Rangers Vs. Blue Jackets: Let's Think Happy Thoughts!
Notes from whatever the hell that was.
- So, uh, I'm going to agree with Hoggo. It's been way, WAY too negative around here recently. So I'm going to give a few notes on the game and then we're going to talk about happier subjects. But first, to the bad:
- Holy cow this team is tough to watch when they're struggling. When this team is on (and they have been on a few times this year) they're about as fun to watch as I can remember. But when they're off? My word. It's horrible. Last night was horrible. When the Rangers went down 3-0 they woke up for about five minutes, scored a goal, went into intermission and then came out as flat as an opened soda that's been sitting in the sun for about three years. Woof.
- Henrik Lundqvist let in one bad goal and had absolutely, positively no chance in the world on the other two. Yes, the first goal to give up is a bad one (although it was one hell of a turnover) but you can't even remotely THINK about blaming Hank for the other two.
Must Reads
- Cam Talbot played pretty well, aside from the one goal he gave up, but still.
- I'm going to make a crazy statement and will probably get yelled at, but whatever. I believe it. I do think THIS team as currently constructed (when healthy) can be a good team. If Derick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, Carl Hagelin and Rick Nash (who I'm still giving something of a pass because of his concussion earlier in the year) can get back to where they were last year, and if the Rangers can get some type of offense from Michael Del Zotto or John Moore they're going to be so much better than they are now. This is a funk. The team really isn't THIS bad. This little stretch is just proving they might not be as good as they looked at times this year. But look at the list above? Those are some big-name, big-money players who aren't performing. No team can withstand that.
- Dylan McIlrath screwed up on the second goal against, which happens. When the team is playing this bad, the expectations for McIlrath were going to be pretty high (from a "hey kid you need to be perfect" standpoint). However, I don't think he looked completely out of place on the third pairing, and I do think he's a better option than Justin Falk. I liked the grit from him too, and I'm very happy he didn't fight. He can be physical without removing himself for five minutes.
- We have a few new widgets we're throwing out on the blog. hope you like them. The "next clicks" below is one of them. The "must reads" is brand new and I love it.
OK on to the happy things:
- Pretty much every single Breaking Madden on SB Nation.
- I'll be honest with you here, I never laugh out loud when I read things. It's so, so rare. There are, however, two exceptions. Anything written by Mike "Dig Deep" Murphy and Breaking Madden. There is also this, which might be the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Holy crap, if that doesn't cheer you up I don't know what will.
- Puppies.
- What's your favorite fruit? Mine is probably watermelon. Oh my do I love watermelon. And pineapple. Wow pineapple is good.
- Things that make you happy? Let's just name some of those.
Thoughts?
