Rangers/Pred Reaction, Talbot, Rangers Stay Put & More

Who you gonna call?

Welcome everyone to another blog here on DOINOW.com. As always, check the archives, tip your bartender, don't forget to wipe front to back, spay & neuter your pets, don't eat the chicken at Nassau Coliseum and always, use the "IN CAM WE TRUST" as your personal mantra.

While the Rangers, with Cam Talbot in net, defeated the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, the Talbot era officially begun on Saturday afternoon, as the Rangers took on the best team in the NHL, the Nashville Predators. Talbot, who got the start on Wednesday, was officially named the starting goalie of the New York Rangers, after the news of Henrik Lundqvist being out for at least a month, due to the puck-to-the-throat injuries that the team doctors missed. Again, makes you wonder where the team doctor's priorities and loyalties lay, that they were able to clear Hank to play, despite non-team doctors advising against it.

The Rangers lost to the Predators, with a final tally of 3-2. The closing 90 seconds of the second period were a killer for the Rangers, as they were a minute and a half of walking into the third period up 1-0, rather than down 2-1.

Of course, with the loss to the best team in the NHL, with the Rangers missing their starting center due to illness (Stepan), the powerplay looking off, in spite of Nash's goal and Zuccarello making sure the puck went Talbot's way rather than Rinne's way, whenever Talbot had the puck behind him,  my phone, facebook, twitter and pony express accounts all blew up with "I TOLD YOU SO!" Yes, the Rangers lost. However, they lost to the best team in the league, and I would put this loss more on the team than on Talbot.

The immortal Cam Talbot

Watching this game, I felt this was a game the Rangers should've won. They played the best team in the NHL and hung with them. However, their costly mistakes came back to bite them in the ass. For the most part, Talbot was solid, stopping multiple flurries and rushes of never-ending shots. I thought the first goal, a rebound by Roman Josi, was on the Rangers D. The second goal was a blast by Shea Weber, which I thought Cam should've stopped. However, with Weber hitting speeds of 108 MPH with his slap shot, I guess it's a tough puck to stop. The third goal, from Ribeiro was on Dan Girardi, as he tried to block the puck unsuccessfully and in the process, screened his own goalie.

At the end of the day, Talbot is making $550,000 a year. I don't know if Henrik Lundqvist, at $8.5 million a year wins this game either. There are times when the Rangers skate phenomenally and there are games like this, where they are turnover prone and scared to shoot the puck.

One player who looked lost on the ice today was Mats Zuccarello. For a guy in a contract year, Zuc is not wowing people into giving him a huge contract. He was responsible for several turnovers, bad passes and even with two wide open looks at the net, opted to make sloppy passes that went no where. I don't know if all these shots that have hit the post has screwed with his head, but Zucc needs to fire at the net when he has the opportunity.

Optimus Klein

Fittingly enough, I thought Kevin Klein had a remarkable game. Returning to Nashville, after a near 10 year stint, Klein made a huge play in the first period, saving a goal. He's done that a lot this year. It's something that doesn't show up in the stat sheet, but if you watch every Rangers game, the stuff this guy does on the ice is invaluable. It was nice to see the Predator fans give him a standing ovation in his return. What a steal by Glen Sather, getting Klein for a bag of shit known as Michael Del Zotto.

NASHTY

Rick Nash, now the league leader in Goals Scored, with 32,  got the scoring started early, via a powerplay goal. Nash got his own rebound off Rinne, and slammed it home. It's hard to envision Nash without the Hart Trophy this year.

The Rangers broke down in the second period, allowing Josi to pick up a rebound, clueless to the defense, and fire home a goal. Weber followed Josi's goal, 50 seconds later, with a slapshot at Talbot. Talbot couldn't make the save. The Preds scored two goals in the last 90 seconds, a deflating moment for the Blueshirts, for all intents and purposes, should've skated into the third period with a 1-0 lead.

While Talbot was able to make some good saves, Mike Ribeiro was able to find the twine, with 7 minutes to go in the third, as Dan Girardi screened his own goalie. It was tough to watch, as you could see the play and goal happen, before it went down on the ice.

On the bright side, it was good to see Rangers captain, Ryan McDonagh get on the score sheet, with his fourth goal of the season. At least he's scoring to make up for his turnovers.

Hey Zuc- shoot the fucking puck!

This was a tough loss. The Rangers held their own, with Talbot in net, against the best team in the league. On the bright side, division leaders, the Penguins & Islanders both lost, so this loss against the best team in the NHL didn't affect the Rangers in the standings, aside from not gaining two points. Everything stays status quo. I said yesterday, the Rangers had a tough schedule, with only three tough games on the schedule. While it was tough to lose this game, if you had to lose, at least they lost to the best team in hockey on the road, rather than losing to a shit team at home.

Watching the game with my "nabe", Joe from E-Rock

I don't know how you watched this game. I watched this game with a bunch of friends in a well attended bar. The Rangers fanbase was behind Cam Talbot, which was good to see. I'm glad to see Ranger fans supporting Talbot. By no means was this his best game, but at the same time, he kept the team in it, against the best team in the NHL.

I'm not really going to dwell on this loss. Let the Rangers settle down. The Rangers return home today, against Dallas. This isn't a must win game, but it's a game they should win. If they lose, I would start to get worried.

It's been a long night for yours truly and with a game tomorrow, I'm going to cut this blog short. Everything stays status quo in the division. The Rangers need to forget about this game and worry about the rest of the month. As a Giants fan, it's very easy to say FUCK DALLAS and let's hope the Rangers bury these bastards tomorrow.

For the people doubting Talbot, talk to me March 1st. Let's see where the Rangers are then. It's tough to go nuts, about a goalie making $8 million less than your starter, who kept your team in the game against the best team in the NHL. IN CAM WE TRUST.

I'll be back tomorrow, with a more expanded review of Rangers/Stars. It's time for me to sleep these Labatt Blue's off!

LETS GO RANGERS

Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@nycthemic on the twitter machine