Rangers big mistake
posted at 4/23/2012 8:31 PM EDT
- Bisson1
- Posts: 2199
- First: 11/21/2011
- Last: 3/28/2013
Just a thought...
In game one the Rangers clearly had a gameplan to go after Karlsson hard, and all game. This led to the Boyle fight, Carkner incident, etc. in game two.
Could the decision to put a target on the back of Karlsson be what costs the Rangers this series? After game one it was like the decision to stand up to the Rangers and Karlsson pulled the Senators team together, and really lit a fire under them. Neil became a beast and the Sens seem to want it a lot more.
If anything the Rangers going after Karlsson benefited the Senators way more than the Rangers. The decision by the Rangers led to the game two antics, and provided the Sens with a big motivational boost.
Of course this is written in hindsight and the Rangers can still win this series, but they might not be in this 3-2 hole if they just played their game instead of scoping out Karlsson.
Re: Rangers big mistake
posted at 4/23/2012 8:44 PM EDT
- jmwalters
- Posts: 6689
- First: 2/16/2011
- Last: 5/18/2013
Interesting thought Biss but I think it is more a matter of the Sens adjusting better to conditions on the ice than the Rangers. Early in the series NYR had the likes of Boyle et al running the Sens stars and they responded by putting in Carkner replacing the ineffectual Gilroy and playing an allround tougher game. NYR has yet to adjust to this. Yet.
Re: Rangers big mistake
posted at 4/23/2012 9:26 PM EDT
- 4everbruins
- Posts: 2347
- First: 11/1/2007
- Last: 5/17/2013
Unfortunately, I think Lundquist will be the difference in this series. Would love to see an upset, but dont think it will happen.
Re: Rangers big mistake
posted at 4/23/2012 9:31 PM EDT
- Bisson1
- Posts: 2199
- First: 11/21/2011
- Last: 3/28/2013
In Response to
Re: Rangers big mistake:
Unfortunately, I think Lundquist will be the difference in this series. Would love to see an upset, but dont think it will happen.
Posted by 4everbruins
Same. Looks like there will be a game 7, and can't see Craig Anderson out performing Lundqvist.
Re: Rangers big mistake
posted at 4/23/2012 10:14 PM EDT
Bisson - Speaking solely as a viewer it would appear the Rangers' focus on Karlsson riled the Sens enough to have Carkner respond. That response seemed to inspire the Sens who were already proving to be a stubborn opponent. It looked like Carkner's punch out of Boyle made them really hard to handle. After that scene there were numerous Ottawa players saying how much they appreciated what Carkner did and that the Rangers had to know they weren't going to put up with any guff.
In Game One it seemed NYR were the aggressors playing their usual physical game of following through on checks and regularly knocking Ottawa into the boards. The Sens didn't appear to be the intiators of contact. NYR seemed to be the hunters. Post-Carkner the Sens were trading hit-for-hit with the Rangers, never missing a chance to be in NYR faces. If anything that NYR plan of hitting Karlsson angered the Sens to make them a much more difficult foe to defeat if they weren't that already.
I think we read similar stuff last year in The Finals when Julien put Thornton in for Game 3 in terms of establishing a tougher team identity. With/without Thornton I think the Bruins were just the better team. Cheers!
