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Let’s hope for a solid effort in game 5! Go Rangers!

MIA: Mika, Panarin, and Kreider. Trouba and Miller need to be split up. Miller doesn't hit he just pets other players. Zac Jones should have been in the playoffs. Roslavik does nothing for this team. Shesterkin is our best player and it's a shame we are wasting his performances (reminiscent of the Hank years). Wheelchair should not be out there...would rather see Edstrom. But, 2-2 series....LGR!

Rangers were tired last game, they will always have the push, but there’s no doubt this team has been looking exhausted in these third periods. They need to run 4 lines better and keep the legs, trust the bottom six a little more to keep those top lines fresh playing 10 forwards is starting to have an impact, if they aren’t going to trust Rempe with more ice time, then they gotta put someone in that they can trust with it. Now I like Rempe and think he’s played well. He gets the puck out, gets it deep and gets in front of the net while also making it tough for them to break out. Chytil can’t be a healthy scratch though, I expect him to play and have a big game, maybe a couple apples getting Kakko involved. Things will be better next game!

They played their best period of the series in the first then sucked the rest of the way.

I'm hoping this is our game 5 of the Carolina series and we put together a win tomorrow. Tomorrow is must win

I think Mika is missing his club buddies. It is prime season in Ibiza! DJ Z wants to be on the 1s and 2s. 18:44

Game 4 is a perfect example of why some Rangers fans say they have no heart. Just look at period 2, 3 & OT. Furthermore, there is absolutely no justification for why Wheeler or Cuylle where on the ice on OT, especially Wheeler. Loviolette and company paid Shesterkin back by giving him the gift of Wheeler in OT. A guy who is 37, not a fast skater when healthy, coming off a major knee injury and hasn’t played in months. This is who you choose to put in Game 4 of the ECF in OT? Mind blowing. Then Laviolette contradicts himself by saying he didn’t play Chytil bc he hasn’t played in a while and needs to get up to speed!!! Hello! Does the same not apply to wheeler. If the Rangers lose this series, they deserve it.

Shot the dam puck enough with the passes already!!

Cant watch another year of Miller and Trouba on defense. At no time should a Panther player be standing anywhere near the crease without getting leveled. One more year on Trouba contract, then good riddance. Trade Miller for a true defender with toughness, Manson or Petrangelo. Bring up Matthew Robertson. Tired of the same old story year after year.

Great analysis Jon. We've been outplayed in last 3 games, but we have the better goaltender. Top line must get going.

No Mika and Kreider performing, no cup. If they dont wake up quickly, time to break this team up.

I was sort of expecting us to lose this game... but, like Game 5 with Carolina (where Mika seemed to get banged up) it was THE WAY WE LOST that gets the nerves going. Very, very glaring mistakes that cost us the game and Laviolette basically told us by saying he had no idea what that was. Ok lets go here. Number 1. The Mika pass. Couple things happening here. First Mika is getting pressured and he sees Wheeler breaking toward him in his peripheral vision. He's watching Cuylle get open underneath and try to screen Bobo. My best guess is that he tries to quickly push that pass to Wheeler expecting that he will turn and fire it quickly towards the net with Cuylle screening and potentially getting a tip-in. Blake Wheeler has a really hard shot and is pretty trigger happy; he likes to shoot from longer distance and if he had caught up to that pass that's probably what he would have done. At the same time, D guys are making a change, perhaps a little too slowly, because they turned to see Zib holding the puck with some open ice in front of him and are expecting to have enough time to conduct a change safely. Mika's best play is to get this down low, just rim it around so Cuylle can pick it up and work the puck around. Mika actually might have gotten this through too, but here's what I think is being missed: after watching it a few times, I don't think he got all of the puck. He wanted to pass it hard to Wheeler, I think, and it was a bit of a dribbler, definitely not a fastball. I want to mention something fundamental here. A lot of these guys on our team like to "head fake" or do "no look" passes. I don't think Mika had his eyes in the right spot and it might have caused this miss. He starts to skate back at the moment the Panthers stick hits the puck which makes me think he only looked over after he made that pass - it made him a step slow getting back to defend his own turnover, as a result. So you can see here how a bunch of shit happening at the same time and NOBODY being in sync causes these things and how it cost us. Okay to the PP and GWG. Trouba is trying to violate a rule of PK and "get away with one" so to speak by finishing that check. What's almost funny is that if all he had done was pressure, he could have gotten back set in time to stop that pass low. It was his decision to FINISH the check that put us in the shit, Lindgren is stuck alone, tries to block the shot as he is going down and his stick ALMOST hits it but no. Perfect bar-down by Reinhart and Game Over Rangers. By the way Jon speaking of the issues with Shesty and the "extra" that the Cats are doing, at the end of the 2nd period as time expired, Tkachuk for NO REASON whatsoever skates through Shesty's blue paint and makes contact with him, falling over like Shesty rolled him. No call nothing. Shesty screaming at the ref. I am going to post another comment with thoughts about Laviolette and the line up as well as Game 5 adjustments.

Florida is just a better team it would of a sweep without Igor

The issue I have with the Rangers top players is even if you dont score you can still impact the game, look at Rempe he impacts the game more in the 5 to 10 minutes he gets then Krieder, Zib and Panarin do, all of these guys are on the soft side when it comes to hitting, getting hit, going to the boards for pucks, etc, these guys are basically invisible out there they are not impacting the game at all, can Kreider at 230 pounds throw a body check for once? how about Zib? they dont like physicality and its why they have vansihed

Igor needs to be yelling at his teammates, not the officials

Great podcast! I am a longtime NYR fan.Since JP Parise beat us in OT 2-1 in 75. I have watched, played, coached a lot of hockey up until juniors. The mistakes the Rangers are making are things you teach peewee hockey players. Especially on defense 1) no one gets between you and the net minder in front of the goal 2) If you don't have a outlet pass, don't force it, go high along the glass 3) bust your ass back and great time and space, giving you options 4) Push guys outside on 1v1..then seal the boards off...K'poke is a horrible defender, especially with his skating ability, sad to watch 5) The defensive give aways are reminiscent of Dan Girardi against the kings during the rags cup run,, he was a turn over machine 6) dudes are walking in front from back of the net all night long, for rap arounds and shots...take away the GD lane (what the hell is Phil Housley teaching these guys) I think they can make adjustments, we will see. Mika/Pan can't play this type of game, unless the bangers bangers and create space for them, no way either can make power move like Laffy, busting the middle. Their was a reason Don Grapes Cherry, got on euro players ALL the time. Done with the feel good stories of Phil and Blake...put dudes in that can keep with this pace. #LGR

I feel so bad for Igor. He is always saving this team!

Miller is the softest player I have ever seen

When is Kreider, Panarin and Zibanejad going to score in this series.

Once again, the New York Rangers can’t clear their own zone!

Mika & Panarin are not built for the playoffs.

Maybe Mika should cut his hair it might have the opposite effect on his play!

When you watch the Rangers play like this, you wonder how they won the president trophy??

When you watch the Rangers play like this, you wonder how they won the president trophy??

Cool new into animation Jon (it *is* new, right?) Also, this was basically a straight up outstanding game by Shesty and the rest of the team minus Troch and Laffy were just absolutely absent. If Mika, CK, and Bread don't show up on the score sheet, we're done. We have already pulled all the rabbits out of the hat and we need to win the game on the ice in game 5 - no more "stealing" a game where we get outplayed.

Thanks for not playing highlights. I couldn't handle it.

Should of escaped with a win yesterday, but as usual shit happens, mika and trouba wtf was that , why wasn't Laffy unit on the ice to start OT , panthers know the way to beat the rangers are to hit them ,and it's showing the panthers got into there heads ,not looking good ,huge game 5 tomorrow and mika has been bad same goes for panerin once again he's M.I.A

It’s over they are too slow, can’t keep the puck , looked tired banged up. Fox and or Lidgreen should sit , put Jones in. 10, 20 & 93 when are they going to show up

This guy has the best broadcast voice ever.

Keep the faith everyone. 2-2 it ain't over. No Quit L-F-G-R

MIKA HAS TO BE TRADED!

Re Trouba hit: 2 mins, at most. But with how this series has been officiated I wouldnt of been suprised with a 5 and game. Refs really wants the panthers in the final.

Expect the Panthers to crash the net tonight. They have to get to Igor. I can see their guy landing on top of him trying to create a fight. Igor is the reason they’re where they are.

I think the Bennett punch to Marchand was a season ending suspension. I’m not a fan of the Rat but that slick hidden punch was vicious.

ERod went down and laid there for like five minutes. I thought he was seriously injured. He goes to the bench, then 10 seconds later he’s on the power play like nothing ever happened. Can’t have been too brutal.

Kakko is great along the boards in the O-zone. He definitely has the skill he just needs to have a coach who can tap in.

trouba out of control

Bench both Trouba and Miller. Miller single-handedly gave up two goals during the PK. Bring Zac Jones back.

Why would he be suspended, he didn’t do anything, LGR

I say Kakko needs a real look on top line next year, especially if they win the cup. He’s young. He defends very very well. He has a great wrist shot and first pass. Amazing on the walls. He’s YOUNG. he’s never been put in a scoring role for an extended period. He needs that chance before rangers move on.

Don't forget, Kakko is a Type 1 Diabetic. Diabetes fatigues you when you exert heavily. I can see he may be fatigued, and needs rest. Diabetes is a very debilitating disease, and Type 1 is totally uncurable, with only insulin injections or pump. Its hard to regulate even for non athletes. I always think of that. I have it but not type 1. Fatigue is a BIG factor.

Jon, Kakko is a better player getting the puck, and Chytil, again, is on my dartboard, The dude was NOT ready to play, and has played soft when he played. He has no business getting game time over Rempe, Brodz, or Kakko. All of those guys have contributed (aren't Rangers 18-0 with Rempe in lineup>) If you noticed, some of the Chippiness from Game 1 Cats, has sorta stopped. Also, NO WAY you suspend Trouba, if you didn't suspend Lomberg. You can fine, but suspensions don't typically happen at this round of playoffs. Thats a momentum shifter for a team. Even if Barkov did the same, no one is gonna sit him out, or Tchachuk.

Rangers need Mika , Bread and Krieder to start producing but its depth that matters and it’s been proven

I've said this before..... Kreider is a guy who has the physical tools and ability to go toe to toe with Florida and their hard game. He can and should do more than go net front and tip pucks on the PP (and to his credit, he's also fantastic paired with Mika on the PK). Kreids can be the X-factor for this team if he chooses to. He has the skill and physical tools, what he needs is the will to play that way. We see it at times, but not as consistently as we should. He will go down as one of the greatest Rangers ever, as he should, but if he were to channel those additional tools that he consistently underutilizes, he'd go down as one of the best power forwards the NHL has ever seen (and the Rangers will win the Cup).

Rodrigues threw the same chicken wing elbow hit on I think I'm going to say Wennberg and missed

If those top guys can essentially play even with the "star" players from Florida (who have also been somewhat quiet up until the last game) while our depth players and goalie step up and outplay Florida, that sounds like a winning recipe to me. Florida is extremely difficult to play against and the Panthers are most definitely keying on them. This is what happens to most top guys in the playoffs. It's why guys like Goodrow become so important. Can they and should they step up? Yes. But easy to say from the cheap seats. Game 4 will be a really tough one.

I think the Trouba thing is much ado about nothing. It's obvious from the replay that Trouba was beaten and was trying to push Rodrigues off the puck by taking the body. Yes, he raised his elbow (as part of raising his forearm to try and check him in the shoulder). Unfortunately, Trouba was off-balance, and Rodrigues in an awkward position, and when Trouba tried to deliver the forearm, he partially missed, slid up the shoulder and hit ER in the neck and, maybe, jaw. ER does the requisite acting and then miraculously is back the next shift. As you say, the issue here is consistency. I've got no problem with the elbowing call. The fine? Okay, but then fine the other guys on Florida you mention. Fine Bennett for his cheap shot to the head (much worse than Trouba's) on Marchand. That's the main issue. The inconsistency of these calls and fines are an absolute joke. That said, they probably got it right (outside of that other guys should be getting fined too if they're going to fine Trouba for that!).

How have all those "big name" acquisitions worked out for the majority of teams? The Rangers were smart to look for mid-tier players that fill specific needs rather than sell out the future to chase after temporary, shiny objects. Kakko is a good news, bad news scenario. His failure to breakout in a major way means the Rangers may be able to keep Kakko at a reasonable number and see if he can find it in the next 2-3 years. That's actually great news given that Laf is going to need to be locked up at a very significant number and they need to figure out how to keep Lindgren.

I would give Kakko the same contract, but with some good incentives that would come with scoring

Re: Kakko, it's one game and the Rangers are going to ice the team that they believe give them the best chance to win. With guys like Rempe, Chytil (up until the last few) and Wheeler as alternative options, it's not entirely surprising. Certainly, it's something you must think about with respect to the first two guys mentioned. I like Kakko, but really struggle to understand why he hasn't found a way to unlock his considerable potential. He just needs to assert himself more. It's puzzling to understand why a guy wouldn't be encouraged and excited to hear, from the coaching staff, "we want you to be more aggressive, get to the net, and shoot more". I still have faith he will raise his game to another level, but time is starting to run out on him being the guy we thought he'd be when drafted.