Is the King dead?

[yave1964]

 Henrik Lundqvist has gotten off to slow starts in the past but this is looking bad for the Rangers. Real bad. Last night was a microcosm of the Rangers (1-5-1 for 3 points last place in the East) season so far. Before the fannies were settled into their seats at MSG Kessel had surprised the King with a quick goal, it was 2-0 Pens at the end of one, the Rangers scratched and clawed and took the lead in the third 4-3 and then disaster.

  Less than a minute to go Crosby ties it up. Less than a minute into overtime Malkin unties it. All of that effort wasted, yeah they got the losers point but they blew the game and Lundqvist was a big part of it. McDonough on a goal pressed and coughed up the puck and on another one Zibenajad did the same but these were saves that Lundqvist used to make.

  This offseason the Rangers appeared to be the big winners signing Shattenkirk with his 'dream of a lifetime' comments but he has looked out of sync at times including playing the puck seconds before Crosby scored, it was going to Crosby on an obvious hand pass and there would have been a whistle with a faceoff out of the zone but Shatty touched it, it bounced to Crosby and BAM! tie game. My point is Lundy is not the only one to blame, So far in 7 games:

Zuccarello 1 goal and minus 9.

Shatty, Zibenajad and J.T. Miller are all there is for offense, the first two however are minus 6 each. The worst part is NOBODY else on the team has more than 1 goal. I will give you that last night the line of Miller, Desharnais and Grabner was flying around all night.

Kreider and McDonough are goalless. Nash, Hayes and Grabner have one each, so the five of them have a total of 3 goals after scoring 101 between them last season. 

 

  Watching the game last night I was stunned at how out of position the Rangers defense was, they were hesitant to pinch into the play and apply pressure so the forwards with no help from the blueline were mobbed and knocked off the puck with alarming regularity. McDonough was double shifting and pressing too hard, Shattenkirk except on the power play looked tentative, Brendan Smith had a couple of glaring turnovers. 

  That I think is the problem, Smith was resigned for too much moneyafter a decent postseason, he has always had a low hockey IQ and made mistakes. Shatty while a brilliant power play specialist has never been known for his defense. DeAngelo who came over from Arizona is still young and in his third organization and still trying to get established because he gets turned around so easily. I mean the next one with all of my heart, there is no more overrated player in the game today at any position that Marc Staal. 

  But IMHO it comes down to Lundqvist who has a goals against of 3.23 and a save pct. of an anemic .902 he can still crank it out every now and then, his only win was a shutout but if you remove that one good game his goals against approaches 4 and his save pct is .877. The Rangers have had lousy defense in years past and he has been able to bail them out but he is slower and playing deeper in net not challenging shooters like he did in years past.

  If the King is not dead he is certainly on life support and the Rangers are right there with him.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I think Henrik Lundqvist is obviously not the same guy he was 2 or 3 years ago, but it is also in combination to the cliff the entire teams seems to have fallen off of.

 

Then again, "fallen off a cliff" may be an exaggeration as some would say the Rangers have been in steady, slow decline for a while.

Seems they either trade away or lose key pieces....and never quite replace their value on the team.... I.E. Brian Boyle, Marty St. Louis, Ryan Callahan, Anton Stralman, Cam Talbot, Antii Raanta, Carl Hagelin, etc.....

 

The one bright spot on this team has been Mika Zibanejad....but he can only do so  much on his own.

 

I think this team needs to take a long hard look at itself, plot the future ahead with regards to drafts and ask itself... "is it time to replace the core?"

And yes, that probably includes Henrik Lundqvist.

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

 Henrik Lundqvist has gotten off to slow starts in the past but this is looking bad for the Rangers. Real bad. Last night was a microcosm of the Rangers (1-5-1 for 3 points last place in the East) season so far. Before the fannies were settled into their seats at MSG Kessel had surprised the King with a quick goal, it was 2-0 Pens at the end of one, the Rangers scratched and clawed and took the lead in the third 4-3 and then disaster.

  Less than a minute to go Crosby ties it up. Less than a minute into overtime Malkin unties it. All of that effort wasted, yeah they got the losers point but they blew the game and Lundqvist was a big part of it. McDonough on a goal pressed and coughed up the puck and on another one Zibenajad did the same but these were saves that Lundqvist used to make.

  This offseason the Rangers appeared to be the big winners signing Shattenkirk with his 'dream of a lifetime' comments but he has looked out of sync at times including playing the puck seconds before Crosby scored, it was going to Crosby on an obvious hand pass and there would have been a whistle with a faceoff out of the zone but Shatty touched it, it bounced to Crosby and BAM! tie game. My point is Lundy is not the only one to blame, So far in 7 games:

Zuccarello 1 goal and minus 9.

Shatty, Zibenajad and J.T. Miller are all there is for offense, the first two however are minus 6 each. The worst part is NOBODY else on the team has more than 1 goal. I will give you that last night the line of Miller, Desharnais and Grabner was flying around all night.

Kreider and McDonough are goalless. Nash, Hayes and Grabner have one each, so the five of them have a total of 3 goals after scoring 101 between them last season. 

 

  Watching the game last night I was stunned at how out of position the Rangers defense was, they were hesitant to pinch into the play and apply pressure so the forwards with no help from the blueline were mobbed and knocked off the puck with alarming regularity. McDonough was double shifting and pressing too hard, Shattenkirk except on the power play looked tentative, Brendan Smith had a couple of glaring turnovers. 

  That I think is the problem, Smith was resigned for too much moneyafter a decent postseason, he has always had a low hockey IQ and made mistakes. Shatty while a brilliant power play specialist has never been known for his defense. DeAngelo who came over from Arizona is still young and in his third organization and still trying to get established because he gets turned around so easily. I mean the next one with all of my heart, there is no more overrated player in the game today at any position that Marc Staal. 

  But IMHO it comes down to Lundqvist who has a goals against of 3.23 and a save pct. of an anemic .902 he can still crank it out every now and then, his only win was a shutout but if you remove that one good game his goals against approaches 4 and his save pct is .877. The Rangers have had lousy defense in years past and he has been able to bail them out but he is slower and playing deeper in net not challenging shooters like he did in years past.

  If the King is not dead he is certainly on life support and the Rangers are right there with him.

 

 

Father time catches us all eventually...others sooner rather than later...however i have not seen one minute of them playing so i can't comment but it hasaybe come time to pay the piper...

 

...yet with their demise other teams have risen to take their place in the East.

 

Those teams look to be the Devils and Leafs at the moment so the East is no easier to win sadly.