Quote:
Originally Posted by Bay Ridge Jet
Its his game. Its really frustrating but if certain series end up happening (LA, PHX, NJ) hes going to contribute a lot. That 3rd OT was him pretty much sensing blood in the water.
The whole D corp played an amazing game. Its insane how much they played..what I found funny was how Stu Bickel is this super fresh D man but hes mistake prone position wise so Torts decides he'd rather have 20 percent Staal or Girardi on the ice.
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Wow what a game. I was too tired to get on the computer last night.
There's something special about this team because these are the kinds of games the Rangers would lose in the past (except for 1994). And against one of their biggest nemisists, the Capitals!
Gabby was floating all night. But Hagelin makes up for him. I love that kid. He is such a difference maker on that line. Very underappreciated I believe. Even Doc Emrick rarely identifies him correctly. Usually calls him Anisimov. Last night, he even referred to him as Boyle once. Really?
As for Bickel, I feel bad for the kid. He's not that bad. He makes an occasional blunder but has anyone noticed how many blunders Staal has made since he's been back? He's gotten better but he makes a lot of mistakes. Mistakes he never used to make. He was responsible for the Caps goal last night yet Bickel is iced for the rest of the game. It was a lazy play by Staal. Inexcuseable. Except that Torts plays favorites with him because he can make great plays as well.
If the Rangers would have lost that game, you can bet that Torts would have received a lot of criticism for benching Bickel. Del Zotto had absolutely NO gas in the tank last night. He was running on fumes most of the game. They needed Bickel to play. I'm very happy but they were very fortunate to get away with the 5 Dmen (4 for almost half a period when Girardi went down).