so, it would be OK for Bryz to say the difference in the game is that the Rangers D was better than ours?
- Dkos

heres the whole story.....
http://www.delcotimes.com...f2f422c9db2f285810560.txt

So now Timonen is "the defense"? All by himself?
- MBFlyerfan

i wish it was...Our defense is a sieve...Bryz is trying to do too much to compensate and he is getting burned. He is thinking and playing the pass instead of the shooter..

Rangers were the better team yesterday without question. But sometimes a team needs their goaltender to steal them points. How many times has Lundqvist done that this year? Countless.
- PLindbergh31

His team puts him in a position to do it though.

.
Timonen(sp?) is excellent but after that it gets a little dicey. Do any of you think a big trade for a blueliner is imminent?
- MidnightMarauder

I hope so but at the same time, when you cant beat the Rangers and cant beat Boston overpaying for a 1st line D man probably isn't the best idea. This year's draft is supposed to be a very strong one for D men anyway. I've got to think they draft a D man and then explore the UFA market. Let's assume they draft a D man, sign an improvement over Carle and JVR comes back and is healthy and producing next year I think you've got an extremely dangerous team.

So now Timonen is "the defense"? All by himself?

edit: though to be fair it does sometimes seem like that...
- MBFlyerfan

i wish it was...Our defense is a sieve...Bryz is trying to do too much to compensate and he is getting burned. He is thinking and playing the pass instead of the shooter..
- Philly1980

That's what happened on the Gaborik goal. How many times has poor defense led to a cross crease pass getting put in the net?

The thing is, Bryzgalov needs to be a lot better. I don't think anybody would disagree with that.

Rangers were the better team yesterday without question. But sometimes a team needs their goaltender to steal them points. How many times has Lundqvist done that this year? Countless.
- PLindbergh31

No need to emphasize that point to any Rangers fan. Lundqvist unequivocally is the Rangers best player and backbone. Rangers have offensive issues but their style of play, solid defense and goaltending have covered up those issues thus far.

Philly has a really solid offense with a lot of depth, which they can flip in a deal to bring in a solid defenseman or two. This wouldn't be so much of an issue with a healthy Pronger but without him in the lineup the defense is extremely exposed.

Timonen and perhaps Meszaros are both solid defenseman but I never thought Carle was anything more than a glorified power play quarterback and Coburn, to me, seems like a waste of a big bodied blueliner.

His team puts him in a position to do it though.
- JoeRussomanno

Yes, and No. The Rangers play their system better than the Flyers play theirs. Rangers make far fewer mistakes, the mistakes they do make Lundqvist is there to erase majority of them. When the Flyers make a mistake, 80% of the time the puck is in the back of the net.

Not sure if the Flyers owned the Rangers in 94' when they won the President's Tropy and Cup. I would have to check the season series.
- PLindbergh31

they played 5 times, Rangers won series 3-1-1

Rangers were the better team yesterday without question. But sometimes a team needs their goaltender to steal them points. How many times has Lundqvist done that this year? Countless.
- PLindbergh31

Im sure Henry has had some stinkers also. We do not watch him play every night. He is unfortunately having a hell of a year. The defense in front of him is playing great also.

No need to emphasize that point to any Rangers fan. Lundqvist unequivocally is the Rangers best player and backbone. Rangers have offensive issues but their style of play, solid defense and goaltending have covered up those issues thus far.

Philly has a really solid offense with a lot of depth, which they can flip in a deal to bring in a solid defenseman or two. This wouldn't be so much of an issue with a healthy Pronger but without him in the lineup the defense is extremely exposed.

Timonen and perhaps Meszaros are both solid defenseman but I never thought Carle was anything more than a glorified power play quarterback and Coburn, to me, seems like a waste of a big bodied blueliner.
- MidnightMarauder

Spot on. Agree 100%

heres the whole story.....
http://www.delcotimes.com...f2f422c9db2f285810560.txt
- Jack-Meoff

wow...sounded worse in that article. “They play the same system, it’s not a surprise to us,” Timonen said of the Rangers. “They block a lot of shots, but everybody’s blocking a lot of shots. We can do a couple of things better, but when they break down, their goalie makes saves.”

I hope so but at the same time, when you cant beat the Rangers and cant beat Boston overpaying for a 1st line D man probably isn't the best idea. This year's draft is supposed to be a very strong one for D men anyway. I've got to think they draft a D man and then explore the UFA market. Let's assume they draft a D man, sign an improvement over Carle and JVR comes back and is healthy and producing next year I think you've got an extremely dangerous team.
- hereticpride

Problem is, how many "improvements" over Carle are out there that wont be cap busters?

Not sure why the D is so bad. Still have some quality guys there but just seems like they lose ALL their confidence when the big guy goes down with injury.

Players get stuck in comfort zones of playing along side a certain player. (ie: Timmo with Pronger and when Pronger goes down Timmo pairs with someone else which juggles all the other lines.) I'm not saying Timmo is the weak link here but that the other guys who have to play with different guys are. Just an outsiders observation.

Im sure Henry has had some stinkers also. We do not watch him play every night. He is unfortunately having a hell of a year. The defense in front of him is playing great also.
- Philly1980

When the Flyers aren't playing, and I'm home I watch every Rangers game. I literally haven't seen Lundqvist play one bad game this year. The Rangers fans posting here can speak to this as well. I'm sure he has had a couple of bad games, I haven't seen any. And I have seen at least 15-20 games.

i think our boys have hit the "rookie wall"...to many injuries to key players this year...i think the way this team is built, it will be a serious contender in two years. Next year bryzgalov will get accustomed to our system hopefully! I dont think he is as bad as he is playing.
- Philly1980

He'd better not be, he's the highest paid goalie in the league this year by far at $10 mill. It's far less galling to see a 23 yr old backup goalie on an EL contract give up a bad goal than the 31 yr old franchise goalie who they backed up the brinks truck for. It's not acceptable in either case but Bryz was signed to be the vezina caliber goalie and he was paid accordingly.

That said, the team is going nowhere unless the forwards/defensemen get their heads out of their ------ as well.

That's what happened on the Gaborik goal. How many times has poor defense led to a cross crease pass getting put in the net?

The thing is, Bryzgalov needs to be a lot better. I don't think anybody would disagree with that.
- Jsaquella

Even if they lost the game 1-0 on a shootout you would still have people coming in here saying how terrible he is and why he is the sole difference between the two teams. Total bullpoop and speaks volumes to the writer's lack of knowledge on the sport.

Right now the Rangers really are playing better. Like I said earlier, the Flyers have for the most part had inferior goaltending to them but still dominated them through two decades. They did that because they played better than the Rangers as a team. All this -well the goalie needs to steal points- is bullpoop because he can't win face offs, he can't score goals and he can't run out of his net to support teammates with two of the opposing players on them while they battle for the puck.

Timonen and perhaps Meszaros are both solid defenseman but I never thought Carle was anything more than a glorified power play quarterback and Coburn, to me, seems like a waste of a big bodied blueliner.
- MidnightMarauder

Kimmo and Mezzy are really the only two D men we have that I like anymore. You can throw Coburn in too. He's a solid player. Carle is hot and cold, which is a terrible attribute for a D man. They'll probably make a minor move. My guess is adding Gill for a late round pick then target D men heavily in both the draft and UFA market.

they played 5 times, Rangers won series 3-1-1
- jimbro83

I'm surprised that Flyers team won one and tied one. Shows in rivalry series sometimes record and talent level can be thrown out the window.

Not sure why the D is so bad. Still have some quality guys there but just seems like they lose ALL their confidence when the big guy goes down with injury.

Players get stuck in comfort zones of playing along side a certain player. (ie: Timmo with Pronger and when Pronger goes down Timmo pairs with someone else which juggles all the other lines.) I'm not saying Timmo is the weak link here but that the other guys who have to play with different guys are. Just an outsiders observation.
- kgrpitt

Timonen never played with Pronger except on the PP.

Bryzgalov was holding the Flyers in the game, before the Gaborik goal. The Rangers were outplaying them by a pretty good margin, until Schenn's nice breakaway goal. The game evened out a little after that until the previously mentioned Gaborik tally.

Can't hang this loss on Bryzgalov solely though. The Rangers played a strong game, as did Lundqvist and the Flyers defense is average at best without Pronger.

Timonen(sp?) is excellent but after that it gets a little dicey. Do any of you think a big trade for a blueliner is imminent?
- MidnightMarauder

I didnt come on here yesterday because I knew exactly what it would look like. Bryz was a wall for 2 periods, let in a weak goal because he was trying to be aggressive against one of the leagues best goal scorers, and then the DZ goal.

I agree with Bill that defense and goaltending seem to play with each other... but yesterday the Rags beat the hell out of us all game long.

I hope so but at the same time, when you cant beat the Rangers and cant beat Boston overpaying for a 1st line D man probably isn't the best idea. This year's draft is supposed to be a very strong one for D men anyway. I've got to think they draft a D man and then explore the UFA market. Let's assume they draft a D man, sign an improvement over Carle and JVR comes back and is healthy and producing next year I think you've got an extremely dangerous team.
- hereticpride

The Flyers offensively is set up for years. Schenn looks like he is rounding into form, Couturier looks like Jordan Staal Pt. 2, Read was a really good signing and those are just the rookies. Obviously Giroux is a superstar, Simmonds looks like a really promising power forward, Voracek, Hartnell, van Riemsdyk, Briere etc.; the offense is far from the issue in Philadelphia.

There is so much offense that I think using one of these strong players can be used in a deal for what is really needed: D

The goalie was big part of it, but as Bill pointed out the goalie didn't miss the wide open net or give the puck away in bad spots.

The Rangers also play really solid defense, get rid of rebounds in front of their goalie and let him see the puck without being molested.

The part that concerns me is, Timonen often speaks for the team. If they have no faith in the goalie...
- Jsaquella

soft goals will do that...esp ill-timed ones.

Not sure why the D is so bad. Still have some quality guys there but just seems like they lose ALL their confidence when the big guy goes down with injury.

Players get stuck in comfort zones of playing along side a certain player. (ie: Timmo with Pronger and when Pronger goes down Timmo pairs with someone else which juggles all the other lines.) I'm not saying Timmo is the weak link here but that the other guys who have to play with different guys are. Just an outsiders observation.
- kgrpitt

When playing the elite teams, teams that can expose a defense is when the loss of Pronger is most pronounced. It sucks that the big guy went down, it's starting to catch up to the Flyers now. They have done pretty well standings wise without him. As good as anyone can expect.

wow...sounded worse in that article. “They play the same system, it’s not a surprise to us,” Timonen said of the Rangers. “They block a lot of shots, but everybody’s blocking a lot of shots. We can do a couple of things better, but when they break down, their goalie makes saves.”
- Dkos

Sounds like one of the guys you most need to believe in the goalie, doesn't.