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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Welcome to the Neno's Place!

Neno's Place Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality


Neno

I can be reached by phone or text 8am-7pm cst 972-768-9772 or, once joining the board I can be reached by a (PM) Private Message.

Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

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Established in 2006 as a Community of Reality

Many Topics Including The Oldest Dinar Community. Copyright © 2006-2020


    New York Rangers

    jedi17
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    • Post n°1

    New York Rangers Empty New York Rangers

    Post by jedi17 Mon 20 Feb 2017, 10:00 pm

    Game 58: NYR 2 WAS 1, Lundqvist brilliant again as Rangers edge Caps
    February 20, 2017, 12:39 AM ET [225 Comments]
    Jan Levine
    New York Rangers Nyr New York Rangers Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
    The Rangers eked out a 2-1 win over the Capitals thanks to a third period goal by Mats Zuccarello. New York controlled the game in the first but Washington owned the second and good portions of the third, limiting the Rangers to 11 shots combined in both frames while the Capitals had 22. Philipp Grabauer, who kept Washington from being down 4-0 or 5-0 in the first, and Henrik Lundqvist were both stellar between the pipes, with Hank making two key saves with under a minute to go before the final buzzer to secure the victory. The Rangers face Montreal on Tuesday.

    Ryan McDonagh helped New York jump out to a 1-0 lead. He collected his own rebound, put the puck through Nicklas Backstrom's legs in the slot and then showed tremendous patience, holding the puck and beating Grubauer top shelf. The goal gave McDonagh three goals and 30 assists on the year.




    Mike Zibanejad appeared to get his first in 13 games on the power play, but it was overturned on replay for offsides. McDonagh's skate was in the air at the blue line, but he was ruled offside. I am all for getting the call right, but how long into a play where a goal is scored should offsides be allowed to be called? Also, a skate in the air, if perpendicular to the blue line, shouldn't be offsides. It's getting to point where you wait for the challenge on a goal, almost like a diving catch in the NFL or pop-up slide at second or third base on a stolen base.

    Washington owned the second, carrying play. They were finally rewarded late in the period on an PPG by Alexander Ovechkin from big shock at the left faceoff dot. Ovi missed two chances off his stick earlier in the frame, but put a rolling puck off Nick Holden's stick or glove past Lundqvist. If the puck doesn't hit Holden, it likely misses the net high. But New York' second period struggles continued again. Plus, you knew Washington, who played Saturday and is just returning from the bye-week, was going to find their sea legs. New Jersey just barely weathered the storm.

    In the third, both teams exchanged chances, though the Capitals had the edge in play. A brilliant play off the draw gave New York a 2-1 lead 8:37 into the period. Zib won the draw hard to Chris Kreider, who got inside Nate Schmidt. Brooks Orpik was in no-man's land, too far from Kreider while losing Zuccarello in front. CK20'S pass was played by Zucc off his right skate and then left skate before he beat Grubauer five-hole. For all the complaining about Zucc's failure to score, he now has 12 goals and 31 assists, leaving him just three points behind JT Miller for the club lead. In addition, he is the emotion leader on this team, who plays bigger than his size and is on a ridiculously friendly salary of $4.5 million a year. Yup, clearly a player who should be moved.




    Washington refused to go away but Lundqvist was the difference. He made two unreal saves on Marcus Johansson from in front the net with just under a minute to go to preserve the win. That victory was # 401 of his career, moving him into a tie for 11th all time in NHL history with Chris Osgood. Lundqvist, who made 31 saves, is two wins behind Grant Fuhr for 10th place on the All-time list He is 9-2-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and spectacular .937 save percentage in his last 12 games dating back to Jan. 19.




    Some thoughts:

    - Kreider was a beast throughout, physical throughout. He, Zib and Zucc are showing some of that chemistry we expected.

    - Dan Girardi was good again. Four big blocked shots and his usual physical play. For all the smack he has been given, G has been more than solid the past few weeks. I still think he would be better on the third pairing in sheltered duty but G has earned his top duo placement. He and McDonagh, as Larry Brooks pointed out, "held" the Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie line to five even-strength shots against Lundqvist.

    - Kevin Klein, save for the play in the last minute when the puck went to Johansson, was pretty good in his return to the lineup. He too has been better lately. I know Washington controlled play a lot in the second and third, but a good portion of the were from the outside and Lundqvist has clear sight lines to see the shots. Brooks highlights how much better the team has been defensively lately. "In the nine games since the All-Star break, the Rangers have yielded only 17 even-strength goals, with six of those recorded by the Blue Jackets in the first game following the recess. In the last eight games, the McDonagh-Girardi pair has been on for only two goals against (though Girardi missed two games with an injury); the Staal-Holden tandem has been on for two and the Skjei-Klein unit on for three."

    - For all the hate that Derek Stepan gets, Brooks pretty much spells out why the coaching staff loves him and what he thinks of Step. "The Derek Stepan-Rick Nash-Jimmy Vesey unit did its job in concert with the McDonagh-Girardi duo in the match against Ovechkin, Backstrom and Oshie. Night after night, game after game, Stepan, Nash and their other winger go against the opposition’s top guns, and their success as checkers sure mitigates the fact Stepan hasn’t scored a goal in 13 straight." So take that and put it where the sun don't shine. Stepan may not score as much as we would like, but he is the best and most responsible defensive center on this roster.

    - While was just one win, beating the league's best team is still a boost to the Rangers. In case you haven't looked, for all the talk of finishing fourth in the conference and getting the wild card to face the Atlantic Division leader, the Metro has tightened. Washington is only up by eight points on New York, while Pitt is in second, three points ahead and Columbus in third, two points ahead of the Rangers, with all teams having played 58 games. New York has a 13 point cushion on seventh place and the first Wild Card. But Florida is figuring it out, as they have won four straight and is 7-2-1 in their last 10 to move six points behind Montreal at the top of the Atlantic with two games in hand. Plus, Montreal now has Claude Julien, so they should be better. Meaning, the Atlantic may not end up being the cakewalk everyone says it should be.
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