:30
Panthers vs. Sharks – 9:30
It’s hard to imagine how last night could have been a better illustration of the things the Hawks defense does well and the things it doesn’t do well and how it’s kind of mismatched for the task at hand. It also was something of an example about how it’s being let down by the forwards in front of it, and how those forwards bail them out.
Here’s what we know about the Hawks’ defense right now. It has maybe one top-pairing player, and that’s not a certain (Keith). It has three players that are probably no more than third-pairing bum-slayers (Forsling, Franson, Seabrook). It has two players either in their first or second year that are still working out the kinks (Rutta, Forsling). It has one player that Q just won’t let be anything, really (Kempny). And it has one player who’s probably a second-pairing player learning a new system, but the Hawks need him to become a top pairing player sharpish while shuffling him from one side to the other (Murphy). As you can see, it’s a mess.
Of late, Q has come to trust (somewhat) Cody Franson with Duncan Keith. If you squint, you see why. He’s big, he’s a good counter to Keith’s all-over game, and when he has the puck he’s good with it. But here’s the problem. Watch Franson on this one, especially on the replay:
He loses the puck off the draw, spins around looking for it in his feet, gets stripped, and then dogs it back to his side of the ice where there are two Rangers uncovered because Keith is probably expecting him to get back there sometime before Purim. And this is not a rare occurrence with Franson, who does not have anywhere near the speed to be dogging it anywhere. There’s a reason he’s on his fourth team and was on a PTO. He’s just that slow and kind of goes to the zoo too often.
But he can also do this:
That’s a one-timer off a bouncing puck off the boards not anywhere near his wheelhouse that he gets to the net. And really, he’s just about the only Hawks d-man who can do that. Certainly the only right-handed one, as Seabrook would have probably fallen over these days. The Hawks need that on the power play for sure, and they need that dash at even-strength as well from that side.
The Hawks are also being held back at times due to a learning curve.
Here, the Hawks do mostly everything right, actually. Murphy is within his rights to try and jump down low and get involved, and the Hawks want that out of him. Hartman actually covers his point correctly, but doesn’t read the shot going wide right and lets the puck past him and then Nash has a step on Murphy. Murphy actually does pretty well in forcing Nash on his backhand and wide, and this is one Crow would like back. But again, it’s an example of the Hawks d not really having the footspeed to play the hyper-aggressive game they have, or at least still trying to reprogram some players on how to do it.
Gustav Forsling was excellent last night, and yet still started over 60% of his shifts outside of the offensive zone. And his partner, Jan Rutta, was beyond awful. And this is the kind of thing the Hawks are just going to have to live with for a while.
Q won’t like it, because the one time he tried it the Hawks gave up seven, but dressing seven d-men for a while is probably the best option. Because each of the d-men have something the Hawks need and each of them also have a glaring weakness that needs to be covered up. Kempny is the most mobile d-man behind Keith and Forsling (and it’s closer with Forsling than you think). But he is good for one or two boners per game that need to be covered. Keith can’t both take on top lines and push the play offensively, which means you need someone else to do whichever he’s not. But from the left side, only Forsling can be a puck-mover behind Keith if Kempny isn’t playing. If someone else needs to take top pairing assignments defensively, who is it? I’d give Murphy a run, but with whom? It sure feels like Forsling is being groomed for that, but that’s a big risk. Franson is slow and defensively wonky, but his offensive skills and right-handed shot are needed on the power play at least. Rutta is defensively more sound than Franson but doesn’t have the offensive polish, so he can’t do all of those things and his learning curve is starting to look pretty steep anyway.
And Seabrook…um…. well, I’ll get back to you on that.
As you can see, it’s a rough puzzle to try and fix, as there don’t seem to be any corner pieces. The Hawks haven’t fashioned any yet, that’s for sure.
vs. 
RECORDS: Rangers 9-7-2 Hawks 8-8-2
PUCK DROP: 7pm
TV: NBCSN, because it’s Rivalry Night donchaknow?
WAITING FOR THE 3 TRAIN: Blue Shirt Banter
It’s an Original Six tilt on the Westside tonight, not that anyone really cares about that much anymore. Then again, not too many are going to care about two middling teams that both sit outside of the admittedly embryonic playoff picture at the moment. And the Rangers had to tear ass just to get here. We seem to say this every night now, but there should be a whiff of desperation to this one, as these teams don’t really have the option of passing on points right now.
And the Rangers have played like that of late, winning six in a row. This is probably not the time to be catching them. They started off terribly, and a good portion of that was put on Henrik Lundqvist’s shoulders. And with good cause. Before the winning streak, his SV% was below .900. He’s picked it up of late, but he’s had some help.
The biggest aid for him has been the newly formed top line of Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich, with Buchnevich shooting about 879% during the streak and piling up three goals and five points in his last five games. The second line with Alleged Weiner Tucker-Captain Stairwell-The Hobbit has also lit it up, and Nash in particular is on fire. He’s got four goals and six points during this streak.
But this being the Rangers, the problems are the same as they’ve been for years. They don’t have a real #1 center, or maybe any centers at all. They’re a team filled with fast, small wingers you’d probably confuse in a lineup, save Nash. There’s a nifty fourth line here with Michael Grabner pouring in the goals again, and at least Alain Vigneault is fine with making his fourth line fast and skilled as he can.
Also, the problem of who to play with Ryan McDonagh is still lingering. AV is reluctant to put Kirk ShattenKevin there, so right now it’s Nick Holden and that’s not going well at all. Steven Kampfer took a turn and that went worse. Brendan Smith is in the pressbox for $4 million a year, which brings enough light into my dark little life to be excited about waking up in the morning. ShattenKevin and Brady Skjei are playing together, which pairs their two puck-movers at the same time. But when you’ve won six in a row, you’re not changing much.
For the Hawks, not too much change. Ryan Hartman looks to be drawing back in at center on the 4th line, and while that seems weird if he comes out with a wild hair on his ass because of a healthy scratch everyone will be happy. Top Cat will continue to have his time wasted with Patrick Sharp and Tommy Wingels and on the wrong side. At least until the Hawks need a goal and he’s vaulted into the top six. So the second period.
The pairings could look like anything, though after giving up a touchdown and PAT it’s unlikely Q will dress seven d-men again. Look for Kempny to continue to sit for no reason other than REASONS. Crow gets the start.
The Rangers are a team that can play awfully fast when on song. That used to be a good thing for the Hawks. It probably isn’t anymore. But this defense isn’t very quick other than Skjei and ShattenKevin either, so they could trade chances all night. In theory, the Hawks should have more finish. But that’s hardly a sure thing.
Game #19 Preview
vs.
RECORDS: Rangers 9-7-2 Hawks 8-8-2
PUCK DROP: 7pm
TV: NBCSN, because it’s Rivalry Night donchaknow?
WAITING FOR THE 3 TRAIN: Blue Shirt Banter
It’s an Original Six tilt on the Westside tonight, not that anyone really cares about that much anymore. Then again, not too many are going to care about two middling teams that both sit outside of the admittedly embryonic playoff picture at the moment. And the Rangers had to tear ass just to get here. We seem to say this every night now, but there should be a whiff of desperation to this one, as these teams don’t really have the option of passing on points right now.
And the Rangers have played like that of late, winning six in a row. This is probably not the time to be catching them. They started off terribly, and a good portion of that was put on Henrik Lundqvist’s shoulders. And with good cause. Before the winning streak, his SV% was below .900. He’s picked it up of late, but he’s had some help.
The biggest aid for him has been the newly formed top line of Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich, with Buchnevich shooting about 879% during the streak and piling up three goals and five points in his last five games. The second line with Alleged Weiner Tucker-Captain Stairwell-The Hobbit has also lit it up, and Nash in particular is on fire. He’s got four goals and six points during this streak.
But this being the Rangers, the problems are the same as they’ve been for years. They don’t have a real #1 center, or maybe any centers at all. They’re a team filled with fast, small wingers you’d probably confuse in a lineup, save Nash. There’s a nifty fourth line here with Michael Grabner pouring in the goals again, and at least Alain Vigneault is fine with making his fourth line fast and skilled as he can.
Also, the problem of who to play with Ryan McDonagh is still lingering. AV is reluctant to put Kirk ShattenKevin there, so right now it’s Nick Holden and that’s not going well at all. Steven Kampfer took a turn and that went worse. Brendan Smith is in the pressbox for $4 million a year, which brings enough light into my dark little life to be excited about waking up in the morning. ShattenKevin and Brady Skjei are playing together, which pairs their two puck-movers at the same time. But when you’ve won six in a row, you’re not changing much.
For the Hawks, not too much change. Ryan Hartman looks to be drawing back in at center on the 4th line, and while that seems weird if he comes out with a wild hair on his ass because of a healthy scratch everyone will be happy. Top Cat will continue to have his time wasted with Patrick Sharp and Tommy Wingels and on the wrong side. At least until the Hawks need a goal and he’s vaulted into the top six. So the second period.
The pairings could look like anything, though after giving up a touchdown and PAT it’s unlikely Q will dress seven d-men again. Look for Kempny to continue to sit for no reason other than REASONS. Crow gets the start.
The Rangers are a team that can play awfully fast when on song. That used to be a good thing for the Hawks. It probably isn’t anymore. But this defense isn’t very quick other than Skjei and ShattenKevin either, so they could trade chances all night. In theory, the Hawks should have more finish. But that’s hardly a sure thing.
Game #19 Preview
There can be little doubt that Henrik Lundqvist is going to go down as this generation’s finest goalie. He really doesn’t need any more to his Hall of Fame claims then pointing to Dan Girardi and saying, “I had to clean up after this useless dope for years and our team kept making the playoffs thanks to it.” That’s a first-ballot resume right there.
In the past 10 years, of all goalies to have played 400 games or more, only Tuukka Rask has a better save-percentage than Hank. If you lower it to 300 games over the past 10 years, the list expands to Tim Thomas, Braden Holtby, Cory Schneider, and Sergei Bobrovsky. But none of those guys have come anywhere near Lundqvist’s 634 games. Throw out the last two years and Hank would be carrying a .921 SV% over that time.
But it’s the last two years that are the worry for Rangers fans, and the organization itself. Two years ago, Hank’s SV% overall dipped to .910, which isn’t even league-average. This year it’s .905 so far, which just straight up sucks. More worrying is that Lundqvist’s even-strength save-percentages have fallen off a cliff. For the past seven years leading up to ’16-’17, Hank never had an even-strength save-percentage under .928, which is just about unconscious. Last year that dropped to .918, and this year it’s .908 so far, which again, straight up sucks.
Hank turns 36 later this year, and the numbers for goalies that old the past ten years aren’t going to inspire confidence in the blue-clad, pepperoni-smelling masses on Broadway. The average SV% of goalies who played over 40 games past the age of 35 is .907. There are some outliers here, of course. Tim Thomas won a Vezina at 36, but he didn’t have anywhere near the NHL miles that Hank does now. Craig Anderson was awfully good last year at 35, but he only played half a season. Roberto Luongo turned in above-average seasons at 35 and 36, and certainly he’s probably the best comp to Lundqvist. But Bob has also seen it all fall apart on him the past season and this quarter of one. Martin Brodeur was able to be league-average in his late-30s, but league-average isn’t going to save this Rangers outfit.
Which leaves the Rangers in something of a pickle. Hank is signed for three more years at $8.5 million. If the team decided he can do no more than split starts, and that’s hardly a ridiculous conclusion at this point, there isn’t a lot of room to bring in another. A team can’t spend $11 or $12 million on just two goalies. Which means the Rangers are going to have to develop one or keep shuffling in rehab projects, like they’ve done with Antti Raanta before and are attempting to do with Ondrej Pavelec now.
There might be some hope on that front. The Rangers have a prospect they’re pretty keen on. One is Igor Shestyorkin, who put up a .940 in the KHL last and is on track to do so again. To be fair, he’s also playing behind the powerhouse St. Petersburg there, but hey. .940 is .940. But they’d have to get him over here and get him acclimated to the North American rink and game. He’s only 21, so there’s time on his side, but it might not be on the Rangers’.
Either way, it would be truly shitty to watch Hank rot his way out of the end of his career. He was too good behind not good enough Rangers teams to get all that he deserved. He’s won one Vezina, which seems an utter crime. He’s only been to one Final, which also doesn’t seem fair. And he’s unlikely to add to either.
Game #19 Preview
Beth Boyle Machlan is a contributor at BlueShirtBanter.com. You can follow her on Twitter @BethMachlan.
The Rangers had an awful start to the season, but have now won six in a row. What’s been the change?
The change? Moving Pavel Buchnevich from the 4th line to the 1st, for one. Alain Vigneault’s distrust of the young Russian has been inexplicable from the start, and culminated in benching him for Tanner Glass in last year’s playoffs. Since moving to the 1st line, Buchnevich has been on fire, and has already outscored his previous season. Also, the power play, which has been a black hole for the Rangers for years, has come to life with the combination of Kevin Shattenkirk, Mika Zibanejad, and the aforementioned BUCH. And Rick Nash, who I still consider the Unluckiest Man in Hockey for how often he shoots/makes things happen vs. how often he scores, has finally heated up as well.
Is Henrik Lundqvist done?
Lundqvist isn’t done. Lundqvist is 35 and has faced more high-danger shots than any other tender in the NHL. He’s been shot full of holes for three seasons now, and I’m guessing his knees and body reflect that. But he’s always been a slow starter, and he’s come on as fierce as ever in the last six games, and that save percentage is creeping up.
Mika Zibanejad is averaging a point-per-game after a somewhat disappointing debut season on Broadway last year. We see the three shots per game, what’s been the difference in his game so far?
Alain Vigneault likes to tinker with his lines, and I think Zibanejad’s game suffered last year as a result. (The broken leg didn’t help.) This year, he’s healthy and he’s playing with monsters, Buchnevich and Kreider, (KZB) who had a crazy chemistry even in 2016 preseason, but then never played together again. He’s been a beast on the power play, on a PP1 team that right now looks like it could score blindfolded.
Kevin Shattenkirk was the big offseason signing. How has he settled in?
Shattenkirk had a great start, then fell off a bit as AV played with his pairings (and defensive deployment continues to be the NYR’s Achilles heel — don’t get me started). But he seems to have found his groove, turned the PP around, and is playing his game regardless of who he’s paired with. He generates offense like crazy; NYR zone exits used to be embarrassing, but I find myself not even thinking about that anymore, especially when 22 is out there. But the dream pair of Shatty and McDonagh is history already, and he’s with Nick Holden. Ask AV.
The Rangers pulled themselves out of their initial hole, but some of their analytics are still not very impressive and this is a weird roster. Where are they headed this year?
Where are they headed? Three weeks ago, I would have said the basement. But if Lundqvist holds up, the Cup. You heard me. Because No Cup for Lundqvist is a world I refuse to live in. (We’re going to get Beth the help she needs. Don’t worry. -ED)
Here’s the thing about the Rangers. They’re not really an unlikable bunch. In fact, they’re not a bunch that sets off the emotions in any way. And in fact, it’s been that way for years. When you think of the Rangers, what do you think of? It’s ok, we’ll wait.
See?
Still can’t come up with anything?
That’s the thing. With the Rangers, they’re the ones who just make up the numbers in the Original Six. There really isn’t an identifiable history. Or players. Or building. When you think of the Montreal Canadiens, it’s Richard or LaFleur streaking down the ice at the Forum. The Hawks have Chelios or Mikita or Magnuson bleeding in front of baying wolves at The Stadium. Wendel Clark crosschecking someone in the back of the head at The Gardens. Orr flying around the Garden (singular in Boston).
The Rangers? Petr Nedved’s confused gape at whatever iteration of MSG it was then? Alex Kovalev not really giving a shit? The Drury and Gomez signings? This is the organization that Jaromir Jagr thought so much of he ditched it to sit in a hot tub with Russian models and Roman Abramovich for two years in Omsk. Apparently being a Rangers captain doesn’t mean as much as when Mark Messier was blowing off-foot wristers past bewildered goalies.
So we’ll take Chris Kreider here, who never met a goalie he couldn’t run or an opponent he couldn’t yap at from behind two linesmen. He’s also from Boston, so you know he’s almost certainly something of a prick. And he looks like a Guy Fawkes mask. Who patters their look after Brian Boyle?
It’s the best we can do.
Game #19 Preview
